Jump to content

Alfred Arnold Bandoneon


flacogio

Recommended Posts

Like new 144 tone Alfred Arnold Bandoneon. This bandoneon is diatonic, with triple reeds on treble and bass, aluminum reed plates, 37 buttons right, 35 buttons left. Keyboard layout is Einheits.

 

The year of manufacture is 1940. Serial number 113426. This instrument looks and smells like it was just built yesterday. The buttons are all like new, even and perfect, all mechanisms appear to be in perfect condition, the bellows are excellent, like new.

 

The casing is blue pearl celluloid with intricate white and rhinestone inlays.

 

The only blemishes are a few missing rhinestones on the casing and a small crack on sound board, which is easy to repair and almost a given on all bandoneons of this age. Springs and reeds all appear to be perfect. The valve leathers are like new, flat, and supple!

 

The carrying case is also in near perfect condition, with the intact original Alfred Arnold paper label on inside and complete with a seldom seen Alfred Arnold stamped bolt opening tool and neck strap!

It appears that it still has factory tuning and has never been re-tuned. Some tuning and set-up may likely be necessary.

 

This instrument is being sold by the family of the original owner, and has been carefully stored and practically unused since it was purchased in 1940. An instrument in this condition is a once-in –a-lifetime opportunity for the bandoneon enthusiast or collector.

 

We can send pictures or arrnage a Skype viewing if anyone is seriously interested.

 

We are looking for serious offers!

 

Gio

Link to comment
Share on other sites

while technically classifiable as a bandoneon, the instrument you describe seems to be what is usually known as a chemnitzer concertina. you might increase your chances of reaching an interested party by labeling it as such....

I don't think this is right. So far as I know Chemnitzers never have this many buttons - the usual full-size one has a total of 52. And Alfred Arnold made lots of bandoneons and not many Chemnitzers. Finally, a Chemnitzer is not "technically classifiable as a bandoneon". It's more accurate to say that Chemintzers, and bandoneons and Carlsfelders are all in what Ted Kloba calls the "LSGC" family (for Large Square German Concertina).

 

All that having been said, you won't find many LSGC players here. You might have better luck at http://launch.groups...roup/bandoneon/ .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

while technically classifiable as a bandoneon, the instrument you describe seems to be what is usually known as a chemnitzer concertina. you might increase your chances of reaching an interested party by labeling it as such....

I don't think this is right. So far as I know Chemnitzers never have this many buttons - the usual full-size one has a total of 52. And Alfred Arnold made lots of bandoneons and not many Chemnitzers. Finally, a Chemnitzer is not "technically classifiable as a bandoneon". It's more accurate to say that Chemintzers, and bandoneons and Carlsfelders are all in what Ted Kloba calls the "LSGC" family (for Large Square German Concertina).

 

All that having been said, you won't find many LSGC players here. You might have better luck at http://launch.groups...roup/bandoneon/ .

 

Thank you for the comments! I am quite sure that the instrument should be classified a "bandoneon" (the 1920s method/instruction book that comes with it even says so!), and more specifically an "Einheitsbandoneon" because of the type of keyboard layout it has.

 

Alas, all of the folks at the yahoo bandoneon group, including me, are under the spell of the "Rheinische" or argentine tango bandoneon, and are not interested in anything else.

 

Cheers,

 

Gio

post-9169-0-57081300-1298513716_thumb.jpg

post-9169-0-84606600-1298513726_thumb.jpg

post-9169-0-23070900-1298513741_thumb.jpg

post-9169-0-72995200-1298513757_thumb.jpg

post-9169-0-77679200-1298513773_thumb.jpg

post-9169-0-41101900-1298513794_thumb.jpg

post-9169-0-71114600-1298513819_thumb.jpg

Edited by flacogio
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 years later...

Searching old posts on the forums for mentions of my name or "chemnitzer"...

 

I actually had one like this but with wood exterior rather than celluloid. Previous owner had blanked off one set of middle-octave reeds with coated paper between the reed plate and block so it functioned as a double-reed.

 

Not a bad instrument, but not many people who want to play an "Einheits" layout [in the US], though I have seen some of the Lithuanian folk players using it. I imagine that was through some accident of history.

Edited by Theodore Kloba
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It may not be an Anglo, but that Konzertina/Bandoneon has a great bloodline. The Alfred Arnold Company took over from Uhlig himself, and would have produced two row German concertinas for export as well as its higher quality LSGC products, which were shipped worldwide up until WWII. Hitler definitely did NOT like accordion players (too leftist for him, apparently), and I suspect the company was forced into making war materiel of some sort. Whether that is true or not, their factory was flattened by Allied bombing (being in a big industrial area), so that particular instrument featured above was built in the last hurrah of quality German concertina building, before the war changed everything.

 

After the war, the second plague fell....the Soviets, who collectivised the struggling remnants of the Arnold company and set them to other tasks, like ultra cheap accordions for the eastern block and also diesel engine parts. It effectively died then, never to survive to another day. Nazis, Allied bombs, then Commies! Who could survive all that?

 

It is worth considering how closely aligned all these instruments were in the late nineteenth century, musically. No matter whether you were in Germany, Poland, Ireland, England, America, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, at sea, or wherever else, diatonic free reeds were predominantly used by all for polkas, waltzes, schottisches, varsovianas, and the like - the global rock n roll of the era with its direct application to social dance. The modern infatuation with playing reels on Anglo concertinas doesn't particularly jive with 19th century accounts of its playing. That was to come in the twentieth century, with revival efforts (of the music first; only later the Anglo). So, from a purely historical perspective, I always wonder why we don't have more interaction with folks like the Chemnitzer players. Someday I must drive up to one of their annual conventions to check 'em out!

 

Have fun....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...