David Hornett Posted December 6, 2014 Share Posted December 6, 2014 Hi, I don't know if these screen shots will work, but here is one of the four Tassie Tiger concertinas I have been working on for the last 6 months, an hour here and there . Sounds nice too. Reeds are hand made from blue tempered steel and clock springs. (I uses a paper guillotine with HSS honed blades to cut the steel.) The shoes arw 2mm hard brass, kangaroo skin bellows, huon pine sound board, blackwood body, celery top frames, titanium screws for reeds to shoes, german silver end plates, riveted levers, kangaroo skin pads over acrylic felt on compressed board palates sealed with red finger nail polish, german silver rods and buttons. Silicone fishing line protection tube for button /action rod connection, phosphorous bronze springs. Rabbit skin glue all parts. I had fantastic fun building it, and its mates. Am now thinking of a B Griff concertina, but can one get ones fingers into the required shape?: it so, one little 40 button concertina will be able to play all keys and have a free bass for cording if one desired, and ones fingers were like rubber: anyway it is something to think about. David Hornett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Wooff Posted December 6, 2014 Share Posted December 6, 2014 (edited) How's about some sound samples David ? Why B Griff and not C griff ? Why not a Hayden while you are at it ? Looks nice. That would be Australian Blackwood , I assume ? Geoff. One point of crittique: The holes in Fretwork are generally made of such a size that one cannot get a finger in them ( stuck in them) and one cannot easily see what is inside... so there are usually more piercings of a smaller size than yours for those reasons. Edited December 6, 2014 by Geoff Wooff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Thomson Posted December 6, 2014 Share Posted December 6, 2014 Really beautiful imagination and beautiful materials and quality of work. If you have a YouTube vid of it played, it'd be interesting to hear it. Cheers, Bruce Thomson in New Zealand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Hornett Posted December 6, 2014 Author Share Posted December 6, 2014 Thank you for your nice comments, Geoff and Bruce. The problem is I don't really play them, I play B griff accordeon, chromatic harmonica, whistle, accordina, melodeon: but concertina, never really put the time into it, but I will practise up over the next few weeks and see what I can come up with. The holes: my fingers don't fit through, not even my pinky. I was aware of the problem when I made it, it is 13.4cm across the german silver, and 15.4 across the instrument, (a little smaller than a standard Lachenal) so really the holes are not as big as they seem. The rods are german silver and the palates red so their is a nice flash seen through the plates when playing. Have a great day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nighthawk Posted December 7, 2014 Share Posted December 7, 2014 I love the fretwork. Are those all local animals? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Hornett Posted December 7, 2014 Author Share Posted December 7, 2014 Tasmanian devil, map of Tasmania, blue gum leaves, blue gum , Tasmanian Eagles and Tasmanian tiger, now extinct. Bellows papers are the Tasmanian coat of arms: two tigers supporting a shield. A bit kitsch I suppose, but it was that or some geometric design, so I went for something different: not to everyone's liking I should think, I'm glad someone appreciate it. David. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Wooff Posted December 7, 2014 Share Posted December 7, 2014 Thank you for your nice comments, Geoff and Bruce. The problem is I don't really play them, I play B griff accordeon, chromatic harmonica, whistle, accordina, melodeon: but concertina, never really put the time into it, but I will practise up over the next few weeks and see what I can come up with. So, if you have made six Tassie Tigers then have they been put in the hands of others who could give us a sound sample or two? Would you also be interested in taking on projects to create 'special' concertinas... I'm thinking custom keyboards etc ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolf Molkentin Posted December 7, 2014 Share Posted December 7, 2014 It was not 6 in 4 months Geoff... Love the design too, David! Looks absolutely stunning just from the small pics... Best wishes - Wolf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Ghent Posted December 7, 2014 Share Posted December 7, 2014 Nice fretwork..! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Wooff Posted December 7, 2014 Share Posted December 7, 2014 It was not 6 in 4 months Geoff... Love the design too, David! Looks absolutely stunning just from the small pics... Best wishes - Wolf Oops yes Wolf, I, miss read it, indeed... So I guess this is the first one finished out of the batch... ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d.elliott Posted December 7, 2014 Share Posted December 7, 2014 Fine looking instruments, congratulations. I too would like to hear them played. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Hornett Posted December 8, 2014 Author Share Posted December 8, 2014 I shall get around to posting a sound clip, promise. 4 in 6 months, the other three not completely finished: been too lazy to tune the reeds, a job for after Christmas: two folk festivals coming up shortly, Nariel and Cygnet, I tend to play (not concertina though) and laze away the summer months. I made one for each of the family, three kids and Mum, something to pass down, that is all: not to retail. I am glad so many like the fretwork -- all four are identical. I dread to think if I had made a mistake, I would have repeated it 4 times over before I knew, but as they say arse, not class -- luck has so far been on my side. Have a great day all. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shantyman Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 David...I would like to see your concertinas one day when I get into Hobart. I like the end-plate design, particularly the wide-mouth Tasmanian Tiger!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Hornett Posted December 12, 2014 Author Share Posted December 12, 2014 This is a short, un edited in any way, sound track -- no effects -- of the Tassie Tiger D/G, a few notes still need a little fine tuning. The last few bars are of a 1920 approx Jeffries Bros 38 button DG , to compare the twoD:G Tassie 38 button Tiger vs 1920's 38 button Jeffries Bros copy.mp3D:G Tassie 38 button Tiger vs 1920's 38 button Jeffries Bros copy.mp3. Both instruments are tuned to A442, so a little sharp, and recorded at exactly the same settings including the same input volume. What do you think? David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adrian brown Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 This is a short, un edited in any way, sound track -- no effects -- of the Tassie Tiger D/G, a few notes still need a little fine tuning. The last few bars are of a 1920 approx Jeffries Bros 38 button DG , to compare the twoD:G Tassie 38 button Tiger vs 1920's 38 button Jeffries Bros copy.mp3D:G Tassie 38 button Tiger vs 1920's 38 button Jeffries Bros copy.mp3. Both instruments are tuned to A442, so a little sharp, and recorded at exactly the same settings including the same input volume. What do you think? David Well David, shall I stick my neck out and make a first comment? (I think your post was slightly confusing with what seems to be 2 links to the same file - I guess some, like me thought at first they were two files comparing the two instruments...) I'm assuming the Jeffries Bros comes in at 1:26? To me the Jeffries sounds brighter and less restrained than your instrument, but it's very difficult to say without playing it myself. I presume the slightly nasel sounding notes around 1:16 are the LH inboard reeds (thumb and "4th" row buttons) ? I do think it's great that you've started with a 38 button model - with the exception of Jurgen Suttner, few modern makers have attempted that. Adrian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Hornett Posted December 16, 2014 Author Share Posted December 16, 2014 Hi Adrian, yes, sorry about the confusion, I have absolutely no idea why it posted twice, the first time it refused and said the file was too big, I checked the file size and then reposted, and lo and behold two postings! Yes, all your observations are correct, the Jeffries is brighter, (To my ears, I would say more raucous, -- sacrilegious?), and the sound travels better, especially in a session. Because of the Jeffrie's thinner reeds it is more easy to play. Mine has wider, and parallel reeds, hence more pressure and a slightly nasal sound: in fact I have a brass reeded Crabb and the sound is similar, not the edge of a steel reeded instrument, but the Tiger is less sweet than the Crabb. But all this aside, it does accompany well, not so much a constant screamer, as a nasal sniffer I suppose. Thankyou for your comments, I have tried to posted a sound bite without the jeffries G and D row. But unfortunately it seems I have exceeded my allotted space for attachments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce McCaskey Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 (edited) Many are posting their audio files to Sound Cloud these days and then just putting links to those files here. That way you don't use up your local concertina.net storage allotment when you post multiple audio files. By the way, love the look of this instrument. I imagine the sound will change a bit after a few hundred hours of playing but I think it has a good start. Edited December 17, 2014 by Bruce McCaskey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Hornett Posted December 17, 2014 Author Share Posted December 17, 2014 Thank you Bruce. I will ask my son re sound cloud, seems a grand idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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