looking for a concertina in northern cal

Subject: looking for a concertina in nor cal
From: open mike
Date: 21 Feb 03 - 10:47 PM

a friend is looking to purchase a concertina.
Does anyone know of one in northern california
area? I do not know if there are different scales,
different numbers of buttons, notes and or chords
they play--and i do not think the person looking
has knowledge of all these aspects of the instrument.
Does anyone have a resource to suggest for answers
and availability? thanks.

Subject: RE: looking for a concertina in northern cal
From: Lin in Kansas
Date: 22 Feb 03 - 01:27 AM

Try http://www.buttonbox.com/

or

http://www.concertina.net/

I bought my English squeezebox from Button Box and have been very pleased with it.

A Google search for "concertina," "button box" or "squeezebox" will get you more information than you know what to do with.

Have fun!

Lin

Subject: RE: looking for a concertina in northern cal
From: darkriver
Date: 22 Feb 03 - 03:30 AM

open mike,

try
Boaz Accordions in Berkeley.

Boaz Rubin does sales and repairs and sells, among other things, various new and used concertinas.

Doug

Subject: RE: looking for a concertina in northern cal
From: open mike
Date: 22 Feb 03 - 03:42 AM

yes i did come up with a bunch of links..
and i thank you for your input..what i was hoping i might find was
someone who had one they wanted to find a new home for...anyone?

http://www.concertinaconnection.com/
http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?query=concertina&newu=1
www.buy-accordions.com
http://accordionheaven.com/
http://www.concertina.net/
http://www.concertina.info/
www.concertina.org.
http://www.chestnutdesign.com/concertina/concertina/conertina_cafe.htm

Subject: RE: looking for a concertina in northern cal
From: GUEST,curmudgeon
Date: 22 Feb 03 - 10:07 AM

Spend a lot of time on concertina.net. There is a wealth of information on all types of concertinas, limks to sellers, and a buy and sell page. Happy squeezing -- Tom

Subject: RE: looking for a concertina in northern cal
From: alanww
Date: 24 Feb 03 - 08:02 AM

Try eBay too. They usually have a concertina or three up for auction. But the big decision to start with is what system to go for:-

* English (produces the same note on the push and pull motion, is fully chromatic so ideal for song accompaniment but it is not so easy to do chords at the same time as playing the tune and is not so "swingy" for dance music);
* Anglo (produces a different note on the push and pull motion, is more popular for dance music and hence a bit more expensive but, like a melodeon, it is not fully chromatic); and
* Duet (is the best of both worlds but larger to carry, more expensive and some say more difficult to learn).

I suggest that you find a few players near you and have a look see at what they do and how they feel about their instruments. It all depends on what your musical history is (eg if you play a mouth organ or a melodeon now it will be easier to learn the Anglo) and what you intend to do with it ...

Once you have some idea of what you want, you could do worse than contacting Chris Algar, who is based in Stoke-on-Trent in England and is the biggest concertina dealer in the world. I'm sure he would be give you a good deal for a fair price - he sold me mine! Anyway, happy squeezing ...

"Dancing and singing, bell ringing ..."
Alan
PS My pride and joy is a Lachenal Edeophone 56 button extended treble c1902.

Subject: RE: looking for a concertina in northern cal
From: Musicman
Date: 24 Feb 03 - 10:35 PM

my pride and joy is an 1890's Wheatstone Treble.. family machine....

musicman

Subject: RE: looking for a concertina in northern cal
From: Dave Bryant
Date: 25 Feb 03 - 04:52 AM

I would disagree with alanww about the English Concertina. It is very easy to play chords - it's trying to play multiple melodies which is difficult. This is because alternate notes are on different ends of the instrument and so the parts tend to cross hands all the while. It's very suitable for playing a melody with fill-in chords and easy to accompany songs with.

The Duet Concertina was introduced partly to overcome the above-mentioned limitations of the English concertina. Beware though, Duets come in at least 4 different key layouts - McCann, Jeffries and Crane (or Triumph), and the later Hayden system.

Subject: RE: looking for a concertina in northern cal
From: EBarnacle1
Date: 25 Feb 03 - 02:43 PM

As an English player, I've never had a problem with chording.

Part of the choice of instrument should be based upon whether the person can read music or not. The English seems to appeal more to the more formal of us (as musicians) but is fully chromatic. If you have problems, practice, practice, practice.

The salvation army primers are still available for learning. After a couple of days of work, it will all feel natural and you can put the books away, learning on your own.

Subject: RE: looking for a concertina in northern cal
From: GUEST,ClaireBear
Date: 25 Feb 03 - 03:44 PM

Even if your friend intends to buy a concertina at a garage sale, he or she would do well to truck on down to Boaz (which I've also heard is good, but I haven't ever been there) and physically try out the various systems. They're *so* different from each other! Not only in terms of capabilities, but also in terms of how your brain relates to the system. For example, I couldn't get the hang of the supposedly easy-to-play Anglo at all, but I love both my arcane duets!

Here's more about duets, just in case you need it:

I have both a McCann and a Crane. They're called duets because, theoretically, since the low notes are on the left and the high notes are on the right, you can play duets with yourself.

My McCann system Wheatstone, circa 1916, uses all four fingers on the right hand (first finger, third finger, second finger, fourth finger and so on up the scale), optimized for the keys of C and G but fully functional in other keys if you're willing to do some mighty quare fingering. The 1-3-2-4 pattern makes it fast for the right hand, but I find the (different) fingering pattern for the left hand almost completely incomprehensible. So I can play whatever I want, but pretty much only with one hand. That's why I bought...

...my Crane (Lachenal, circa 1925), which uses three fingers (first finger, second finger, third finger and so on up the scale on the right land; third, second, first, etc., on the left). I could actually play with both hands the first day I got it! Hooray -- but the downside is I find the 1-2-3 fingering makes it very slow. OK for Morris and sea songs but doubt if I could manage an Irish tune, for example.

Good luck