Who here plays concertina?

[Tom Berghan]

If you play concertina, then I have some questions for you.  I do not play, but I am considering getting one.  There are numerous configurations of course and I want to learn about pros and cons.  I'm leaning towatd and English Baritone.

[Tom Berghan]

Thanks Scott!

I did purchase an English Baritone which I believe will best serve my objectives: 1) Accompaniment for singing 19th century songs (Foster, Bland, Emmett, Hays, etcetera) and, for providing some bass and chordal accompaniment for early banjo.  And for that I will need all the sharps and flats (English system).  In my opinion, the baritone range will best serve the objectives.  I was pleasantly surprised to find a top concertina luthier living right here in my home state of Washington - The Concertina Connection.  Pretty Cool!  Looking forward to receiving my English Baritone this coming Friday.

[Enoch Evans]

Congratulations, The Concertina Connection is one of only a couple(2-3) who are world class makers/restorers. Others might be good, but not at the same level IMO.

You have lucked into the best concertina people in the USA, possible the world.

England has a Collin Dipper, but his waiting list is YEARS long as he does all his own work.

[Jim Robertson]

I started my musical life with a Hohner Marine Band many years ago, so 20 button Anglo concertina came sort of naturally under my fingers.  30 buttons are a bit more complicated. 

For experimenting, Concertina Connection has designed and has built concertina in the three most popular varieties: the Anglo, the English, and the Hayden Duet. They are well designed, built, and tuned, and are a passable starter instrument.  The Anglos are a bit large for my taste.  As far as I can tell, they are the only starter models worth buying.  The cheap Chinese ones on EBay are junk.  Unless you can licking a reasonably priced used box, these are a good bet. They come with an upgrade program, if bought new.  If you feel the need to step up to the next level you can trade it in for a discount.

Just so you know, I have a friend who is awaiting a new, hand made 30 button Anglo for which she is paying $7000 US.

BTW, I am not affiliated in any way with Concertina Connection.

[Michael Cypret]

I just finished practicing out of the 1868 Buckley book (modern version with tab) and thought these tunes would lend themselves well to an English concertina- Minstrel banjo combination. I have a Jackie treble (?) concertina that’s currently in storage.