I've had a Wheatstone 48 key English concertina for a few years now and never played it with any seriousness. In fact it's been sitting on the bookshelf untouched for about ten years. I've decided that I ought to resurrect it and give it a go, to accompany songs, mainly playing chords. However, I've got Dupuytrens Contraction in both hands and my little fingers are almost bent double, making it damned hard to get them into the finger supports on either side. If I use my third fingers in the supports I'll only have two operational fingers on either side, which I know will give me some basic chords, but they would not sound as 'full' as they would if I played with three fingers . Now the question! I've seen something about neck straps/slings for concertinas and wonder if one of these would free all my fingers to use in playing. The 'tina is very old, made in 1857, and I'm told, worth up to £1000, so I dont want to be doing anything that would damage it or ruin it's appearance and value. Do these straps have to be screwed to the wooden ends? (Dont fancy doing that!) Any suggestions, opinions and advice would be most appreciated.

Regards

Andy