Bruce Thomson Posted March 24, 2013 Share Posted March 24, 2013 To make my Tenor Stagi concertina much easier to play, today I did a thumb strap modification - mounting the thumb strap on one screw, not three - so the strap now swivels comfortably when my hand twists up or down to reach the far notes. I'm loading the video onto YouTube - it will be at... Bruce (Tomo) Thomson20 Lyndhurst St. Chelwood Village, Palmerston North06 357 7773 021 176 9711 palmytomo@gmail.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Wooff Posted March 24, 2013 Share Posted March 24, 2013 Yes, well... whilst I see your point Tomo and not disputing that it could be a good idea.. I have to point out that thumbs have three joints and thus it should be possible to articulate to a comfortable position within a reasonable arc of playability. The English Concertina has been around for something like 170 years .. perhaps this idea has been tried before.... but I think that most players would prefer a fixed anchorage especially when employing all four fingers to play the keyboard or when standing up. Also I would suggest it could be dangerous, on a vintage instrument, to just remove the extra two screws and expect the long screw to take all the force that can be applied during spirited playing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henrik Müller Posted April 13, 2013 Share Posted April 13, 2013 Now, having had the pleasure of being in the company of Simon Thoumire for a few days about a month ago, I find that idea interesting. His thumbstraps seems permanently twisted about 45 degrees, since he plays about 45 degrees ACROSS the rows (instead of up & down), hence the twist. My guess is that with this change you find the low notes easier to reach? I don't use thumb straps at all, but that is another story ;-) /Henrik Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henrik Müller Posted April 13, 2013 Share Posted April 13, 2013 But - I forgot to add - I can only agree with Geoff about the dangers of doing this on a vintage instrument: "Don't do this at home, kids" - unless it's on something modern and cheap! I had, at some point, a damaged Edephone with ebony ends. The damage was a major rip-out of the (too thin, IMHO) ebony fretwork, on both sides, because a screw or screws had loosened some time in its history...crack, crack! /Henrik Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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