Concertina Joy
My
Morse Céilí Anglo concertina is finally here! I drove out to western Massachusetts this morning to pick it up. I got a quick tour of their workshop to boot. There are two concertina makers in the US and I'm fortunate to have one within reasonable driving distance from my house.
The instrument plays beautifully. The action is incredibly fast, especially compared to my
Rochelle, which I traded in for the Morse. The Rochelle feels like a Volkswagen bus while the Morse feels like a Ferrari.
The Morse tone is a little harsh (they use accordion reeds instead of traditional concertina reeds to keep the cost reasonable) but I'm hoping it will mellow a bit with time.
For concertina aficionados, this is a C/G Anglo with
Jeffries button layout. My previous instrument had a
Wheatstone layout, so it will take a week or two to get accustomed to the new lay of the land. The Jeffries layout tends to be preferred by Irish musicians.
I chose the natural cherry finish for the ends rather than the black finish. The staff at the Button Box told me that the black-finished ends were initially created to cover up cosmetic imperfections in the cherry. But as it turns out, the black ends are favored by the Irish, and so every instrument that they ship to Ireland has black ends rather than the much prettier cherry.
Jim on 09.02.08 @ 09:22 PM ET [
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