Woody Posted September 14, 2008 Share Posted September 14, 2008 take your time over the next year trying any concertinas that you can. Hobgoblin & The Music Room (not to be confused with Musicroom) normally can be found around bigger folk festivals with some Concertinas available for trying. My opinions of what I wanted changed quite a bit from my first ideas - I ended up with a Norman which I'm delighted with. The process was that I put down a relatively small deposit and then that 'fixed' the price, though I had a wait of about 14 months until it was ready. I'll have find a big folk festival to go to Try emailing them if you want to find out where they'll be. Sometimes makers like Marcus music turn up as well. At £50 per month you'll have £600 in a year which is probably not enough to make a dramatic step up in quality if buying new. If you can wait 18 months you'll have £900 which is starting to get in the ball park - you'll probably be looking at spending £1000+ . It was £50 a week rather than a month....12x50 is....erm...wait a mo just got to get out my calculator. Doh! Sorry about that. At £2600 in a year you'll have a good choice. With the price range you're talking about I wouldn't discount buying a quality used instrument. Chris Algar at Barleycorn would probably be the person to see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fidjit Posted September 14, 2008 Share Posted September 14, 2008 I have a cunning plan....I'm currently putting by £50 a week and hopfully in a year I will be worthy enough (and saved enough) to buy a more expensive better quality concertina. Is this a good plan? I thought it might be good motivation for me to have a 'reward' if I keep at it and get half decent at playing. btw. are concertina prices going up or down? They'll be a few perhaps a lot to look at here. http://www.eatmt.org.uk/melodeons_in_mid_s..._&_more.htm take your time. Chas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LDT Posted September 14, 2008 Author Share Posted September 14, 2008 £50 is my weekly 'disposable income'. the amount I allow my self to spend on 'fun' stuff....didn't get off to a good start having gone to see proms in the park this weekend..I had a look round camden marked and spend £30 on a jacket...naughty me. I'll start proper next week...promise Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asdormire Posted September 14, 2008 Share Posted September 14, 2008 £50 is my weekly 'disposable income'. the amount I allow my self to spend on 'fun' stuff....didn't get off to a good start having gone to see proms in the park this weekend..I had a look round camden marked and spend £30 on a jacket...naughty me.I'll start proper next week...promise Don't keep yourself from having other fun by putting everything away to buy that new concertina, maybe put away half that a week, and have some money to go to a festival or a performance occasionally to see other folks play and get an idea what all is out there. Plus there is always that jacket or hat or music book that appears that you just have to have. Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wntrmute Posted September 14, 2008 Share Posted September 14, 2008 Don't spend money on clothes trying to keep up with the fashion. If you wait long enough then your current wardrobe becomes 'vintage' and comes back in style. So you aren't a year or two behind the fashion -- you're just a decade ahead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LDT Posted September 14, 2008 Author Share Posted September 14, 2008 Plus there is always that jacket or hat or music book that appears that you just have to have. that is suspiciously accurate...I got a jacket and a hat yesterday. lol! Don't spend money on clothes trying to keep up with the fashion. If you wait long enough then your current wardrobe becomes 'vintage' and comes back in style. So you aren't a year or two behind the fashion -- you're just a decade ahead I got the jacket coz my old one doesn't fit coz I've lost weight....and it is beautiful...if anything its vintage style Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LDT Posted September 15, 2008 Author Share Posted September 15, 2008 anyway back on topic. I was thinking about my top end of budget for a new concertina in a years time will be £2400. I hope prices don't go up too much. Being quite the novice I'm open to reccomendations. I'd prefer a new concertina rather than 'vintage'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anglo-Irishman Posted September 15, 2008 Share Posted September 15, 2008 anyway back on topic.I was thinking about my top end of budget for a new concertina in a years time will be £2400. I hope prices don't go up too much. Being quite the novice I'm open to reccomendations. I'd prefer a new concertina rather than 'vintage'. Hi, LDT, At that rate, you might just make it! I was just looking at Juergen Suttner's site - he's one of the recognised makers of "good", traditionally reeded concertinas - and his low-end model, a 30-button Anglo, now costs 3190 Euros, which works out at 2533 GBP. If you want to make your mouth water over new concertinas, take a look: http://www.suttnerconcertinas.com/ . Suttner is located here in Germany, but his site is in English. And he has a link to a currency converter - prices look higher in Euros than in GBPs By the way, he freezes the price at time of ordering (with the proviso that any increase in V.A.T. will be passed on). This is significant, because he has a current delivery time of 48 months (yes, 4 years )! Goodness only knows what his entry model will cost by that time! Cheers, John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LDT Posted September 15, 2008 Author Share Posted September 15, 2008 (edited) At that rate, you might just make it! I might have more if I remember to transfer it to my ISA. Or stick it in a high interest account. I was just looking at Juergen Suttner's site - he's one of the recognised makers of "good", traditionally reeded concertinas - and his low-end model, a 30-button Anglo, now costs 3190 Euros, which works out at 2533 GBP. If you want to make your mouth water over new concertinas, take a look: http://www.suttnerconcertinas.com/ . Suttner is located here in Germany, but his site is in English. And he has a link to a currency converter - prices look higher in Euros than in GBPs By the way, he freezes the price at time of ordering (with the proviso that any increase in V.A.T. will be passed on). This is significant, because he has a current delivery time of 48 months (yes, 4 years )! Goodness only knows what his entry model will cost by that time! ooh, they are nice. *drool* in four years I'd have a lot more to spend. lol! quick questions what's the whole Wheatstone or Jefferies thing? Is there a significant difference? Edited September 15, 2008 by LDT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wntrmute Posted September 15, 2008 Share Posted September 15, 2008 Look here for a description of the Wheatstone/Lachnal/Bastari layout vs. Jeffries. The biggest difference is the right hand third row. You probably have on your current box (push/pull): C#/D# A/G G#/Bb C#/D# A/F and on the highest note of the G row B/F# I think a Jeffries would have: D#/C# C#/D# G#/G C#/Bb A/D and on the highest note of the G row F#/F. The A on the right is the same A as on the second button on the Lachnal layout, the D is the same D as on the push on the middle button on the G row. Or something like that, mostly, kinda, sorta. I think the inclusion of the C# on both push and pull is very useful to those who play in the key of D or A alot -- at least there are a fair number of people who seem to strongly prefer it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Peters Posted September 15, 2008 Share Posted September 15, 2008 I think the inclusion of the C# on both push and pull is very useful to those who play in the key of D or A alot -- at least there are a fair number of people who seem to strongly prefer it. I would guess that the people who prefer Jeffries system are most likely playing Irish style. For chorded 'English' style, that A/G reversal on button 2 is really handy. Having the push A stuck on the end of the top row wouldn't suit me at all. So we're back to your other question about the style you choose to play in...... Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LDT Posted September 16, 2008 Author Share Posted September 16, 2008 I think the inclusion of the C# on both push and pull is very useful to those who play in the key of D or A alot -- at least there are a fair number of people who seem to strongly prefer it. I would guess that the people who prefer Jeffries system are most likely playing Irish style. For chorded 'English' style, that A/G reversal on button 2 is really handy. Having the push A stuck on the end of the top row wouldn't suit me at all. So we're back to your other question about the style you choose to play in...... Brian I want to play both (greedy I know) but I don't want to be put in a (squeeze) box style wise. I'm finding playing with chords very difficult and fustrating but then I've only managed to learn a couple of simple songs so I'm not at the level to judge yet. Maybe if I had a different layout it would be easier I don't know. *sigh* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian Posted September 16, 2008 Share Posted September 16, 2008 Maybe if I had a different layout it would be easier I don't know. *sigh* Easiest would be your CD-Player. No, that's not the solution. Just enjoy what you can play and keep on playing. The rest will follow later. Sebastian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anglo-Irishman Posted September 16, 2008 Share Posted September 16, 2008 Maybe if I had a different layout it would be easier I don't know. *sigh* Easiest would be your CD-Player. No, that's not the solution. Just enjoy what you can play and keep on playing. The rest will follow later. Sebastian LDT, I think this is a very good piece of advice. (Not the bit about the CD player - that was just a joke.) The fact is, that there have ben anglos with Wheatstone accidentals and anglos with Jeffries accidentals for generations now. If one of them had been really cramping, it would have died out long ago, or you'd notice a distinct difference in the prices for them today. My 30-k anglo has Wheatstone accidentals, not by choice, but because it was the only thing available in my area at that time. (To be quite honest, I didn't hear about the Wheatstone/Jeffries dichotomy until much later. ) It may be that some of the "twiddly bits" that I now build into my arrangements are influenced by the layout. But on the other hand, if I'd stumbled over a Jeffries, I'd probably have built in different "twiddly bits" that would have matched my basic style just as well. Like Sebastian says - keep playing, and see what happens! It's early days yet Cheers, John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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