4. Buying Advice  If you are reading this there is at least a
possibility that you are interested in buying a concertina, so I
shall proceed on that assumption.  Since the first version of
this FAQ was written in 1995 the landscape for buyers of
concertinas has changed radically. Back then if you wanted to
buy new then either there was a handful of makers making
expensive but superlative instruments at a rate of a few a year
or there was Bastari (now Stagi) making fairly cheap but not so
nice accordion-reed based concertinas. Most people bought an old
instrument that had been renovated. Such concertinas varied
between just about passible and superb, with prices to match.
For old instruments not much has changed except the price, which
has always increased. It's in the area of new instruments that
things are so different. Now there is a whole raft of new makers
on the scene, serving every level of the market place from
beginner to accomplished professional. It is said that 1900 -
1930 was a "golden age" of co