Question about Trinity College 30 button Anglo Concertina with a note out of tune.

[gerardo1000]

I am a 70 yrs old living in US who plays acoustic guitar, a bit of accordion, and I was interested in trying to learn the anglo concertina.

As a test to understand my interest in the instrument, and in order not to spend too much money upfront, I purchased from Amazon a Trinity College

black 30 buttons anglo concertina, knowing that if something is wrong with the instrument I have 40 days to return it, no question asked.

The concertina arrived today and, in all honesty, I was expecting the worst, but it does not seem like a bad instrument in my opinion, considering the affordable price. The bellows are tight, although they are made of fabric and not leather, all buttons work smoothly and don't get stuck. Sound is good, maybe, I guess, not as full as a professional concertina, but good. 

Tuning is fine, but there is an issue. One button on the left side, top row (see image attached) that is supposed to play A on push and Bb on pull,  play instead a perfect regular B on pull, instead of a B flat.

I checked all other buttons and they play in tune. My question, as a beginner, is: how much the missing B flat on that button will limit the use of this concertina? Your opinion is welcome, thanks!

 

Edited April 11, 2022 by gerardo1000

[SIMON GABRIELOW]

Maybe it could retuned ( that one reed).. I know that there is a way a technician can adjust a metal reed in one part to lower pitch; but I would leave that to a good craftsman, expert.. It will slightly limit your choice if you happen to want to make chords that would use B flat in them.. or a key with flats in it (like .. say F major, B flat, etc .) See what others will say, but maybe someone will tune that one reed for you? It's an expert job, don't do it yourself.

[Don Taylor]

I do not play Anglo but I would have thought not much, if at all, as you are unlikely to want to play in F on a C/G concertina and a low Bb is not going figure in the melody of many (any?) tunes that you are likely to want to play on that concertina.

 

 (Having said that Gary Coover recently published  a transcription of Luke Hillman's playing of Orange in Boom in F for a C/G Anglo concertina).

 

On the other hand, this is an accordion reeded instrument and a local accordion repair shop will be able to re-tune that reed for you, probably while you wait.

[gerardo1000]

Yes I guess that a tech could easily re-tune that reed. Problem is: I live in Michigan and, since the Castiglione Accordions shop closed years ago, there is absolutely no accordion/concertina repairman in the State. On the other hand, to ship the concertina out of state to have it fixed will defeat the purpose of having bought a budget instrument.

[seanc]

It does not seem like that big a deal..

 

however. This may be a “down the road” annoyance. Or could be an issue, if / when you trade up. Even if you never use it.

 

if it were me. If these are generally available from Amazon. I would  return it and replace it with a new, hopefully correct one. If the replacement comes in with a B instead of Bb, and you like it. I’d probably just live with it.

 

[Luke Hillman]

Speaking for myself, since it's an Amazon purchase, I'd swap it for a different one and hope it's got the Bb. F is one of my favorite keys to play in on a C/G. Lovely register, good bass options.

[malcolm clapp]

B natural is pretty superfluous here as you already have one on the middle row. The standard Bb would be of more use I agree, but also consider other options for this button. My own preference is for an Ab, allowing an interesting bass run down to G which I make use of quite a bit. Worth considering maybe...

[hjcjones]

12 hours ago, Don Taylor said:

I do not play Anglo but I would have thought not much, if at all, as you are unlikely to want to play in F on a C/G concertina

On the contrary, F and D min are great keys on C/G, especially for singing with. I'd really miss that Bb chord.

 

If the reed is perfectly in pitch at B nat this suggests to me that this was a deliberate modification by a previous owner, who presumably felt they had no use for Bb.  However I have seen criticisms of the quality of Trinity College instruments so it could just be a mistake.

 

That is the only Bb at that pitch on the instrument, whereas the B natural is already duplicated, so it will potentially limit the use of the instrument - how much that matters will depend on the individual player and the genres and styles they want to pursue.  A beginner probably won't miss it at first, especially if they intend to play only single-note melody without chords, but if they become more proficient and want to expand their playing it might become an issue - a "down the road annoyance" as SeanC put it.  My suggestion would be to fix it, or return it if possible for one in standard tuning.