wakker-concertinas testimonials

Review of my Wakker C/G model WA-1 (C/G Jeffries layout) made in April 2006. Before I say how much I like the Wakker I will briefly describe my playing experience and level. I play ITM, and have played for approximately 3 1/2 years. I have taken workshops with several of the recognized players, such as Tim Collins, Noel Hill, and Edel Fox. I continue to take lessons through Comhaltas and participate in weekly sessions, and also in a Comhaltas practice Ceili Band. I consider myself to be a dedicated intermediate hoping to continue to improve.

There are two immediately noticeable attributes to the Wakker: It is extremely light, and the tone is sweet. The light weight makes it possible to practice for several hours without fatigue. The tone is often compared to a Wheatstone. I should point out that even though it has a Jeffries layout, my Wakker has a radial reed pan. I suspect that this makes a difference, and may enhance the sweet tone.

My Wakker has raised wood ends. I like the feel of the raised ends but I don’t think it makes much difference to me. Wim says that they affect the harmonics. I am not sure that I could hear the difference. I just know that I like the tone, including the harmonics. The hand rails are an excellent height for my hands, and also are padded. The instrument fits beautifully in my hands. When I “finish” practicing I usually put down, only to find it “jumping” back into my hand for another go. This happens repeatedly.

I have all-leather 7 fold bellows. They hold their shape perfectly. That is, they don’t sag, and they move effortlessly. The response is immediate. This has helped me on triplets where there are two bellows reversals such as the low (i.e., LH) F# E F# sequence or the low (LH) F# E D (with the D on the draw). The bellows also stay closed without the need of a strap. (I keep the concertina in its case but keep the lid open.)

The dynamics are excellent. It will play softly, and also will hold its own in a session with many other players. I have noticed huge differences in tone and volume depending on the acoustics of the room. I am sure that is true for any concertina.

Over the 17 months that I have had the Wakker, it has broken in beautifully. The tone is sweeter, and the bellows have smoothed out. The action was always fast and quiet, but it seems to be even quieter now.

I think that the Wakker has helped me improve because it is so responsive. But beyond all of this, it is just a lot of fun to play.

After much consideration of various options, I recently purchased a custom made anglo concertina from Wim & Karen Wakker Model W-A2 Number 0767. I am extremely pleased with my new concertina! I only had to wait a year and Wim was extremely patient and knowledgeable in helping me decide the specifications for my instrument. As an Irish traditional player, this concertina exceeded my expectations...it is wonderful! It is light in weight, rich in tone, fast in action, has a wide dynamic range, a true concertina sound and it is beautifully and meticulously finished. As a professional musician and music teacher, I highly recommend Wim's instruments.

Susan Hammer,
Winnipeg Canada.

“...For your own information I have based my comments on personal preference and comparison to other concertinas I own and play.

Things I really liked:

This is the lightest concertina I have ever played (which really suits my current playing situation very well).

The reed work is absolutely superb, very responsive with good dynamic range and combined with the action makes for a very ‘fast’ instrument.

The air button is easy to ‘feather’ and allow small breaths of air into/out of the concertina whilst sounding notes.

I particularly like the fact than when the buttons are depressed they come close enough to the wooded ends that you can feel them with your finger tips.

The inner row of buttons is slightly too close to the hand rest (closer than most other concertinas I have played). I used a loser hand strap setting and found that I was able to adjust to this.

I thought the notes below mid. C to be somewhat overpowering in certain situations. Although as I have played it more I’m adjusting to the volume (it may be that I’ve become too use to my Crabb which has relatively soft lower notes).

P.S.
I need to amend the comments I gave you about the “Traveler” with regard to the low notes. I visited a friend last night and we played together (by the way he was willing to swap his Jeffries for the Traveler). From the perspective of a listener the low notes sounded much better balanced than when I was playing...”

"... The quality of the instrument is really exceptional, thanks for sending it by..."

"...Thanks for the opportunity to try your concertina. I found it to have excellent workmanship. The fit and finish is apparent from the photos on your web site but the actual instrument is really a pleasure to look at and to hold in one's hands.

The Norman I usually play has buttons that project quite a bit from the end piece, but the "Traveler's" buttons have a relatively short stroke. The button rows on the Traveler are also farther apart than on my Norman and the
inside row is closer to the palm rest. Once I got used to this I found I was making fewer mistakes when I played the Wakker because I don't tend to "stumble" on adjacent buttons as much. The button mechanism on the Wakker is almost completely silent but the leather straps squeak to the point of being distracting. Of course, as the
instrument is broken-in and the leather softens, this squeak should go away.

The tone of the Wakker is very pure and balanced, it almost has an oboe-like quality. I was very happy with my Norman, but these two concertinas are in different leagues altogether. Now I want a Wakker..."

"It is an exquisite instrument, responds quickly, is very easy to play, with tone and workmanship at the top of the game. It is excellent. "

Thank you !
Robert Colvert
Nashville, TN

The first thing that struck me upon arrival was the look of the concertina; it was very pleasing to the eye! i really thought the grain of the wood and the finish perfectly compliment eachother. butterscotch comes to mind.

i liked the raised ends, which made me wonder why i would ever want flat ends! in the end i guess it doesnt maker a difference, but it added a lot of class to the instrument.

some people were complaining that they kept hitting the wood because the buttons barely peeped out, which i did notice. however, i think it is like an open holed flute--a frivolous difference that points out bad playing technique, not bad design. i found after the brief time i spent with your instrument, my finger placement is much better on my honky-buttoned edgley concertina, as the traveller taught me to pay more attention tom to my fingers. in the long run, that is a good thing.

i was very pleased with the speed of the action and feel of the keys as well as with the tone of the reeds. i did not get enough chance to feel and compare the resistance and tonal properties of the reeds as much as i would have liked. i spent a lot of time feeling the "quiet end" of the reeds, which i was very impressed with. i did not get the chance to push the reeds and feel how and when they went flat at a louder volume.

i felt the concertina played marvelously on the right side. the instrument seemed to sparkle when playing in the english, right-centric style. i was a little concerned with the feel of the reeds on the low end, especially the GD chord on the push (2nd button from bottom on 1st and 2nd rows). the chord was very loud and resonated extraordinarily--i could feel and hear the reeds vibrating even after the notes sounded, much like on a diatonic G harmonica. i understand that on all concertinas there is a similar resonance, but i was concerned because it seemed to be overpowering and unbalanced compared to the rest of the instrument. the sound and feel of the chord (and i'm assuming all notes down in that register feel the same) in itself was wonderful, but it made it very hard to balance the feel and sound of chords in irish music; no matter how much i put less pressure, the notes still seemed to echo forth above the melody notes i was playing. i do not know if this is because of the abuse the instrument has received. also, perhaps when the instrument breaks in, all the notes would be so resonant (which would be fantastic!)

all in all, i would be very happy to own this concertina. it fit my hand like a glove, and i very much appreciated the attention to detail. i was sad to see it leave me so soon, and i am quite confident that any flaws were due to the unfair stresses on the instrument. it will receive high recommendation from me. let me know if you have any questions.

kind regards,
david boveri
USA

p.s. i got a chance to play a rochelle, and was very pleased to see the low end concertina market finally playable!

My thoughts on "Traveler":

Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to experience the "Traveler." Workmanship is just superb. The instrument is light and responsive and takes very little effort to play. It is capable of much faster playing than I can provide. The voicing and tonality, particularly on the right hand side of the instrument are as good as I have ever heard. I would be very happy to own an instrument like "Traveler."

Don von Schriltz
USA

"I had a great time playing the Traveler, and only wish I had more time to enjoy it while it was here. It is obviously a quality piece of workmanship as well as a fine musical instrument".

Neil
Philadelphia, PA

"I found it quick, responsive, the perfect size, with very comfortable hand rails and straps. The instrument's tone is beautiful.

I noticed a difference in the action of the "less frequently used" buttons (harder to press) in this particular traveling instrument. My one complaint, is that I found the buttons pointy -- my fingers prefer larger diameter buttons.

Again, thank you for making the instrument available. This was a great way to experience it".

" I enjoyed the Wakker Anglo Traveler during the too brief time that I was able to play it. I’ve been playing concertina for a year and a half. My everyday instrument is a Geuns-Wakker (G/W) accordion-reed anglo. I also have a reconditioned 20-button Lachenal and I had a Stagi for a while. I’ve never played a Jefferies or concertina-reed instrument by a top contemporary maker for more than a few minutes. I have had a few opportunities to play contemporary accordion-reed instruments. I’m explaining for context. As a relatively new player, there may be strengths or weaknesses to this instrument that I don’t yet appreciate.

The fit and finish of the Traveler are outstanding. There are no rough spots and no joints or seams that feel “off”. I don’t know if it’s because of the raised ends, but the travel distance of the buttons seems short compared to my G/W. It wasn’t better or worse, just different. It was easy to adjust to. It may have contributed to the overall efficiency. There is a bit of chipping to the end plates above the most frequently used buttons. This is probably fingernail damage and is only cosmetic. The one element I don’t care for is the hand strap attachment system. The straps are fixed to the top of the hand rest with a very nice 2-screw metal plate. The adjustment is on the bottom of the hand rest with a thumb-screw and metal sheaf or cover. The thumb-screw was smallish. I have larger hands than the previous host, and found that aligning the thumb-screw, sheaf, strap and receiving nut to be quite fussy. There may be some technical advantage to this system – it avoids putting a hole in side of the end frame. The strap itself is thinner and lighter than my G/W.

The tone of the reeds is “honkier” than my G/W. I’ve been very happy with the tone of the reeds in my G/W. I would not swap them for another accordion reed instrument. Wim tinkers with them and the result is pretty traditional sounding. That said, the reeds on the Traveler simply sound traditional. I can only compare them to recordings and they seem to have that slightly honky, slightly nasal sound that I associate with older instruments. They also have a richness and depth that I don’t hear on my G/W.

The Traveler is very efficient when playing. This is the biggest difference from my G/W. The reeds speak immediately. Compared to the G/W, I could play noticeably longer phrases with noticeably less bellows movement. The instrument plays very fast. The dynamic range – soft to loud, is very good. It seems very responsive to a light touch. I don’t know if it could handle the heavy type of playing I associate with low-end instruments, but it wouldn’t need too.

One day, when I’m getting on someone’s waiting list for a top level contemporary instrument, the Wakker Anglo will be one of the top three that consider ".