From Italy

Hi Bob
wonderful day today!!
I got the concertina and I am really ENTUSIASTA!!
A little bit difficult as I come from 15 years of Stagi but I'm sure I will succeed! The instrument is esthetically bellissimo! and the sound is really good. I want to thank you for this. I will certainly "sprad" your high professionality among my friends in the music environment. Thanks a lot.

Let me know if there is any special care I have to take concerning the maintenance of the instrument.
Let me also know your adress as I want to send you my last CD.
Ciao ciao
A

re bellows

Hi, this post is just to enthuse about my new bellows. The original five-fold bellows on my 1937 Wheatstone treble English had gotten leaky again. I had already had them patched at the Button Box once, but they were leaking again, so I decided it was time to get new bellows. I had some concern about break-in time, as the bellows on my wife's early-1970s Crabb treble always seemed a little stiff to me, especially compared to the butter-smooth bellows on my Wheatstone, but after seeing some of Bob Tedrow's bellows on a visit to his shop (my wife has kin in Birmingham, AL, so I usually stop by Homewood when I'm in town), I decided to save up for some new bellows from him.

Now I have had my new bellows for three months, and, boy, am I satisfied! My original bellows were 5-fold, and between that and the leakiness, I was frequently running low on air when playing sustained chords. Not so now; my new bellows have 7 folds, which is unusual for an English. Between that and the airtightness, I have an almost ridiculous amount of air for any purpose. On top of that, I needn't have worried about the stiffness of the bellows, as they are as soft and quick as the old, original bellows had been. They lack _nothing_ compared to the Rosalie Dipper bellows on our Lachenal baritone, and have one more fold. All in all, I can't recommend these bellows highly enough. BTW, standard disclaimers, etc.

E

from our Nation's Capitol

Had an opportunity to hang out with Bob Tedrow at a harp festival outside Washington today (never heard so many harps in my life; I thought I had died).


I've played a few of Bob's earlier instruments and they were nice and all, but didn't really grab me (I have a strong preference for the sound of traditional reeds).

But his new stuff is fabulous. The "Zephyr" he brought along had just superb action; no other way to describe it. As good a feel as any concertina I've played. Sound was outstanding, though I'd like to play one on the street with a bunch of rowdy Morris men dancing with bells an clashing sticks instead of a big hotel room with dozens of harpists playing funeral music. Very, very good bellows.

His square Dandy was surprisingly light and the sound and action were very good. Very nice workmanship all around.


I've noticed in the past few years the striking improvement in the sound and action of hybrid Anglos. This guy's stuff is really impressive.

J