intermediate advice

[chris rowe]

I have been playing a button accordeon previously and recently purchased an old (made in Germany East) Stagi.  anglo,  it has been a starter but you certainly get what you pay for ! Concertinas are pretty hard to find in Australia, so I have no chance to go into a music store and try different instruments, concertinas rarely coming up for sale on the net., so I'm looking to import a good quality intermediate , such as a Clover, Minstrel, Swan etc. ????. I'm not only looking at new, I would be very pleased to find a pre-owned instrument. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Geoff W.]

Hi Chris, upgrading from a modest instrument to a good quality one is a huge difference. I've seen good descriptions here that an intermediate guitar player on a $200 vs $2000 guitar will sound more or less the same, but that price difference in concertinas makes a huge difference in playability.

 

I will be selling my upgraded Minstrel in a week or two if you'd be interested in seeing more pics or hearing it, send me a DM!

[Geoff W.]

I'll double post so not as to make my only contribution a pointer at my for sale ad...

 

Since you're considering the merits of the various intermediate instruments, here is what Wim says about the differences between the Minstrel and the Clover:

 

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Regarding the difference between the Minstrel and Clover: there are a lot of differences in airflow values, reed amplitude, action, etc.. Reeds account only for maybe 20% of the difference.
 

The clover features a slightly more precise design and tonal woods (quartered european maple reed pans, Engelmann spruce soundboards) which produce a richer sound.

 

So the difference is: more refined sound, better performance characteristics because of flow pattern and resistance free bellows, action and buttons identical to high end Wakker concertinas.  

 

For some people that justifies the higher price, others are just as happy with their Minstrel.

 

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Custom Clovers are Clover models with  ‘wakker concertinas’ construction (tonal woods, acoustically invisible  hide glue and french polish. The use of the aged tonal woods result in a more refined sound.  Popular end woods are Padouk, english walnut/Claro walnut, etc.