1st Concertina Purchase

[zzzzlisa]

Hi! I have been following the concertina forums without registration and concertina which makes following the discussion difficult! I have been longing for a concertina for awhile but being in Iowa have not had access to trying one out. I've been looking at buying a Rochelle Anglo Concertina & slowly saving the $$ for it but this offer came up to my inquiry on Craigslist.

 

"35 year old Scholer Concertina. Item was manufactured in "Germany East" (as stated on the metal plate attached to the end of the concertina). Model

# CHU100. The concertina looks great and sounds even better. Barely used, this concertina comes in the original box.

 

I'm wondering if this instrument would be okay for a starting concertina player or if I should just hold out for the Rochelle Anglo?

 

Thanks for any advice & info!

Lisa-Ann

[hielandman]

Hello Lisa, welcome to C-net ! You are going to get a lot of different opinions on this, but here is mine.....If you can get this for fifty dollars or less, and it is in playable condition, then it wouldn't hurt as an affordable learners instrument, I myself learned on an identical looking Scholer many years ago. There are many problems associated with them however, one of them being the tuning they are in(or aren't in!), as depending on when it was made, it may/may not be in concert pitch. The one I learned on was ostensibly an Eb/Bb instrument, but it was not even in modern concert pitch(maybe it could have played along with highland bagpipes!) They also play slow and hard, you will develop muscles! But, you can learn to play on it, and it will make you really appreciate that Rochelle when you get it! Just make sure it works, and don' t pay him more than fifty bucks, that is my advice....take care,

Don

[Pam B]

I would have to agree, though it's a very basic beginners concertina, if the price is right - it will give you a chance to get a feel for this type of instrument and decide if it's really something you want to invest in. I started out with a "child's instrument" had it just long enough to know I wanted to stick with it, had no trouble selling it and upgrading....upgrading...let's see, I think I've upgraded 5 times now - the great thing is your playing improves each time you get a better instrument! : )

 

Good luck and have fun, whatever you decide on.

 

Pam

[Guest HallelujahAl!]

Hello Lisa-Ann, this is where I differ from the two previous postings. Hold out for the Rochelle. I list my reasons below:

 

1. It is, candidly, not the kind of thing you'd want to be learning on. There's more than a fighting chance it could actually put you off playing the concertina for life. I was given one- temporarily - and its only saving grace was that I was able to give it back.

 

2. Chances are its not going for what its worth (i.e less than $50 as the previous listers have noted) but more.

 

3. Put the money towards the Rochelle. You'll only regret it.

 

4. The air button on the right hand side is not sticking out of its hole as it should be. This indicates that something is amiss. I wonder about the veracity therefore of the statement: "The concertina looks great and sounds even better". At the very least - presuming the air button is actually still working (chances are that its stuck open actually) - you're going to have one or two problems with either too much or too little air getting into the box.

 

5. Finally, I would never buy a concertina without demanding to at least see a photo of the bellows (and I mean all round the bellows, and not just the best bit!). I'm a bit suspicious of photos of concertinas for sale that have the bellows tightly closed throughout. Can be hiding something.

 

Gosh, on reflection I'm a suspicious curmugeon aren't I? Not appropriate for a minister of religion at all. Seriously however, think twice about that depressed air button if nothing else.

God Bless. AL

[Chris Timson]

+1 for the Rochelle. Al puts the case for the prosecution very well.

 

Chris

[Theo]

And that cream coloured bellows looks wrong to me. I suspect its been painted to make it look good, which might conceal problems, and would also make the bellows even stiffer than usual.

 

Save up for the Rochelle!

[zzzzlisa]

Wow- You are all great and fast! I'm thinking that even though it might take awhile- I will save up for that Rochelle.

Lisa-Ann

[Chris Timson]

Wow- You are all great and fast! I'm thinking that even though it might take awhile- I will save up for that Rochelle.

But continue to hang around here while you're saving. As you've found, we don't bite and we enjoy the company. Welcome to the forum.

 

Chris

[Bill N]

And that cream coloured bellows looks wrong to me. I suspect its been painted to make it look good, which might conceal problems, and would also make the bellows even stiffer than usual.

 

Save up for the Rochelle!

 

Nope, that's the original colour of the bellows. I just bought a very similar Scholer ($45 Canadian), slightly newer I think as it's marked "Made in Germany" (pics in "history" forum).

 

The one I bought is in "as new" condition, and I imagine plays as well as it ever did. I bought it as a canoeing/camping concertina, it works just fine, and I kinda like the funky double reed sound BUT...

 

I am also just learning, and also have a Rochelle, and the Rochelle is much easier to play, and far more rewarding of practice. And it has those 10 extra keys. I'm learning a few Irish tunes, and I run out of notes on the Scholer.

 

It's worth the extra $300.

[hjcjones]

I think it's generally a pretty good guideline that a beginner on any instrument should get the best instrument they can possibly afford. It's tempting to start on something cheap for obvious reasons, but the reason better instruments cost more is that they're better to play, and sound better. This is particularly true of mechanical instruments like concertinas.

[Anglo-Irishman]

Hi! I have been following the concertina forums without registration and concertina which makes following the discussion difficult! I have been longing for a concertina for awhile but being in Iowa have not had access to trying one out. I've been looking at buying a Rochelle Anglo Concertina & slowly saving the $$ for it but this offer came up to my inquiry on Craigslist.

 

"35 year old Scholer Concertina. Item was manufactured in "Germany East" (as stated on the metal plate attached to the end of the concertina). Model

# CHU100. The concertina looks great and sounds even better. Barely used, this concertina comes in the original box.

 

I'm wondering if this instrument would be okay for a starting concertina player or if I should just hold out for the Rochelle Anglo?

 

Thanks for any advice & info!

Lisa-Ann

 

Lisa-Ann,

I have nothing against East German concertinas as such. My first concertina was one of those - though with imitation wood-grain finish rather than pearloid. I had a lot of fun with it. I even used it in public, as an organ substitute in a small country church! And it taught me the Anglo feeling, which later opened up the Bandoneon and the 30-button Anglo for me.

 

BUT it was new!

 

After perhaps 5 years, the double reeds had gone out of tune, and some buttons sounded more like a musette accordion. The specimen in your pics is ancient compared with mine when I got rid of it, and the cosmetic condition doesn't look as good. There's a bit of pearloid missing, and as Al said, that air button looks as if it had no spring.

 

I'd say a 20-button is fine for learning on, but there are newer ones on Ebay, which I'm sure are a better bet as to being in tune.

 

Whatever you start with, either you'll fall in love with it, or you'll wish you hadn't started. Hopefully, it will be the former

 

There's something in the idea that a beginner should have the best instrument they can afford. A good instrument (of any kind) is easier to play. On the other hand, there's always that uncertainty about whether you'll want to stick at it, and, to be honest, you can only exploit the playability of a superior instrument after a bit of experience. And think of the pleasure of upgrading from a really basic specimen to a moderately good one! I guess that's more of a boost than going from a moderately good one to a still-affordable good one

 

Ask not a Geminii for advice, for he will say "yes" and "no": but if you do ask, I'd say go for a new, entry-level one or a used, higher-level one. The fingering is the same.

 

Cheers,

John

Edited July 14, 2008 by Anglo-Irishman

[Anglo-Irishman]

I think it's generally a pretty good guideline that a beginner on any instrument should get the best instrument they can possibly afford. It's tempting to start on something cheap for obvious reasons, but the reason better instruments cost more is that they're better to play, and sound better. This is particularly true of mechanical instruments like concertinas.

 

Hm!

 

As a concertinist and fretted-string player, I'd say that a sub-optimal fretted instrument (guitar, mandolin, banjo - I play them all) is a lot more demoralising than a sub-optimal concertina (I've played one, and lived to tell the tale).

 

The motto of the RAF is "Per ardua ad astra" - through hardships to the stars. I'm glad that I learned the mandolin on an exquisite Neapolitan instrument, but learning Anglo on a cheap East German box didn't deter me

 

Cheers,

John

[John Wild]

The motto of the RAF is "Per ardua ad astra" - through hardships to the stars

 

While that may be the literal translation, I have always understood the colloquial meaning to be 'by hard work to the stars'

 

regards

 

John Wild

[Guest HallelujahAl!]

The motto of the RAF is "Per ardua ad astra" - through hardships to the stars

 

While that may be the literal translation, I have always understood the colloquial meaning to be 'by hard work to the stars'

 

regards

 

John Wild

 

Yep, that's always been my understanding of the latin 'ardua' - nominally hard work. Normal bog-standard work is of course 'Labore'. My motto for learning to play the EC was taken from St. Benedict's 'Ore et Labore' - 'work & pray'! Which is what I do now - 'pray' that my fingers hit the right buttons, and hope that its more 'labore' rather than 'ardua'.

Anyway - sorry for going off the thread a little - basically I think that there's a shed load of good advice been given here, and it seems Lisa-Ann, that you've already made your decision to hold on for someting a bit better. But as Chris says, please stick around and stay in contact, and let us know what you've got when you get it, and keep us up to date on your progress. God Bless, AL

[polkabeast]

I have to agree with Al about the depressed air button.

 

However, as a financially unstable and chronically unemployed person, I've had great luck with cheap concertinas. I just got an $80 Morelli off of e-bay, and it's doing the trick. It is in great tune (unless my bandmates are all out of tune), and sure, the bellows will wear out in a few years, which will be testimony to vigorous playing. Sure, I could save half a grand for a very good concertina or several thousand for an excellent concertina, but what am I gonna do in the meantime, itch frantically with withdrawl shivers?

 

All I know is that I have a $250 Hohner (and I know of the disrepute of Hohner concertinas on this board, and I fully agree) that I have to continually send back to Virginia Beach so that they can replace the reeds, which break left and right. I've NEVER had a reed break on my cheapo concertinas, and I'm a full contact player, to say the least.

 

If you're gonna learn the instrument, you'll probably be buying these things for the rest of your life, so, in my opinion, there's nothing much wrong with saving money at this point.