I believe that Colin, Rosalie and John's concertinas are the best-built concertinas in the world or, maybe, that the world has ever seen. Every single Dipper concertina that I've tried are all aesthetically unique but each share a distinctive Dipper quality that is their trademark.

I have played a number of bass concertinas and none of them come close to the artistry, quality, action and ease of play, richness of tone, design, weight and perfect bellows of this Dipper concertina.

I love my two Dipper concertinas, a Bb/F and a G/D. They are beautiful instruments and simply the best I've ever played. I also love the fact that I know who made them and that they like them as much as I do.

Visit my website at www.alistairbrown.com....with music clips, bio details, reviews and video.

One day one was for sale (second hand) in France. I immediatly went to see it, try it, and buy it!

With this instrument I play different music: Irish, Swedish, French. I also play chords for accompanying songs. I can do it because of the thee rows and because on the left hand I have 18 buttons. And all the semi-tones in both ways (push and pull).

It is a really wonderfull instrument, very well done, with an incredible sound. I love it!
My website: domren.free.fr/achatry.htm

It has 28 buttons with a cock crow and whistle as well.

I also play a Jeffries C/G and Bflat/F but find the Dipper very portable and great for travelling.

The action is really light and fast. I am glad to see more and more Irish players going for Dippers and I have always recommended them when asked about modern makers.

I use it to accompany my singing in folk clubs and also to play for Cornish dance and Pensans Morris.

My other Dipper is a "Sings Well" I bought second-hand which I think is about 30 years old. It is a 36 button G/D 71/2" dia. Good for singing with nice tone but has a few odd buttons that I have yet to use.

I hope to replace this eventually with another purpose made Dipper 36 Button G/D.

I decided to order my Dipper concertina after my first workshop with Noel Hill where I got to test many great concertinas.

I put my order in and 4.5 years later I received #473 from the great Colin Dipper & Family. It is my main instrument and I am awed with pleasure every time I pick it up.

I have a few other concertinas in other keys but my Dipper (in C/G) is my main ax. I love it!

Circumstances didn't allow me to order one at that time but my dream was to one day, play my own Dipper concertina.

I am now the delighted owner of a Dipper County Clare. Not only is it beautiful in appearance and sound, it is pure joy to play.

Thank you John!!

Semi-retirement, a change of musical venues and Covid 19 gave me the reason and time to relearn duet, and I was amazingly fortunate to have been offered the Dipper following a Facebook post when I first started looking for a suitable instrument.

I play mainly English music and occasionally song accompaniment. I play in the English ceilidh band Albireo www.albireo.co.uk.

I also play melodeon, hammered dulcimer, recorder and guitar.

Hear me playing it here: https://soundcloud.com/howardj/south-downs

Photo by Elly Lucas

They are so beautiful to play. Since I received my concertina in late 2007, I have played my wooden ended, sweet toned instrument at all concerts and TV appearances. I recorded all my 2009 'Daisy Field' album on my Dipper concertina.

Thanks you so much for this beautiful instrument and keep up the valuable and creative work!

Claire Keville - musician, broadcaster (Clare FM), music teacher and composer.

With Charlie Piggot (Melodeon)
With John Weir (fiddle)
With Liam Lewis (fiddle) From a Geantrai programme on TG4 in 2010.

It's very quick and light. It has brass buttons and brown bellows. We appreciate your craftsmanship and great work.

Your reeds are excellent!

Satomi & Tomoyuki Koshi

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Full length reeds and large chambers produce a powerful tone that is remarkably malleable, ranging at my command from dark and mellow to sweet and light to heroic and grand.

This is my go to Anglo for blending harmoniously in small groups with fiddle, plucked instruments, winds and on several occasions - full church organ.

Visit my website jodykruskal.com

Listen to Jody’s Dipper here:
Zelda - French dance tune by Philippe Plard.
Boda Waltz - Traditional Swedish tune

When it arrived I totally fell in love with it. First of all it was a unique instrument made for me and it looked amazing in its fitted case. It was beautifully crafted and lovely to hold.

Playing it was a pure joy. The buttons responded easily to the slightest touch. The pull and draw of the bellows was effortless. It had a beautiful tonal quality that was clear, crisp and sweet.

Playing it transported me to another plane so I had the feeling that the music flowed freely from the heart to the ear.

I have been playing the concertina since I was nine years of age which is a very long time, and most of my life I have been privileged to be the owner of a very special two row wheatstone, which my father bought for me from Harry Crabb, Liverpool Road, Islington, North London. This concertina is very sentimental to me. I chose a Dipper concertina mostly because I love the sound of them.

I play concertina professionally and teach most days. I teach at many music schools during the year, including the Willie Clancy school which is on every July in Miltown Malbay. Co. Clare. I have managed to travel to most corners of the World playing the concertina and have met many very interesting people.

The reason I play the concertina is because my Father, Tommy McCarthy was a concertina player and Uilleann piper. He came from Shyan, Kilmihill, Co. Clare, which was a well known area for concertina players when he was growing up. He learnt along side Tom Carey, Bernard O'Sullivan, Solus Lillis and Tommy McMahon and they learnt off Mick Stack Ryan who was a local concertina player and gentleman farmer. My father emigrated to London in 1950 and my siblings and I all grew up in London. He was determined to pass on his beautiful culture to us children, so the rest is history.

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The workmanship is unparalleled, action is fast and quiet and every effort was made to ensure it plays to my liking. Most importantly the reed tone is wholesome, rich and punchy. The voicing is well balanced and it responds flawlessly across the dynamic range: it's an ideal instrument for playing Irish traditional music, whether on the concert stage or in a traditional session.

Bottom line: I’m delighted with my concertina so thanks again. I think as musicians, it can be difficult to articulate exactly what we expect from our instruments but you all have an inherent understanding of our demands (across a range of concertina playing styles) and build instruments which deliver!

I’ve never held two the same nor played one that I didn’t love. Every one of them has a unique personality. I am fortunate enough to have 2 custom made 38 key C&R Dipper and son concertinas (C/G and C#/G#). They are simply magical - as a solo instrument, in a duet or group setting. The tone (which was beautiful on day one and continues to improve) is probably the most important to me but I am also inspired by the responsiveness of the keys, the fluidity of the bellows and the list goes on and on.

Did I mention they are made with many recycled parts and are absolutely beautiful. After my family, they are the most important things in my life. When I try other concertinas by other makers, I often ask myself why the Dipper Concertinas are so much better. There are many reasons but the most important is this: The Dippers never take short cuts.

Lastly, a word about John. John is a massive talent and a great friend. My wife, Aifric, and I greatly admire his playing and composition and are delighted that he has that balance between composition, the workshop and, of course, the stage. We hope the next time we’re home we get to play his tunes... on his concertina …with him.

A week later only I recived a magnificent lettre with an enthousiatic reponse and a lot of little design to correct my plans. I quickly realise that if you want to do a concertina, you can't buy all the spares and reeds but you have to make all the components!

So I ask Colin and Rosalie to make that instrument and six month later we met in St Chartier festival and they give me a Rolls-Royce, mutch better than all my best dreams.

Since that time we are very good friends and never lose an occasion to met in England or France for a nice music and food session with good wine!

Lynched - The Old Man From Over The Sea

Shot at the Lynched album launch for Cold Old Fire on the 25/5/2014 in the Button Factory Dublin.

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At age of 14, I began to listen to early blues & jazz, (“Jelly Roll” Morton, Robert Johnson, etc., et al). A few years later English traditional music became an interest, and about 1973 I stumbled across a battered old German concertina in a junkshop in York. Looking back it seems inevitable that I should spend much of the last 40+ years working on combining these widely different traditions onto a succession of Anglo concertinas of increasing quality. I got my first Dipper (a 35-key G/D) in about 1977(?), which I still use (often with the electric 5-piece “Bayou Gumbo” playing music inspired by Cajun, zydeco, blues, with African and Caribbean influences).

Brian Peters once kindly said that I have a “unique style… always great to listen to, doing things on a concertina that I doubt its inventor ever envisaged.” With thought and (occasional) sensitivity, I try to play music that I enjoy, wherever it has its roots...

A C/G Dipper followed, and much more recently a C/G baritone, which I have used for playing Monk’s “Blue Monk”, French “musette” waltzes, and accompanying songs of my own or “real” songwriters. I also enjoy playing the traditional music of County Clare - but will need another 60 or 70 years work to get it nearly right!

Published work: research into black South African “squashbox”; articles to many publications (“Tykes News”, “Froots”, “Concertina & Squeezebox”, “Papers of the ICA.”, “Kloster Michaelstein” [Germany])

I have taught individuals of all ages, and run workshops at “Buttonboxes & Moothies” in Aberdeen, at “Concertinas at Witney”, “Swaledale Squeeze”, etc.

I've primarily played bluegrass guitar most of my life, and my songs have been recorded by artists such as Claire Lynch, Dale Ann Bradley, Danny Paisley, Larry Cordle, Michael Cleveland, Bobby Osborne, Doyle Lawson, and others. I've taught songwriting, guitar, and harmony singing at music camps and workshops including Sorefingers in the UK, Augusta Heritage Center in West Virginia, and the British Columbia Bluegrass Workshop.

A few years ago at a friend's house, I picked up a concertina and fell in love, thus starting the journey into concertina and Irish music. My new dipper is the instrument I'll play for the rest of my life - the sound and craftsmanship are exquisite - and it's so responsive, it sometimes feels like it anticipates the tune.

Here's a sample of our music.... We plan to record a song with the Dipper sometime soon.

I called my friend in Ireland John Butler who is a great pipe maker, lovely piper and concertina player as well. He told me the best instrument was the one you actually tried and evaluated with your own fingers and feelings. No matter fame or people’s comments. I think he was 100% right. So I trusted my impression and it took me very little time to decide that I’d have to save money to offer me one but I’d go for it.

I placed the order directly by telephone and from time to time I had a call to precise my wish as to the cosmetics and the extra notes, that was the very nice part.

The result arrived by post two years ago (already!) and I’ve been playing it ever since with the same pleasure. It is a beautiful instrument, subtle or powerful when needed, and I am VERY happy with it. I could give a lot of extensive technical details to describe my feeling but I am not good at that. I just love it.

It is too young to know if the instrument gets better with time as it gets broken in. All I know is that I am enjoying its youth period immensely and I particularly appreciate the nice balance of the volume between the left hand and right hand notes.

0ne of my friends strongly advised me to get a new one if possible, and recommended Colin Dipper. I took delivery of 31 button G/D Anglo no.11132 about 1980, and have enjoyed playing this beautiful concertina off and on ever since.

Chris was playing an older Dipper and I fell completely for its drive and action. I immediately put my name on Colin’s list…and after some three plus years my number came up!

In the interim I played and owned several other instruments (Rochelle, Morse, Crabb). I still have the 1904 Crabb and enjoy it as well but the Dipper is my first love.

Chris still tries diligently to make a musician out of me and I confess to taking lessons just so I can hear him play! My wife and I play regularly in a weekly session in Ayer MA called The Groton Session (www.thegrotonsession.com) with occasional forays to sessions at The Greenbriar in Brighton MA and O’Sheas in Dennis MA.

Colin and Rosalie did a beautiful job of woodworking with burl ends, brass buttons, and a lovely brown leather for the bellows and hand straps. It has performed flawlessly and beautifully.

I played (tuba and double bass respectively) with Tony in a jazz band and bluegrass band in the 1980s and 90s and he sold it to me as my first concertina.

The instrument itself is in G and D, but the G row is an octave higher than a normal Jeffries G/D and the accidentals aren’t in the same places which makes “normal” cross row playing quite difficult.

Tony commissioned it with a baby cry and a whistle as novelty notes but I had no use for them and Colin reconfigured it to have more useable notes for those buttons when I sent the instrument back for a bit of refurbishment in 2006. It’s a small frame size (5 5/8”” across the flats) but doesn’t compromise on volume.

I love the box and still play it.

It is a slightly unusual layout, G/D with no drone, and with the lowest note on the D row pull being an E rather than the expected A. I love it and it is always my go-to box despite my metal-ended Jeffries having more buttons.

I am a Morris dancer with Dolphin Morris Men and I occasionally play for the dance, and especially when I am teaching solo Morris jigs. I am a regular at Midlands Concertina Group and play a mixture of mainly English folk, Morris and Playford with bits of Irish, Scottish and American thrown in. I play mainly in the harmonic style and occasionally in the single note style, using octave passages for emphasis such as in the "slows" in a Morris tune.