Irish Concertina Company "vintage"

[Doug Barr]

Anyone have any experience/opinions with theses instruments?

Doug

[RP3]

Doug, I haven't had any first hand experience with them, but in case you hadn't had time to research them, the Irish Concertina Co. is something started up or heavily associated with Sean Garvey of AllAboutAccordions -- his shop in Dublin. The Irish Concertina Co has a website that discusses this Vintage model but they do not provide any photos of the reeds used in this model. In one part of the website they refer to brass plated (their spelling, not mine) reeds and in another they say brass plates.... steel tongues. Without photos I would be cautious about giving too much credit to the text. But I did listen to one of the associated videos, and the instrument sounded good. Internet audio is always suspect, so -- as you already know-- an in-hand examination is best. The price is €3,300 which is $3,465 but there may be 22% VAT in the Euro cost, so further investigation is warranted here too. Since this model is a relatively new product and their prior efforts have been accordion reeded models only, expectations shouldn't be too high. But again, it sounded good on the video. So, who's going to be first to take a chance or fly over to Dublin to try one out?

 

Ross Schlabach

[Patrick McMahon]

My initial interpretation was that the reeds are accordion style but mounted on brass plates, instead of aluminium.

That was a guess, but it would be an interesting development if they were.

 

Of course, how they are attached to the wood is as important as what they are made of. They show that the reeds are single, not double, and fit in a dovetailed slot. So maybe they are traditional concertina reeds in every respect. That's what comes over from the pictures, so why don't they make it a bit clearer?

They could have just said, reeds made in the Wheatstone/Jeffries style, or in the style of vintage concertinas from England.

That's how I would market them. But maybe the actual reed tongues are accordion reeds, with the brass plates custom made.

 

I'd love to know.

 

Edit : After watching a few of the videos, they seem to have a good authentic concertina sound, and describe the vintage ones as having traditionally made reeds.

Edited November 29, 2016 by Patrick McMahon

[Jake Middleton-Metcalfe]

My initial interpretation was that the reeds are accordion style but mounted on brass plates, instead of aluminium.

That was a guess, but it would be an interesting development if they were.

 

Of course, how they are attached to the wood is as important as what they are made of. They show that the reeds are single, not double, and fit in a dovetailed slot. So maybe they are traditional concertina reeds in every respect. That's what comes over from the pictures, so why don't they make it a bit clearer?

They could have just said, reeds made in the Wheatstone/Jeffries style, or in the style of vintage concertinas from England.

That's how I would market them. But maybe the actual reed tongues are accordion reeds, with the brass plates custom made.

 

I'd love to know.

 

Edit : After watching a few of the videos, they seem to have a good authentic concertina sound, and describe the vintage ones as having traditionally made reeds.

 

 

well you can buy concertina reeds of a sort here:

http://www.harmonikas.cz/en/dix-concertina-1#obsah

 

I don't mean to suggest that is whats in the instruments, I have no idea. They have been discussed here before, the general consensus being that after some slight modifications you can get great results. I have never actually tried an instrument built around them though.

Edited November 29, 2016 by Jake of Hertford

[Jillser Nic Amhlaoibh]

I just saw an ad for their "Vintage" model in Irish Music Magazine and it states that it has concertina reeds. I think their "Clare" model is the one with accordion reeds.

[Paul Read]

It would be interesting to see the reeds. I wonder if they are the Czech (or Slovak) ones, riveted tongues and cut to shape. Maybe someone can come up with a picture. They do seem to be a little critical of vintage instruments and the competition on their web site.

[Paul Read]

Does anyone know if these guys make their own reeds or are they the ones from the Czech republic (or Slovakia, not sure which) that others are using?