40key? Stagi? or something else.

[James Lin]

Hi everyone,

 

I'm looking for some advice on upgrading my instrument. I truly love the concertina and enjoy playing various genres of music, but I’m currently stuck with a 20-key Anglo. I’m finding it increasingly frustrating because so many tunes I love are simply unplayable due to the missing accidentals. It’s actually becoming quite painful to feel so limited by my instrument.

 

I’ve been looking at the Stagi 40-key Anglo. On paper, it seems like the most affordable way to get the full range of notes I need. However, I’ve read many negative comments about Stagi’s build quality. The dilemma is that I haven't been able to find any other 40-key options in a similar price bracket.

 

I would love to hear your thoughts on a few things:

Is the Stagi 40-key really as problematic as people say? If I only plan to play for personal enjoyment, can I "live with" its quirks?

Are there any other alternatives? are there any Chinese brands that are making decent 40-key instruments now?

Does anyone know of good concertina shops in Japan? I happen to be traveling there at the end of this year and was wondering if I might find better deals there.

 

I’m not in a rush to buy right this second, but I want to start planning for the future so I can finally play the music I love without compromise. Thanks in advance for your help!

[Tiposx]

It might be worth considering a 30 key Anglo instead of 40. There would be a much wider choice of instruments, in quality and in price. If you buy a 30 button concertina, but find that you need more, then you should be able to sell or trade up easily enough

Good luck with your quest.

Tiposx

[hjcjones]

A 40-button doesn't give you many more notes than a 30, mostly what it gives you is more reversals (ie the same note appears in different places on the keyboard). This gives you more playing options, which I certainly find very useful, but doesn't really extend the range significantly. I think you might get better value from a better-quality 30 button than a lower-quality 40 button. Coming from a 20 button you'll find that liberating. You can always trade up again later if you decide you really want 40 buttons.

[David Lay]

There are post expressing great frustration with ordering from Stagi.  You should read those posts unless you have found one through a dealer who actually has one.

[SIMON GABRIELOW]

A 30 button will give you a good 3 octaves and more in range, with a couple extra notes for G and C key range ( assuming you had one in G and C that is).

I have only had my one 30 key concertina ( 27 plus years) and have found very few limitations, in choice of music, that can be played on it.

All the key tones can be accommodated ( in my experience).

Mine is from 1999 period ( Hohner brand then made by Stagi via Brunner Musica in Italy) before they were taken over by others) so cannot say for certain over how  newer ones play.

Edited February 24 by SIMON GABRIELOW

[RatFace]

I've recently had some communication with Stagi as I moderate a Facebook group, which he was spamming with unsolicited adverts in response to lots of posts. It was almost impossible to decipher his messages (I had requested multiple times that he write in Italian), and he took absolutely no notice of anything I said. Bizarrely, towards the end of the exchange, he started offering me a great price if I wanted to buy a concertina from him. I would strongly advise staying well clear of new instruments by Stagi (second-hand might be OK if you got one from the OK period).

 

See the thread here on c.net. 

 

I would not be surprised if he bought the business back, and now has a stock of instruments and no plans to manufacture, and is now trying to shift that stock. Correct me if I'm wrong... his profile here. 

[wschruba]

I have both a 38 key Lachenal, and a 40 key Bastari (aka, Italian-style Anglo).  I also have several 30 button concertinas of various types, hybrid, traditional, and "full Italian".  The majority of what I play (C Major/modal, G Major/minor/dorian/mixolydian, E modal, D Major/modal, F major/modal) can be played convincingly enough with a 30-button C/G...that said, I can get more of the harmonics that I want in accompaniment by using the larger compass instruments.  You will inevitably be missing "just that one note" no matter what you are playing.

 

In ensemble, the smaller instrument has few of those drawbacks.  As noted above, you don't really "gain" notes past a 30-button model, but it opens up many accidentals in both directions, quite a boon for many of the key groupings listed above...

[jgarber760]

I have a friend who has a handmade 38 or 40 button concertina made by an excellent South African maker and he let me try it. My impression was that it was very good for playing in flat keys as there was an extra row on other sides. It was also very heavy as you can imagine. Probably about twice as heavy as my 30 button.