Looking For Beginner Anglo

[Trjones1]

I've been wanting to learn the concertina for a while now and just found this site. I am looking for a beginner concertina and money is an issue for me right now. I'm hoping to find something for less than $150.

 

I'm looking at the Hohner 20 button anglo on Musician's Friend for that amount, but if I could get one used for less or if I could get a slightly better model for that amount it would really help me out. Does anybody have a decent beginner instrument they are looking to get rid of for a reasonable price? Or can you steer me in the right direction for this type of thing?

 

I'm in Massachusetts and could pick up an instrument in southern New England or eastern New York or I would pay for shipping and insurance. Thanks for any help anyone can give me.

[Richard Morse]

There's a lot of helpful discussion on this site about low-end concertinas and beginners. Unfortunately the search function on this site isn't very good.... Still - you can give that a shot. My synopisi is that...

 

Starting concertina with little info and dough is tough. There are 3 types of concertinas (anglo, English, duet), each with several subtypes. Most people find one type easier to learn and play than the others (which type seems do depend on how you're "wired" as opposed to how the concertina is designed/constructed). Many genres of music are easier to play (and sound more "authentic"?) on one or the other types of concertina....

 

As you can see, just figuring out which type of concertina to get can be a daunting, at least figuring it out by yourself. Let us know what other instruments you play (if any) the types of music you like, and what you'd like to play on concertina and we can help you make the concertina choice easy. Of course you can always get a different type of concertina, but at least with help here the chance of you going the "wrong" direction will be minimized.

 

If you are limited to $150, about the only type of concertina you can get is an anglo or a very used English. Unless you get your concertina from a reputable dealer or someone who really knows concertinas, you will probably be getting one that is in marginal to unplayable condition. Beware!

 

Also beware that concertinas in that price range are much more difficult to play than better ones are. Beginners usually realize a cheap box's limitations in short order and get a better one within a few months, or become frustrated with it and give it up for some other type of instrument. Either way, your $150 is pretty much history.

 

Besides buying an inexpensive box or having a friend lend you a nice box, you can rent one. That way you can try several good shape/reasonable quality concertinas for several months for that price. By then you'll have a very good idea of which way you'd like to go and part of that rental fee will go toward getting the box (at least that's the way The Button Box does its rentals.

 

You may consider checking them out (and all the types and qualities of concertinas) as they are in your area (or state at least). Also consider going to the Northeast Squeeze-In, a major concertina event also in MA which is coming up next month!

[Trjones1]

Richard,

Thanks for your response. $150 is limiting and I know from learning other instruments that a cheap beginner instrument can be an impediment. I am going to try to make it to the Button Box at some point soon. It's about 3 hours from my house, but I drive down I-90 every now and then to go to upstate New York. If partial rental fees go towards the cost of the concertina I might end up going that route. I'll also go to the Squeeze-In and see what I can learn.

Edited August 9, 2005 by Trjones1

[bill_mchale]

Trjones, where are you located? If you say, you never know, there might be a C-netter local to you who can help you in some way.

 

The really sad thing about concertinas is that the curve regarding the quality and playability of instruments is amazingly steep. The new concertinas that you get for $150 are exceedingly awkward to play (A friend picked up a Chinese 30b that was set up such that I literally could not reach the air button while playing). The Stagis are much better.. at least when you get into the $300-700 range but even then they are much less responsive than they should be and the bellows are often too stiff and leaky. Finally when you get to the instruments made by Richard, Frank Edgley and Bob Tedrow (all of whom post here from time to time) does the curve start to level off. These instruments are, IMHO, all excellent and other than tone I think you gain only a little by moving up to the Dipper and Suttners (and even then the Tone of the Morse, Tedrow and Edgley concertinas are excellent.. just a little different).

 

--

Bill

[Boney]

Well, I'm selling the first concertina I ever got, a cheap Chinese 30-button Anglo jobbie. I'm asking $120 including shipping to the USA. Send me an email if you're interested, you can have first dibs. It has the Wheatstone/Lachenal layout for the accidental (top) row.

 

Some negatives: It is a bit of a pain to play compared to my Geuns-Wakker (or any other mid-level or better concertina). It moves a bit stiffly, and requires more pressure to play. The reeds speak a bit slower. The tone is a bit cheezy. It looks kinda cheap and plasticy. The bellows hold a fair amount less air than my 7-fold Geuns-Wakker bellows. The strap isn't that comfortable. The air button is a bit slow. The buttons are a bit close to the handstrap, so it's not for someone with large hands. The A reed on the far right of the middle row on the left hand is sometimes slow to speak (I haven't done anything to try to fix it). The "CScale.mp3" file below shows the A reed speaking OK but a bit slow. Playing "Constant Billy" in C seems to somehow bring out the problem (it may have to do with changing bellows direction?), so check out "Billy.mp3" below which shows it acting up. (I could of course have used the A reed on the G row instead).

 

On the positives: it's cheap! The air button actually falls under my thumb well. It's fairly airtight. I can get tunes out of it OK, I wouldn't say it discouraged me from playing as a beginner (although it would now). I have played some concertinas that were much more difficult to play (including some Stagis), and had worse button placements. It sounds better than those plastic Hohners (I think). It includes a soft case!

 

Pictures:

http://concertina.JeffLeff.com/Chinese/ConcLft.jpg

http://concertina.JeffLeff.com/Chinese/ConcRgt.jpg

http://concertina.JeffLeff.com/Chinese/ConcOpen.jpg

http://concertina.JeffLeff.com/Chinese/ConcClosed.jpg

http://concertina.JeffLeff.com/Chinese/ConcInBag.jpg

http://concertina.JeffLeff.com/Chinese/ConcBagZipped.jpg

 

Audio recordings:

http://concertina.JeffLeff.com/audio/Chinese/Keelman.mp3

http://concertina.JeffLeff.com/audio/Chinese/Ashokan.mp3

http://concertina.JeffLeff.com/audio/Chinese/Amsterdam.mp3

http://concertina.JeffLeff.com/audio/Chinese/Laurel.mp3

http://concertina.JeffLeff.com/audio/Chinese/CScale.mp3

http://concertina.JeffLeff.com/audio/Chinese/Billy.mp3

[Henk van Aalten]

Well, I'm selling the first concertina I ever got, a cheap Chinese 30-button Anglo jobbie...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Boney, you may call this a Chinese jobbie, but the sound and playability surprises me! The sound files ar a nice example of how a "Chinese jobbie" can sound, so I have included them in the Recorded Tunes Link Page.

[Boney]

Well, Mr. Trjones1 has declined the Chinese concertina pending a trip to the Button Box, so if anyone else is interested let me know. (I'll give this its own thread if there are no nibbles soon).