Buying a cheap concertina?

I bought a Stephanelli purely to have a go. I had played classical guitar for a couple of years in my youth but no instrument since. I was motivated by a mixture of alcohol and adrenaline having spent 5 days at my first ever folk festival at the age of sixty.

I bought it for about half the price of the one you are looking at on ebay on the grounds that at that price it didn’t matter too much if I couldn’t get on. It did the job and I decided to go further.

It wasn’t until I bought my next one (a secondhand Crucianelli CC2 that I found when wandering around the stalls at another festival) that I realised how hard I had been working to get anything on the Stephanelli.

Having had the experience I know exactly why others are saying it will hold you back but if you can afford to lose the money with no regrets it allows you to dip your toe in the water.

If you get the bug then move to a better one as soon as possible.

After a lot of scrimping and saving I bought myself a low end Lachenal from Barleycorn Concertinas who I am happy to recommend. The concertina is better than I am or am likely to be and the playing of it is a physical pleasure in and of itself.

The Stephanelli has been passed on to others to try their hand and to find out what an Anglo concertina is. “Is that an accordion you are playing – I have always wanted to have a go at that!”