Price quoted at the time of your order applies. Currently, $4000.00 USD for the Kensington Standard layout not including shipping or applicable tax. I will try to keep the website current, but contacting me is the best way to find out what the current price and waiting time is. Ordinarily no deposit is required.
( Due to having had to update my CNC software and equipment, I have had to increase the price of all instruments to $4000 regardless of key or layout. The saving benefit is that my current instruments are the best I’ve made and more than worth the higher price.)
Keys Available: My concertinas are now available in a number of Keys as special order. from the Low pitch G/D through the High pitch D/A. All Keys are now offered both in the reccomended Kensington Standard layout which is a slightly modified Jeffries layout but are also available in the Wheatstone layout for those who got started on that and now don’t wish to change.
Keep in mind that concertina keys denote their range. They are all fully chromatic through most of that range. Some instruments are often used for playing with other instruments that are tuned differently than the standard, as in flat pitch Sessions where the Piper’s pipes are tuned in C instead of D and a transposing instrument is helpful. Keys like Ab/Eb and C#/G# are generally used to play with people who have Button Accordions in keys other than B/C or C# D and are not useful for most sessions. Low pitch instruments can have a glorious sound that stands on it’s own, or be better suited to a singers voice, but you don’t chose a D/A instrument to play tunes in D and A. Both keys are easily played on a C/G which has the same range as a Violin essentially, and will cover all of Irish Traditional music. A D/A is a bright instrument that might be useful where E and A are the common keys like much Scottish repertoire. ( still playable on a C/G ) It is a fast instrument because of the smaller reeds and it’s high clear tone carries well in solo concert work, but would be of limited use in session playing.
Low pitch instruments have often been slow in the lower range. This is NOT true of Kensingtons whose low range is strong and responsive, making a well balanced instrument, strong and clear throughout it’s compass.
I will be glad to discuss your needs to make sure you get the instrument that will meet your goal.
Prices: ( all are available in either end pattern at the same price )
Kensington Layout C/G $4000 USD
Wheatstone Layout C/G $4000 USD
All other keys from G/D through D/A $4000 USD *Deposit may be required at time of manufacture.
Bellows having 7 or 8 folds increase the price by $50 or $100 respectively. There are well over 200 seperate pieces in a bellows with only 6 folds. Adding extra folds is not difficult, but adds significant time to the process.
Other pitches than C/G will be in the transposed Kensington Standard or Wheatstone Layouts. The deposit is required because I am likely not have current customers waiting for those keys.
For those few people who have use for the second reversed Eb in the Jeffries layout, I have done that for some people who play in keys that make that more useful. A straight Jeffries option ( only slightly different from the Kensington Standard ) is something I will be happy to talk about though it requires a small amount of reed pan conversion at the current time. Irish Trad. players will get much more use out of the extra C# than a second Eb.
Description: My concertinas are 6 1/4 inches across the flats, hexagonal ended. They have six fold leather covered bellows 1- 1/8 inch deep, ( I can do 7 or 8 folds if needed, especially for low pitched instruments, though Unless you play in a style that is chord heavy, or is more slow and stately, don’t think of more folds as a better thing. the more folds you have, the more difficult it is to control the bellows. for Irish traditional music in Bb/F and higher keys, 6 fold is ideal.). They have Nickel Silver ends with 30 Delrin buttons plus one for air. They come with a hard case and small tool kit of hex drivers for the various screws used.
Warantee Policy: Generally, it is my great desire to make sure that the instruments I sell continue to give pleasure to their owners for a long time. I will repair defects in manufacture for a period of five years to the original buyer for as long as I am still making concertinas, and currently provide one free touch up tuning after a year of playing to allow for stress relief in reeds that may make them go slightly flat or change their set. This is common in all new concertinas. I don’t cover shipping for this, so for some it may be impractical to avail themselves of the service. I don’t reccomend it for people overseas since the shipping cost is quite high and generally there are people closer who are capable of doing a decent tuning job. I do try to provide a quick turnaround for this service as it fits into my work load. I also provide a fairly comprehensive maintenance sheet , and will be glad to talk people through simpler problems on the phone, or consult with any concertina repair person not familiar with my instruments.
There are two basic pricing philosophies. The first is the common "Charge what the market will bear.” or Supply vs. Demand. The second is “Take only what you need and leave the rest” I believe that our lives were a gift not to us but for others. For those of us who are lucky enough to have found what our gifts are, being able to offer them to others is the best payment.
My prices are low in comparison with equivalent instruments and reflect a desire to keep really good instruments available at affordable prices. I don’t offer customization other than minor things to help fit an instrument to different players. Consequently, if someone changes their mind after placing an order I can simply shift to the next person on the list. All this helps to keep the cost down. I have geared my construction towards methods that produce identical parts more quickly, rather than “one off “ models that have to be custom fit in all aspects. This helps to keep the quality up and the cost down, but makes customization a bit more difficult.
I am in it for the love of the instrument and the music, and want to see more concertinas out there especially in the hands of young or new players who can benefit from an inistrument that is responsive and rewarding to play. Concertinas are still one of the more expensive of the traditional instruments. They shouldn’t be just for the well off, or require a second mortgage for a family to buy one for their child. If you want a well made, great sounding and playing concertina, pay more only if you prefer the particular sound or look of another instrument. A Kensington will hold its own with the best.
Dana Johnson