The Irish Concertina Company

Concertina Information

allaboutaccordions@yahoo.co.uk (Sean Garvey) — Thu, 18 Aug 2022 15:42:28 GMT

The Irish Concertina information page

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT BUYING AN IRISH CONCERTINA
What you need to Know about Concertinas Ireland

THE WORLD OF CONCERTINAS

IRELAND

If you are new to the world of Concertinas there is a lot of knowledge out there on forum’s and you could get bogged down before you get to the first hurdle.

Basically there are 3 types of concertinas on the Market.

1. The Beginner instrument.
There are numerous versions of these but mostly they all mass produced and all come from a couple of factories in China.
No one in Ireland makes Beginner instruments.
Price range €350 to €900 there is a few instruments priced just over this price but believe me they are Chinese and they even use the worst lever system which is hook action.

[a] More info on these at bottom of page.

2. The Mid Range / Hybrid. €2000 +

These instrument use good quality Accordion reeds and are hand made. Action is set to give the student a balanced action over all the buttons.

Makers in Ireland are Jose Claro and Sean Garvey’s “The Irish Concertina Company”

A lot of imports into Ireland happen at this level from Makers using Irish names to confuse the buyers into thinking they are buying Irish, who are in general mostly parents or teachers.

Example of these are from America “The Morse” Ceilí.
From England the “Claddagh” made by AP James.This concertina is imported by Jim Sheilds for years and re sold into the shops around the country. one might ask why dont the shops buy direct and not buy from a middle man??

3. The Vintage. €3300 +

There are different variations of these instruments and they are mostly promoted by the top players who receive free instrument for their loyalty.

The vintage type Concertina are the real Concertinas using Brass Singular reeds. These Concertinas have the origional sound of the Vintage.

Guide To Buying Beginner & Mid-Range Concertinas

Wed, 03 Feb 2021 14:03:08 GMT

Guide For Parents Buying Beginner & Mid-Range Concertinas

Buying a beginner instrument can become a stressful task with an overload of information. We have been besieged by parents with overpriced Starter Concertinas and others who have invested in what they thought were quality Next Stage Concertinas but unfortunately didn’t realize what they were buying until they were trying to sell them on.

Someone has to say stop to the rising prices of low quality concertinas.

After 10 years in the business of manufacturing concertinas, we want to put ourselves out there and offer our services in the way of advise, for parents new to this instrument.

Beginner Concertinas

From working within the industry for over a decade we understand what a pupil needs in a beginner instrument and it is from listening to teachers and pupils alike that we created our beginner models.

We import our beginner range of concertinas, whereas our professional range is hand made.

Our first beginner model The Tina, is an ideal starter instrument. They are very good value for money, easy to play and with a high quality sound. They are the most reliable starter concertinas on the market.

Our second beginner model is The Swift. This instrument is for players starting off who would like something with a bit more quality than the Tina.

The Swift has riveted action, which is very responsive and has quality reeds.

The way we see it, its down to your pocket, if you can afford the better model the pupil will get longer out of it. But at the end of the day it’s still a beginner instrument.

Over the next two to three years the teacher will be encouraging the pupil to move up to a higher level of instrument from the beginner.

Mid-Range / Next Level Concertina

The next level concertina is a handmade instrument like our Clare or a Jose Claro, Marcus etc.

When the pupil begins to practice ornamentation and rolls it requires a lot more of the instrument.

The springs must be set at a certain pressure and with quality reeds that respond fast to action. This is what you will find only in handmade instruments.

There are a few dealers selling what they claim are handmade instruments with quality reeds but truthfully they are mass produced in the same factory as the beginner instruments. It is with these models that you will come into a lot of trouble.

The method of construction and the quality of materials in these instruments means they tend to degenerate with time in a way that true handmade concertinas do not.

Examples of the mass-produced instruments are our own Swift, The Swallow, The Curlew, and The Pheonix, These instruments are made in China, and as a huge amount of the demand for these instruments is coming from Ireland, it is my guess that they are most likely all made in the same factory.

There are only 2 makers of Concertinas in Ireland and we are one of them – “The Irish Concertina Company” in Dublin and ‘Jose Claro’ in Tralee.

Why the pupil needs a handmade instrument at this level?

Cheap reeds do not respond under pressure and sometimes close.
The button is attached to the lever and the lever needs to be riveted because later on when the pupil is playing fast tunes the action needs to be fast and immediate.
The pressure of the buttons has to be set the same on all buttons in order to do the ornamentation.

Top of the range C/W Concertina Reeds

Some teachers ask parents to move up to the professional level instruments with Concertina Reeds and here is where another problem may arise.

If the parent chooses to buy new, there is often [but not always] a waiting list which could be anything from months to 3 to 4 years. A few makers like the idea of having a waiting list, but secretly supply shops and agents in the meantime which is disrespectful to parents or players who pay a deposit and have to wait. Waiting lists sometimes happen because makers won’t take on sufficient staff.

Buying new means you have a trouble-free concertina for years, but please remember that just because the instrument has a famous persons name on it, this does not justify the maker charging an extra 2/3000 for it.

Grades of Concertina reeded instruments:

Basic singular Brass plate shoes with no work done on the plate. Price between €3000 to €3500
Singular Brass plate shoes with Clamp’s. Price between €3500 and €4000.
Singular Brass reeds with Clamp’s and Angling. Price between €4000 and 5000.

There are importers of Old Concertinas who over value their instruments and they can do this because parents new to the instrument are fooled into thinking they are buying quality.

There is very little quality available in old instruments with a few exceptions like Jeffries for example. If you know that the maker has made instruments ranging from the cheap and cheerful to the excellent, then when you see one you can judge for yourself.

A lot of these old established named instruments were made over 100 and more years and an example of quantity made, Lachenal made over 150,000 in their time before 1933.

Lachenal stopped production in 1933. [1890 to 1933]

Wheatstone made some good quality (Be aware, instruments made after they were taken over by Boosey & Hawkes in the 1950s are generally regarded as being of poorer quality than before and 70 years later a lot of these are terrible quality).

Crabb made some quality over the years but I have seen some rubbish in my time.

Jeffries made a lot of quality instruments and these are still fetching big money, but they are not all good quality unless they have been reconditioned well.

If you are seriously considering buying a particular concertina don’t be afraid to ask the dealer to take the ends off and let you look inside. Click here for example

After all, you may find anything up to and including woodworm. It might be too late down the road when you bring to a repair person like us and this is what got us going in the first place with this comment.

Good luck with your purchase and if you need any advise please don’t hesitate to call me on 086 172 1792

Why Buy from the Irish Concertina Company

Wed, 03 Feb 2021 13:21:07 GMT

Why Buy from the Irish Concertina Company

Our Irish made concertinas are excellent quality, especially the design structure. The sound quality is engineered to a very high standard and compares exceedingly well with other concertina brands.

Take the Eirú for example, the Eirú has Engineered Angled Reeds which are clamped (without getting too technical) and this creates the old Classical Concertina Sound.

We are open and honest about the different types of reeds we use on all of our models whereas many German companies do not specify the types of reeds they use.

I source the reeds from the same reputable source as the German makers and in the making of our prototypes we experimented using different angling sizes and the finished product is the culmination of all of our trials.

Here are a few reasons to give our Concertinas a look before you place an order elsewhere

Firstly, we are an Irish Company employing 5 Irish people full time. We have been making concertinas since 2009, based in Dublin.

We Guarantee all of our Hand Made Instruments for 5 years.

If anything should happen to any of our concertinas, We will collect the next day and once back in the shop, we will do the repair and have the instrument sent back out the same day where possible. All at our expense and covered over 5 years.

Listen to and compare the recording/videos on our site.

I will always allow a teacher to be involved if approval is required.

From working with instruments for 20 years, I will go out of my way to make sure all my customers are 100% happy with any dealings with my business.

We have come a long way in 10 years and we are only where we are today because parents, teachers, players put their trust in us.

I am asked to do adjustments and repairs on a daily basis o n all makes of concertinas

Why Buy an Irish Made Concertina?

Sun, 09 Feb 2020 19:03:00 GMT

Why Buy from the Irish Concertina Company and not another brand

Why buy an Irish made concertina? This is a question I am asked daily…

My Answer:

Our Irish made concertinas are excellent quality, especially the design structure. The sound quality is engineered to a very high standard and compares exceedingly well with other concertina brands.
Take the Eirú for example, the Eirú has Engineered Angled Reeds which are clamped (without getting too technical) and this creates the old Classical Concertina Sound.

We are open and honest about the different types of reeds we use on all of our models whereas many German companies do not specify the types of reeds they use.

Here are a few reason s to give our concertinas a look before you place an order elsewhere:

Concertinas made for Irish Music by Irish People.

Our Concertinas are made on site in our workshop at The Trad Shop: An Siopa Ceoil, 184 Crumlin Road, Dublin. Click here to l earn how to purchase our Concertinas.

The post Why Buy an Irish Made Concertina? appeared first on The Irish Concertina Company .

Guide For Parents Buying Beginner & Mid-Range Concertinas

Tue, 28 Aug 2018 15:47:00 GMT

Guide To Buying Beginner & Mid-Range Concertinas

Someone has to say stop to the rising prices of low quality concertinas.

After 10 years in the business of manufacturing concertinas, we want to put ourselves out there and offer our services in the way of advise, for parents new to this instrument.

Beginner Concertinas

From working within the industry for over a decade we understand what a pupil needs in a beginner instrument and it is from listening to teachers and pupils alike that we created our beginner models.

We import our beginner range of concertinas, whereas our professional range is hand made.

Our first beginner model The Tina , is an ideal starter instrument. They are very good value for money, easy to play and with a high quality sound. They are the most reliable starter concertinas on the market.

Our second beginner model is The Swift. This instrument is for players starting off who would like something with a bit more quality than the Tina .

The Swift has riveted action, which is very responsive and has quality reeds.

The way we see it, its down to your pocket, if you can afford the better model the pupil will get longer out of it. But at the end of the day it’s still a beginner instrument.

Over the next two to three years the teacher will be encouraging the pupil to move up to a higher level of instrument from the beginner.

Mid-Range / Next Level Concertina

The next level concertina is a handmade instrument like our Clare or a Jose Claro , Marcus etc.

When the pupil begins to practise ornamentation and rolls it requires a lot more of the instrument.

The springs must be set at a certain pressure and with quality reeds that respond fast to action. This is what you will find only in handmade instruments.

The method of construction and the quality of materials in these instruments means they tend to degenerate with time in a way that true handmade concertinas do not.

Examples of the mass-produced instruments are our own Swift , The Swallow, The Curlew, and The Pheonix, These instruments are made in China, and as a huge amount of the demand for these instruments is coming from Ireland, it is my guess that they are most likely all made in the same factory.

There are only 2 makers of Concertinas in Ireland and we are one of them – “The Irish Concertina Company” in Dublin and ‘Jose Claro’ in Tralee.

Why the pupil needs a handmade instrument at this level?

1. Cheap reeds do not respond under pressure and sometimes close.

2. The button is attached to the lever and the lever needs to be riveted because later on when the pupil is playing fast tunes the action needs to be fast and immediate.

3. The pressure of the buttons has to be set the same on all buttons in order to do the ornamentation.

Top of the range C/W Concertina Reeds

Some teachers ask parents to move up to the professional level instruments with Concertina Reeds and here is where another problem may arise.

Grades of Concertina reeded instruments:

1. Basic singular Brass plate shoes with no work done on the plate. Price between €3000 to €3500

2. Singular Brass plate shoes with Clamp’s. Price between €3500 and €4000.

3. Singular Brass reeds with Clamp’s and Angling. Price between €4000 and 5000.

There are importers of Old Concertinas who over value their instruments and they can do this because parents new to the instrument are fooled into thinking they are buying quality.

There is very little quality available in old instruments with a few exceptions like Jeffries for example. If you know that the maker has made instruments ranging from the cheap and cheerful to the excellent, then when you see one you can judge for yourself.

A lot of these old established named instruments were made over 100 and more years and an example of quantity made, Lachenal made over 150,000 in their time before 1933.

Lachenal stopped production in 1933. [1890 to 1933]

Wheatstone made some good quality (Be aware, instruments made after they were taken over by Boosey & Hawkes in the 1950s are generally regarded as being of

poorer quality than before and 70 years later a lot of these are terrible quality).

Crabb made some quality over the years but I have seen some rubbish in my time.

Jeffries made a lot of quality instruments and these are still fetching big money, but they are not all good quality unless they have been reconditioned well.

If you are seriously considering buying a particular concertina don’t be afraid to ask the dealer to take the ends off and let you look inside.

After all,

you may find anything up to and including woodworm. It might be too late down the road when you bring to a repair person like us and this is what got us going in the first place with this comment.

Good luck with your purchase and if you need any advise please don’t hesitate to call me on 086 172 1792 Sean Garvey

Our Concertinas are made on site in our workshop at The Trad Shop: An Siopa Ceoil, 184 Crumlin Road, Dublin. Click here to learn more about buying our Concertinas.

The post Guide For Parents Buying Beginner & Mid-Range Concertinas appeared first on The Irish Concertina Company .

Wheatstone Rip Off – Revamped Concertinas

Thu, 19 Jul 2018 15:06:00 GMT

Beware of certain individuals selling old revamped concertinas made in the last century.

Some of these revamped concertinas are only half reconditioned.

P lease make sure the Concertina you are buying has Riveted Action as ‘Hook Action’ will not deliver any speed for Irish Music.

The Reeds need to be Brass Plated and not Aluminium.

A good reconditioned concertinas will have new springs and action set at a proper level to accommodate the playing of Irish Music rolls etc.

A lot of these Concertinas are coming in from South Africa and Australia where the Wheatstone Company exported right throughout the middle of the last century.

Please have an expert look at any of these old revamped concertinas before you would think of paying out big money.

Some of these reconditioned instruments have aluminium reeds as this is what was used in the Wheatstone right through from the 1930’s, see attached charts.

They have aluminium reeds rather than concertina brass reeds. Riveted levers allow for much better action and are recommended for the playing of Irish Music. Brass Plated Reeds is where the sound is made and this is why you are going for vintage. Revamped concertinas have that appeal, but we need to urge customers that what you may be buying is not worth your money.

Although the idea of an “export model” seems to be wrong, it does appear that many–but definitely not all–of the #50000+ Anglos were exported to South Africa.

All of this information is copied from the Concertina.net

“By the late 1960s and early 1970s, the period when he has first-hand knowledge–virtually all of Wheatstone’s Anglo production went to South Africa. Specifically, he remembers that the instruments were sold to a company called “Goode, Durrant & Murray” who had offices in London as well as in Johannesburg. There apparently was a large imperial trading company of that name, with interests in Australia and in South Africa, and they would have had a London office. But they might have been only an intermediary, with distribution in South Africa handled by another firm.”

“The recent thread on the forum at concertina.net started as a discussion of “South African Wheatstones”, and it turned out that they all had #50000+ serial numbers: /”

Click here to learn more about purchasing our Concertinas.

The post Wheatstone Rip Off – Revamped Concertinas appeared first on The Irish Concertina Company .

Best Beginner Concertinas

Fri, 15 Jun 2018 13:15:00 GMT

Best Beginner Concertinas & Value For Money

The Irish Concertina Company are the only makers of professional and mid-level concertinas that also sell beginner concertinas.

We began by selling accordions and over time we saw how the concertina was gaining in popularity. We decided to enter the market by selling beginner concertinas. It was from there that we began creating our own range of professional level concertinas and making them by hand.

From day one we have been listening to our customers, teachers, parents and pupils alike.

One teacher in particular has been telling me that for as long as he is buying instruments from me, that the beginner player whether that be a child or adult needs no more than the basic instrument to get started.

Mick Brophy says that the basic concertina can be €400 to €800 depending on your pocket, but no one need spend more than this to get started.

When is it time to buy a handmade instrument?

The time to buy a handmade instrument is when the teacher starts the class on rolls and ornamentation. The beginner concertinas are not designed to play rolls, the springs are not set individually at the proper tension. The student won’t be able to use their beginner instrument for this.

Now its time.

The real concertina is a Hand Made Instrument and not an expensive and overpriced Chinese model that has been mass produced.

How can you tell the difference between a hand made concertina and one that has been mass produced in China?

The Answer is easy and its obvious on the shop shelves.

All the Chinese made instruments have a birds name on them. This is the easy tell tale. The real sign is the lack of quality. Springs will break , Buttons will break, boards will come unglued etc things happen especially on Chinese made instruments, I’m talking about things that never will happen on a quality hand made instrument.

Our Beginner Concertinas

We import two different beginner concertinas.

The first is the ‘Tina’ that comes in Black/Brown. As a basic beginner instrument there is little improvement that can be done without changing the price, and this is something that we didn’t want to do. Once we had the maker’s add an extra board under the buttons in order to keep the buttons aligned, which has improved the instrument.

We recommend the ‘ Swift’ as a higher quality beginner instrument not an improver, we have worked with the factory on the Swift concertina and because of our involvement they now produce a better sounding instrument. The Swift has individual action and a good quality reeds which gives the instrument a better sound than many other instruments within with price range. Many instruments can be wrongly advertised as ‘HandMade’ and can cost twice this price.

WE dont recommend spending any more than around the €800 as we do not think the more expensive beginner will hold their value
We will take back any instrument you buy from us as a trade in against a higher lever instrument.

The day you buy is the day you sell, so buy well.

click here!

Why buy from The Irish Concertina Company? Click here!

Click here to visit The Trad Shop.

The post Best Beginner Concertinas appeared first on The Irish Concertina Company .

click here!

Why buy from The Irish Concertina Company? Click here!

Click here to visit The Trad Shop.

The post Best Beginner Concertinas appeared first on The Irish Concertina Company .

Goodbye to the term Anglo

Thu, 22 Mar 2018 14:21:00 GMT

I am saying good bye to the term Anglo from our Irish Made Concertinas

Anglo – Wikipedia

The Anglo originated as a hybrid between the English and German concertinas . The button layouts are generally the same as the original 20-button German concertinas designed by Carl Friedrich Uhlig in 1834. Within a few years of that date, the German concertina became quite popular and it’s price remained relatively low. English manufacturers responded to this popularity by offering their own versions. They did this using traditional English methods: concertina reeds instead of long-plate reeds, independent pivots for each button, and hexagon-shaped ends.

Initially the term Anglo-German only applied to concertinas of this type built in England. As German manufacturers adopted some of these techniques, the term came to apply to all concertinas that used Uhlig’s 20-button system. Use of the “German” part of the title Anglo-German ceased in the UK during World War I .

World War I (1914–1918), Ireland was part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland .

Since 1918 the title for the Irish Style of tuning has remained and today there are 2 types of Concertina’s.

The Anglo system and the English System, but do both of these terms not refer to English?

Worldwide in Concertina circles the Players describe the Irish system as the Anglo. Why has this not changed? Why have the players of the instrument over the last 100 years accepted the term Anglo used to describe the Irish system that they play?

Musicians playing the traditional music of our forefathers, The music written through the centuries of rebellions. The Laments, The Airs.

In 1914/18 the English dropped the German from the Anglo/German Description.

Today in 2018, 100 years on, I suggest we drop the Anglo and from this year forward call the Anglo/Irish System “The Irish System”.

Why buy an Irish Concertina? Click Here

The post Goodbye to the term Anglo appeared first on The Irish Concertina Company .

The Irish Concertina Company

Concertina Information

The Irish Concertina information page

﻿

THE WORLD OF CONCERTINAS

Guide To Buying Beginner & Mid-Range Concertinas

Guide For Parents Buying Beginner & Mid-Range Concertinas

Why Buy from the Irish Concertina Company

Why Buy from the Irish Concertina Company

Why Buy an Irish Made Concertina?

Why Buy from the Irish Concertina Company and not another brand

Here are a few reason s to give our concertinas a look before you place an order elsewhere:

Guide For Parents Buying Beginner & Mid-Range Concertinas

Guide To Buying Beginner & Mid-Range Concertinas

Why the pupil needs a handmade instrument at this level?

Top of the range C/W Concertina Reeds

Grades of Concertina reeded instruments:

Wheatstone Rip Off – Revamped Concertinas

Beware of certain individuals selling old revamped concertinas made in the last century.

Best Beginner Concertinas

Best Beginner Concertinas & Value For Money

When is it time to buy a handmade instrument?

Our Beginner Concertinas

The day you buy is the day you sell, so buy well.

click here! Why buy from The Irish Concertina Company? Click here! Click here to visit The Trad Shop. The post Best Beginner Concertinas appeared first on The Irish Concertina Company .

Goodbye to the term Anglo

I am saying good bye to the term Anglo from our Irish Made Concertinas

click here!

Why buy from The Irish Concertina Company? Click here!

Click here to visit The Trad Shop.

The post Best Beginner Concertinas appeared first on The Irish Concertina Company .