Concertina playability

[Isadhaha]

I'm thinking about upgrading concertinas, but am a little unsure about what the extra upgrade is going to get me. 

 

I currently have a Morse Ceili. The buttons respond fast, better than anything I've ever tried (a lot of the vintage instruments I've tried don't seem to have great response in the buttons, making it hard to do ornaments). The response in the bellows is definitely far better than the Wren I started on, but I wonder if a better concertina will get me better action or response there. I have trouble playing reels up to 120 on the Morse, and I wonder if a good modern concertina (Suttner?) would be a good option. 

 

I know that high-end concertinas have real concertina reeds (as opposed to the Morse), and I like the sound of concertina reeds better. But do these reeds make the instrument more playable at a high level? Or is there something else about better concertinas that makes them more playable?

 

If it was just about the difference between the sound of the reeds, I would hold off on spending the extra 2 or 3 k (after selling the Morse) that it would take to get a high-end instrument. So how would a good modern-built instrument compare in playability to the Morse I have now?

 

Any advice on this is appreciated!

[Jim Besser]

My experience : the Morse C/G is a fast and very playable instrument; I can play it interchangeably with my good vintage instrument and don't see much of a difference when playing fast reels.

 

Every hybrid G/D I've played, including the Morse, is a little harder to play fast than a really good vintage box.  I feel a significant difference between my G/D Morse and my Jeffries.  That said, I've played many contra dances and ceilidhs with the Morse G/D.

 

So strictly in terms of playability, I don't think you'd gain very much. Sound, of course, is a different matter entirely.

[Halifax]

I did hear from one player that when he upgraded, everything got easier, and he played much better. But then, after a few years, he was reunited with his old instrument and he was amazed at how much it had improved.