tuner for anglo concertinas

Subject: tuner for anglo concertinas
From: GUEST,Gin
Date: 01 Jul 12 - 02:37 PM

Does anyone know of a reputable company which would tune my concertina- I last had one done by a supposedly reputable company but it was not in tune when it was returned, and so I wonder if anyone can recommend another company? The concertina is based in Lancashire, England, so I would prefer that they remained on the mainland. I'm just fond of them and a touch nervous about parting with them!. Crabb is the make. Any suggestions?

Subject: RE: tuner for anglo concertinas
From: The Sandman
Date: 01 Jul 12 - 02:42 PM

Connors , dickinson or dipper, or geoffrey crabb, he is based in bishops strtfordand understandably loves crabbs

Subject: RE: tuner for anglo concertinas
From: bill\sables
Date: 01 Jul 12 - 03:19 PM

Theo Gibb at www.theboxplace.cvo.uk He lives near Newcastle and has a great reputation.

Subject: RE: tuner for anglo concertinas
From: GUEST,Howard Jones
Date: 01 Jul 12 - 04:58 PM

There's also Dave Elliott in Sheffield and Dave Prebble near Doncaster.

www.concertina.net is the place to go for information about concertinas.

Subject: RE: tuner for anglo concertinas
From: Alan Day
Date: 01 Jul 12 - 05:06 PM

I agree with Howard.
Al

Subject: RE: tuner for anglo concertinas
From: Ann N
Date: 01 Jul 12 - 05:33 PM

I can second Bill's recommendation for Theo Gibb at The Box Place :)

Theo did a superb job retuning an old pitch 4 voice melodeon to A=440 for me and if my concertina ever needed attention that's who it would go to :D

Subject: RE: tuner for anglo concertinas
From: The Sandman
Date: 01 Jul 12 - 05:37 PM

my advice is to go to a concertina maker, all the people i have suggested are makers.
Concertina net is a site that has a lot of enthusiastic concertina players, you are likely to get many conflicting opinions., it seems to be the nature of the site, I pay little attention to a lot of the differing opinions on different subjects that occur there, quite often they are talking hot air.
The repair section which is associated with Dave Elliot is an exception and is very good.

Subject: RE: tuner for anglo concertinas
From: GUEST,Howard Jones
Date: 01 Jul 12 - 06:39 PM

Why do you advise going to a maker? Any of those you suggest will of course do an excellent job, but there are now plenty of very experienced tuners and repairers who will also do an excellent job, and as they are not busy making concertinas may be able to do it quicker.

Subject: RE: tuner for anglo concertinas
From: GUEST,Tootler
Date: 01 Jul 12 - 06:40 PM

Theo Gibb restores and repairs free reed instruments. He knows what he is doing.

Subject: RE: tuner for anglo concertinas
From: Bernard
Date: 01 Jul 12 - 08:04 PM

If it only needs a nip and tuck here and there, I could probably do it for you, possibly even whilst you wait - I maintain my own concertinas and accordions.

I'm located near Bolton... if it turns out to be more than I have the time to take on, I can tell you as soon as I hear it, even over the phone! Number on the Lymm Folk Club website.

I did (Mudcatter) Noreen's for her a while ago - and that's a Crabb, but it only needed the odd note or two tweaking. Oh, and I retuned Bernard Wrigley's famous bass concertina many, many years ago - it was in high pitch and he needed it in concert to record an album (vinyl!). The reeds in it are enormous! As it only plays 'on the push', there aren't many reeds in it, only one per button, and bass reeds are a lot easier to tune!

Subject: RE: tuner for anglo concertinas
From: The Sandman
Date: 02 Jul 12 - 05:34 PM

Any of those you suggest will of course do an excellent job"
Howard, there is your reason, the ones i have mentioned do an excellent job, anyone who can make a concertina, knows every aspect of the concertina, they know how more than just how to tune.

Subject: RE: tuner for anglo concertinas
From: The Sandman
Date: 02 Jul 12 - 05:39 PM

furthermore, repair work is the bread and butter work for concertina makers, it would be a sad day if there were no makers left in business, as a result of not having any repair work to keep them ticking over.

Subject: RE: tuner for anglo concertinas
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 02 Jul 12 - 06:07 PM

Dick,
The best concertina makers are snowed under with work, and have long waiting lists of people waiting to have concertinas made. Knowing every aspect of a concertina has little relation to tuning which is one small part of the work. Any free reed instrument tuner could as easily do the work.

Subject: RE: tuner for anglo concertinas
From: The Sandman
Date: 03 Jul 12 - 08:12 AM

Steve, I do not agree.

Subject: RE: tuner for anglo concertinas
From: GUEST,Square The Circle
Date: 03 Jul 12 - 09:38 AM

May I suggest Marcus Music at Tredegar House in Newport, Mon. He is a friend and looks after both my concertina and Melodeon. Reliable and helpful.

Subject: RE: tuner for anglo concertinas
From: GUEST,Howard Jones
Date: 03 Jul 12 - 09:54 AM

All the other people mentioned have good reputations as tuners and repairers and also know about all aspects of concertinas, although as Steve points out if all that is required is tuning then expertise in other areas is of little relevance.

I have had instruments fettled by one of the top makers and also by reputable tuner/repairers. They all did excellent jobs. In the case of the maker, the instrument was away for several months. With others it took only a few days. If my Dipper needed work I would prefer to take it back to Colin, simply because he made it. However with my other concertinas I would go to any one of several repairers who are closer to me and who would probably do the work a lot quicker.

I'm not suggesting you shouldn't consider going to a maker, but I see no reason to prefer them over other recognised repairers. As a professional player, GSS may find he gets a more rapid service than other customers will. Do get an estimate of time as well as cost.

Subject: RE: tuner for anglo concertinas
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 03 Jul 12 - 10:23 AM

Howard,
You are correct in stating professionals get preference and perhaps this is how it should be as they are making a living from playing. I wouldn't expect otherwise. My brother-in-law would get preference over me, apart from which he is a better advert for the repairer's services. Being retired I do my own repairs anyway.

Subject: RE: tuner for anglo concertinas
From: Guran
Date: 04 Jul 12 - 03:49 PM

By accident I looked into this thread and I could not control myself from a slightly provocative comment...

"Any of those you suggest will of course do an excellent job".

Is that so? Yes and no I would say without any directed critics.Any skilled craftsman in any profession may be able to do an excellent job but like most humans they/we don't do it every time. Isn't that so? Not only skill but available time and occasional ambition certainly influences the result in a particular case. Not knowing exact figures on the present market speaking about tuning work I would say that if an ordinary job takes say 5 hours and costs £150 a superb job might take 15 hours and cost £500 but is the "market" prepared to pay that much for tuning a concertina? Not for one with a total value of £1000 I believe.Consequently "value for money" often is not so easy to decide when talking about craftsmanship. The most important factor often is whether the customer is capable to estimate and appreciate an excellent job or not.

Subject: RE: tuner for anglo concertinas
From: The Sandman
Date: 04 Jul 12 - 04:02 PM

The most important factor often is whether the customer is capable to estimate and appreciate an excellent job or not."
a very interesting comment

Subject: RE: tuner for anglo concertinas
From: Gin Crewe
Date: 01 Sep 12 - 06:59 PM

Thank you, all- very helpful and amazingly intriguing!