I play a ca. 1855 English concertina by George Case of London (90% certain) . This instrument has 48 buttons and all-original brass reeds (rather than steel reeds as in more modern instruments). The English concertina is a fully chromatic free reed instrument. It is unisonoric, meaning that the same note is produced on the push as on the pull. 

​

The English concertina was invented in the late 1820s by Sir Charles Wheatsone (1802 – 1875). Over a 40 year period the English concertina had a shooting-star popularity, rising dramatically in the 1850s and 1860s, only to decline just decades after that. For many years it was considered primarily a lady’s parlor instrument. More recently the English concertina tends to be played by oddballs and characters pathetically drawn to its peculiar and mystical honk. 

​

The Anglo concertina (generally favored by Irish dance music musicians - bless their corrupt little souls) is a very different instrument, although it looks pretty similar at first glance. The Anglo is bisonoric, meaning that a different note is sounded on push versus pull and is diatonic (that is, some 30-button versions can play in all keys, but the instrument is designed to play in a few, well-used keys only).

​

​