Henk van Aalten Posted April 24, 2006 Posted April 24, 2006 So since last Friday I am the proud owner of a Wakker W-A1 with black raised hardwood ends. I tried to make a decent photo, but black shining subjects with reflections of light are difficult! Will try to make a better one in future. On top of that I did not take to much time to make pictures.. there were better things to do like playing this beauty. In order to follow the developments in sound of this instrument, I made a reproducible simple recording set-up and played (and recorded) without caring for mistakes in one take the scale C and G, followed by a hornpipe and a slip jig. You can listen to this test-recording (2.1 Mb, 128kps) and in future I will repeat and record the same sound set. Although this concertina is completely new and not "broken in" at all, my impressions are very postive. Knowing that the performance will improve in time, I have high expectations of this instrument. To finish this message: I really enjoyed the contacts I had with Wim and all his advice about breaking in and taking care of the instrument.
Chris Timson Posted April 24, 2006 Posted April 24, 2006 I do hope you're taking it to the Scandinavian Squeeze In. Sure is purdy! Chris
Henk van Aalten Posted April 24, 2006 Author Posted April 24, 2006 I do hope you're taking it to the Scandinavian Squeeze In. Sure is purdy! Chris I will bring this one to the SSI as well as some Duvel to celebrate the event as well as "30 years living in sin" (if I remember well)
Graham Collicutt Posted April 24, 2006 Posted April 24, 2006 So since last Friday I am the proud owner of a Wakker W-A1 with black raised hardwood ends. I tried to make a decent photo, but black shining subjects with reflections of light are difficult! Will try to make a better one in future. On top of that I did not take to much time to make pictures.. there were better things to do like playing this beauty. In order to follow the developments in sound of this instrument, I made a reproducible simple recording set-up and played (and recorded) without caring for mistakes in one take the scale C and G, followed by a hornpipe and a slip jig. You can listen to this test-recording (2.1 Mb, 128kps) and in future I will repeat and record the same sound set. Although this concertina is completely new and not "broken in" at all, my impressions are very postive. Knowing that the performance will improve in time, I have high expectations of this instrument. To finish this message: I really enjoyed the contacts I had with Wim and all his advice about breaking in and taking care of the instrument. Thanks for posting the test recording. As someone who has placed an order for a G/D from Wim I am very pleased to hear one for the first time. I have a Phoenix so I did know I shouldn't be disappointed. As the lightness of the Phoenix is one of it's assets I would be interested to know the weight. If you could re-record The Old Resting Chair it would display it's performance of the lower octave and would be a good guide to how the G/D will sound. Graham
Henk van Aalten Posted April 24, 2006 Author Posted April 24, 2006 Thanks for posting the test recording. As someone who has placed an order for a G/D from Wim I am very pleased to hear one for the first time. I have a Phoenix so I did know I shouldn't be disappointed. As the lightness of the Phoenix is one of it's assets I would be interested to know the weight. If you could re-record The Old Resting Chair it would display it's performance of the lower octave and would be a good guide to how the G/D will sound. Graham Graham To avoid any misunderstanding, my W-A1 is a C/G. FYI: the weight is 1090 gram, which is (as far as I know) rather low. My original recording of the resting chair is on a G/D Marcus. I might give it a (low) try on my W-A1.
Graham Collicutt Posted April 24, 2006 Posted April 24, 2006 Thanks for posting the test recording. As someone who has placed an order for a G/D from Wim I am very pleased to hear one for the first time. I have a Phoenix so I did know I shouldn't be disappointed. As the lightness of the Phoenix is one of it's assets I would be interested to know the weight. If you could re-record The Old Resting Chair it would display it's performance of the lower octave and would be a good guide to how the G/D will sound. Graham Graham To avoid any misunderstanding, my W-A1 is a C/G. FYI: the weight is 1090 gram, which is (as far as I know) rather low. My original recording of the resting chair is on a G/D Marcus. I might give it a (low) try on my W-A1. Sorry, I know the new one is C/G but wasn't checking to see what you played The Old Resting Chair on. My Phoenix, open fretwork, flat veneered ends weighs 1010 gram (aprox. dubious kitchen scales). Thankyou for info. Graham
bill_mchale Posted April 24, 2006 Posted April 24, 2006 Darn it, why couldn't I have seen this post when I was at home.... my work computer doesn't have any speakers (not counting the internal one suitable only for beeps) on it. And I won't get home until 11:00 or so tonight. Sigh. It looks great Henk. -- Bill
Alan Miller Posted April 24, 2006 Posted April 24, 2006 As the happy recipient of Wakker W-A1 #0641 today, I join in Henk's observations. Mine is also a raised end (radial reed pan). It has Jeffries fingering and 7 all leather bellows. From my first few minutes with the Wakker I feel that it has excellent dynamics and responsiveness. I know that its tone will change with playing, but as of now I find it well balanced and very pleasing. I think this comes through on Henk's music files. The bellows are tight and have lots of air as evidenced by the fact that I can sustain a note (A on C row LH)that is plainly audible for over a minute on one bellows draw. The handrest is a bit higher than on other concertinas, and it has a cushion on top. I find this handy in not having to bend my fingers back to reach the inside row. (I think the distance from the handrest to the inside row on the Wakker is a little less than on my Suttner, but the Suttner handrest is slightly farther from the inside row than any other concertina I have played. The Wakker is the same as most concertinas I have seen in the distance from the handrest to the inside row.) I was surprised by the light weight of the Wakker, and find myself unintentionally lifting it off me leg because it is so light. By my scale it is 2 lbs 8.5 ounces which converts to 1148 grams. This is almost 12 ounces lighter than my Suttner A2 (metal ends). [Just to avoid any misunderstanding, I also think the Suttner is an excellent instrument, and I don't mean any criticism of it.] To sum it up, my first impression is that this is an instrument that I will have lots of fun breaking in, and I expect to enjoy it for many years. Plus Wim is an excellent person to talk to about the whole subject (like so many people in our group). I have taken enough time away from it to write this note. Now I have to get the Wakker back in my hands.
Nigel Posted April 24, 2006 Posted April 24, 2006 Many congratulations Henk. It certainly looks beautiful. I hope you'll be very happy together for many, many years.
Henrik Müller Posted April 25, 2006 Posted April 25, 2006 Congratulations, Henk! It looks brilliant - looking forward to seeing it soon! Show me yours, and I'll show you mine . Can't help a quick jump into another thread: IMHO, raised ends means good looks - a way of adding a little "roundness" to an otherwise very angular object. Comfort? Maybe. Acoustics? May be measurable, maybe not - so many other things affects sound. Sorry - back on thread track! I am curious about the French polishing. I have a - maybe wrong - idea that the surface is quite sensitive to humidity, e.g., finger prints, etc. Did Wim have any recommendations? /Henrik
m3838 Posted April 25, 2006 Posted April 25, 2006 "! I am curious about the French polishing. I have a - maybe wrong - idea that the surface is quite sensitive to ... finger prints, etc." I found it to be the case presicely. For this reason I really liked Morse Ceili. It had this deliberate look of a work horse instrument, a field weapon, high quality without the flash. And it felt a bit warmer to the touch.
bill_mchale Posted April 26, 2006 Posted April 26, 2006 ok, finally got a chance to listen to the clip... It sounds really great. Ok, with Wakker into the Anglos with Traditional Reeds, and with Kennsington going public this year, 2006 is shaping up to be a very good year for Concertina fans. Maybe with a couple of more makers people will not have to consistently wait for several years to get a concertina that has that traditional sound . Now must resist putting an order in.. must resist... -- Bill
Chris Rose Posted April 28, 2006 Posted April 28, 2006 So since last Friday I am the proud owner of a Wakker W-A1 with black raised hardwood ends..... Beautiful! Congratulations Henk.. Not to take the moment away...but I just thought I would mention that I received mine as well in this batch. It is the W-A2 with flat amboyna ends and a Wheatstone layout. I believe the voice is a little different, perhaps a bit more "woody" sounding. I'm not really a good player, but will get a sound clip up for comparison sake. I think the difference can be heard. I really love it, it's keeping me awake! Cheers everyone, I'm sure we all love our individual instruments.
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