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Suttner A2 C/G for sale. US$6500 or best offer


Chris Allert

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I'm very sad to say i'll need to sell this instrument soon.

 

It's a metal-ended c/g jeffries copy with jeffries bellows papers and jeffries layout.

 

Juergen Suttner currently has a four year waiting list. to buy this instrument new from him would be about us$5000 with the current exchange rate.

 

this is instrument #298, which I acquired new in 2005. He's gotten very good at making them.

 

i've only played this instrument at home since i've had it. I've played it between 5-20 hours each week since i've owned it, so it's very well "broken in" by now. but there are no signs of wear on the bellows as i only rest the corner of the instrument on one leg.

 

I'm in olympia, washington and can meet you either here or in seattle if you want to try the instrument out.

 

if you're going to the noel hill summer school, this would be a very good instrument to take with you. you'll make a lot more progress on a good instrument than a mediocre one, and having something that sounds like a concertina really does help one get better more quickly (at least that was my experience). and you'll get more out of the summer school if you've had a good instrument to get used to for a few months before you go.

 

all reasonable offers will be considered. i'm not sure what reasonable is until i hear it, so please bid what you can, you may be lucky.

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As a newbie completely ignorant in these matters I hope you'll forgive me for asking why a used concertina is worth more than a brand new one? I assume this is only the case for top end instruments?

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As a newbie completely ignorant in these matters I hope you'll forgive me for asking why a used concertina is worth more than a brand new one? I assume this is only the case for top end instruments?

 

 

 

Taffs,

this is a very good question indeed ! The perception that a second hand instrument is worth more than a new one does appear to be odd but perhaps there are two reasons for this; the length of the waiting time for a New instrument can put up the value of an "it's available NOW" item. The second point is that a person can try the 'available' instrument before purchase and decide if it is 'just what they want' whereas when you order a somewhat bespoke instrument you hope you are eventually going to recieve what you think you want. A 'bird in the hand' situation.

 

PS; some would argue that a Played-In instrument is better than a Brand new one.

 

This happens to my instruments quite often ( I am a musical instrument maker) and sometimes the second hand instrument gets sold for an embarasingly high figure. I do not generally agree with this situation but perhaps it is just market forces at work.

Edited by Geoff Wooff
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As a newbie completely ignorant in these matters I hope you'll forgive me for asking why a used concertina is worth more than a brand new one? I assume this is only the case for top end instruments?

 

Several reasons.

 

In the past decade demand has far outpaced supply for quality instruments with traditional reeds. There are only a few current makers, and they produce a very limited number of instruments per year. There is a small and diminishing pool of quality vintage instruments.

 

As others have pointed out, those few quality makers have long waiting lists, and there are advantages to instruments that have been "played in."

 

Finally, there are vintage instruments that have a sound quality modern makers can't replicate. A Jeffries is the only concertina that sounds like a Jeffries, and the supply of those instruments is very limited. If that is the sound you crave, you'll be slapped in the face by the supply-demand equation.

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if we're talking about instruments of contemporary make rather than antique/vintage ones, i must say i don't agree that on its own merits, as opposed to the market-value question, a used or so-called "broken in" contemporary concertina could in any but the supply-and-demand respect be justifiably seen as worth more or the same as a new one....and i know for a fact that this phenom is dismaying to the makers....on the other hand, the market is the market, and it has a mind of its own....i do agree that in market terms, it is certainly understandable that some folks would find the premium worth paying to avoid the multi-year wait....

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