1913 Concertina - Help Me Id It

[Wegates]

I have a Concertina made in Milwaukee WI by Gustov C Foerster. Inside there is additional information, date, Repair label by Aug Behrend also Milwaukee WI. It has an ornate silver plate on the outside with: F Lange -Instrumenten Fabrik - Chemnitz (Saxony) It is square on the ends and has three sections of 4 bellows each section. The reeds are on a reed plate, two plate for each row of buttons which would tell me that is plays two notes together. The right hand has 22 buttons (horizontal rows) and the left hand has 16 buttons (also horizontal). The wood is Mahogney with silver and pearl inlay. There are several valves missing and some that are curled up.

 

Can anyone tell me anything about this instrument? Is it an Anglo? Is it familiar to anyone? Where can I buy the valve leather? Can I use deer leather to make new valves with?

[Samantha]

I have a Concertina made in Milwaukee WI by Gustov C Foerster. Inside there is additional information, date, Repair label by Aug Behrend also Milwaukee WI. It has an ornate silver plate on the outside with: F Lange -Instrumenten Fabrik - Chemnitz (Saxony) It is square on the ends and has three sections of 4 bellows each section. The reeds are on a reed plate, two plate for each row of buttons which would tell me that is plays two notes together. The right hand has 22 buttons (horizontal rows) and the left hand has 16 buttons (also horizontal). The wood is Mahogney with silver and pearl inlay. There are several valves missing and some that are curled up.

 

Can anyone tell me anything about this instrument? Is it an Anglo? Is it familiar to anyone? Where can I buy the valve leather? Can I use deer leather to make new valves with?

 

Sounds like it's a Chemnitzer to me. Theo Kloba on this site is your man, or do a net search for "chemnitzer concertinas" to find sites with a greater relevance to your instrument. That being said, you're welcome to hang out here and much of the information in the "instrument repair" forum will be helpful to you, I think.

Samantha

[Stephen Chambers]

I have a Concertina made in Milwaukee WI by Gustov C Foerster. ... It has an ornate silver plate on the outside with: F Lange -Instrumenten Fabrik - Chemnitz (Saxony)

The F. Lange, Chemnitz plate would seem to suggest that they were the actual makers, in Chemnitz, Germany, and that Foerster was probably only the seller.

 

Is it an Anglo?

It's related to one, but almost certainly a Chemnitzer system, as Samantha has suggested.

[Wegates]

I have a Concertina made in Milwaukee WI by Gustov C Foerster. Inside there is additional information, date, Repair label by Aug Behrend also Milwaukee WI. It has an ornate silver plate on the outside with: F Lange -Instrumenten Fabrik - Chemnitz (Saxony) It is square on the ends and has three sections of 4 bellows each section. The reeds are on a reed plate, two plate for each row of buttons which would tell me that is plays two notes together. The right hand has 22 buttons (horizontal rows) and the left hand has 16 buttons (also horizontal). The wood is Mahogney with silver and pearl inlay. There are several valves missing and some that are curled up.

 

Can anyone tell me anything about this instrument? Is it an Anglo? Is it familiar to anyone? Where can I buy the valve leather? Can I use deer leather to make new valves with?

 

Sounds like it's a Chemnitzer to me. Theo Kloba on this site is your man, or do a net search for "chemnitzer concertinas" to find sites with a greater relevance to your instrument. That being said, you're welcome to hang out here and much of the information in the "instrument repair" forum will be helpful to you, I think.

Samantha

 

Thanks Samantha for your help and suggestions. I am totally new to this - concertina's and this forum. I am stuggling to get my arms around all of it. I am very eager to get it under way - that is learning how to: 1) use this forum. 2) learn all about my concertina and others too. 3) learn how to repair mine and even build them. 4) Learn how to play it well. I am a musician and a good craftsman, so I should be able to do all of the four items well. Every drop of information at this point is of tremendous value to me. Now I have to figure out this forum and how to get in contact with Theo Kloba and chat with him. Does he give lessons? Is there anyone in the Milwaukee area who gives lessons on how to play and also repair?

 

Thanks

 

Albert

[Wegates]

I have a Concertina made in Milwaukee WI by Gustov C Foerster. ... It has an ornate silver plate on the outside with: F Lange -Instrumenten Fabrik - Chemnitz (Saxony)

The F. Lange, Chemnitz plate would seem to suggest that they were the actual makers, in Chemnitz, Germany, and that Foerster was probably only the seller.

 

Is it an Anglo?

It's related to one, but almost certainly a Chemnitzer system, as Samantha has suggested.

 

Hi Stephen, I will search the net to find more information on the Chemnitzer system. If your have any sites in mind to direct me to that would shorten my search time please let me know.

 

Thanks

 

Albert

[m3838]

I have a Concertina made in Milwaukee WI by Gustov C Foerster. ... It has an ornate silver plate on the outside with: F Lange -Instrumenten Fabrik - Chemnitz (Saxony)

The F. Lange, Chemnitz plate would seem to suggest that they were the actual makers, in Chemnitz, Germany, and that Foerster was probably only the seller.

 

Is it an Anglo?

It's related to one, but almost certainly a Chemnitzer system, as Samantha has suggested.

 

Hi Stephen, I will search the net to find more information on the Chemnitzer system. If your have any sites in mind to direct me to that would shorten my search time please let me know.

 

Thanks

 

Albert

 

http://www.concertinamusic.com/

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_quer...p;search=Search

Edited December 15, 2006 by m3838

[Daniel Hersh]

Ted Kloba is in the Chicago area. His site http://www.geocities.com/heytud/ is a great starting point for someone who's interested in the Chemnitzer.

 

There seems to be lots of Chemnitzer activity in Wisconsin, though I don't know about Milwaukee in particular. A couple of upcoming events are announced at http://oldtimeconcertina.com/otcevents.htm . Chemnitzer dealer Dan Gruetzmacher ( http://www.gruetzmacherconcertina.com/ ) is in Wisconsin too. I'd imagine that you can find someone to give you lessons in your area.

 

Bear in mind that most of the Chemnitzer scene is closely tied in to the music and culture of several immigrant communities: Polish, German and Czech. (Ted's own interests are much broader, and his playing reflects that--but he's an exception.) If that's what you're looking for, you'll be happy.

 

Daniel

 

I have a Concertina made in Milwaukee WI by Gustov C Foerster. Inside there is additional information, date, Repair label by Aug Behrend also Milwaukee WI. It has an ornate silver plate on the outside with: F Lange -Instrumenten Fabrik - Chemnitz (Saxony) It is square on the ends and has three sections of 4 bellows each section. The reeds are on a reed plate, two plate for each row of buttons which would tell me that is plays two notes together. The right hand has 22 buttons (horizontal rows) and the left hand has 16 buttons (also horizontal). The wood is Mahogney with silver and pearl inlay. There are several valves missing and some that are curled up.

 

Can anyone tell me anything about this instrument? Is it an Anglo? Is it familiar to anyone? Where can I buy the valve leather? Can I use deer leather to make new valves with?

 

Sounds like it's a Chemnitzer to me. Theo Kloba on this site is your man, or do a net search for "chemnitzer concertinas" to find sites with a greater relevance to your instrument. That being said, you're welcome to hang out here and much of the information in the "instrument repair" forum will be helpful to you, I think.

Samantha

 

Thanks Samantha for your help and suggestions. I am totally new to this - concertina's and this forum. I am stuggling to get my arms around all of it. I am very eager to get it under way - that is learning how to: 1) use this forum. 2) learn all about my concertina and others too. 3) learn how to repair mine and even build them. 4) Learn how to play it well. I am a musician and a good craftsman, so I should be able to do all of the four items well. Every drop of information at this point is of tremendous value to me. Now I have to figure out this forum and how to get in contact with Theo Kloba and chat with him. Does he give lessons? Is there anyone in the Milwaukee area who gives lessons on how to play and also repair?

 

Thanks

 

Albert

[Brian Humphrey]

Discussions about Chemnitzer concertinas have come up on this web site before. In the U.S., Chemnitzers are most predictably found in the upper midwest, from Minnesota and Wisconsin to the Chicago area. I lived in Minnesota for quite a while, I learned to "speak Minnesotan", and I almost bought a chemnitzer once, so maybe I can offer some information.

 

Here are some excerpts from notes I posted to concertina.net in 2004:

 

Jerry Minar, 213 1st St., New Prague, Minnesota 56071; 612-758-4797, has taken over the manufacture of Hengel concertinas, a highly regarded brand of chemnitzer... Ken Mahler, of Mahler Music, in St. Paul, MN, 651-224-6493, also sells and repairs chemnitzers. His web site is at: http://www.accordionheaven.com. Dr. Helmi Harrington, 1401 Belknap St, Superior, Wisconsin, 218-393-0245 would also be a good choice for chemnitzer repair. She works on all kinds of concertinas and accordions, and teaches accordion and concertina repair. Brown's Music, in New Ulm, Minnesota, is another possibility: http://www.brownsmusic.com

 

In the Search feature at the bottom of this page, you could try a few searches on "Chemnitzer", or some of the other terms and names I used above. The search engine for this web site sometimes acts in ways that I don't predict, so look over the whole list of results to sort out what may be relevant to you.

 

Brian

[Brian Humphrey]

Wegates,

If you are interested in a brief vacation that allows an immersion in chemnitzer culture", New Ulm, Minnesota has several festivals where chemnitzers may be heard. Check out: http://www.newulm.com/travel/travel_index.html

Brian