English W/anglo Hand Rest

[Mike Franch]

I noticed this sad wreck on Ebay.

 

It looks to me that someone put an Anglo hand rest on a English concertina. I think I can see where the screw holes were for the English thumb strap and pinky rest.

 

My assumption is that this is an individual's unique experiment, but I wonder if anyone else has seen one of these. Do I remember correctly that one of our members made a concertina similar to this?

 

It's nothing that I'm thinking of trying, but it;s clearly captured my attention!

 

It's at http://www.ebay.com/itm/ANTIQUE-LACHENAL-CONCERTINA-48-BUTTON-KEYS-Rd-28565-ROSEWOOD-ENDS-BRASS-REEDS/351895913769?_trksid=p2047675.c100009.m1982&_trkparms=aid%3D888007%26algo%3DDISC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D40146%26meid%3D20c4fcb336824e0ca7d2e09e8b7c2b0b%26pid%3D100009%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26sd%3D172400824624.

 

Mike

[Greg Jowaisas]

Hi Mike,

I did a restoration about 3 years ago on a rosewood Lachenal english that had the holes and outline of hand bars in its finish. Inspection of the interior showed the remnants of the hand bar mounting were of a professional nature, work which I'd assume was done at the factory. (If memory serves there might have been a support dowel normally found on an anglo beneath the hand bar... . For sure there was a deliberate space incorperated in the english action pan for the support dowel and a countersunk screw hole in the underside of the button pan for the long connecting screw.)

 

Somewhere I might have a few pictures....

 

Greg

Edited November 8, 2016 by Greg Jowaisas

[Jake Middleton-Metcalfe]

hmm, interesting. It looks like the lowest buttons would be hard to reach on this design though.

[Patrick McMahon]

I've seen them on ebay before. Not for a long long time though.

 

My theory is that it's for an anglo or duet player who wants to learn English, but just can't get used to the handles.

 

If it was for someone with an injury, you would think it would just be done on one side.

[Mike Franch]

I remember now! It was Henrik Müller. We've had discussions of this idea under ergonomics and perhaps elsewhere.

 

Here's a video of Müller playing his EC with his anglo/duet style hand stap and rest. He has also redesigned the keyboard somewhat. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QuF7fFYYHw

[malcolm clapp]

Never seen a hand rest on an English before, but I've seen the odd Maccann duet with both a hand rest and a thumb loop.

 

Incidentally, I reckon the seller might be around 30 years out with his dating...

[BW77]

Never seen a hand rest on an English before, but I've seen the odd Maccann duet with both a hand rest and a thumb loop.

You also got the William and Marjorie Hurlstone instruments ( maybe Crane duets) with thumbstrap and handrest shown in the article by Chris Algar and Randall Merris in PICA Vol. 5 Page 53-57

 

And here you have englishes with a hybrid arrangement - a (wide) wrist/hand strap and a (wide) wrist support :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmEPTosZ44g

[Jake Middleton-Metcalfe]

I remember now! It was Henrik Müller. We've had discussions of this idea under ergonomics and perhaps elsewhere.

 

Here's a video of Müller playing his EC with his anglo/duet style hand stap and rest. He has also redesigned the keyboard somewhat. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QuF7fFYYHw

 

yeah, I think Henrik did a way better job of re designing the hand-rest/strap arrangement than the ebay instrument.

[BW77]

Generally speaking it would be interesting to know why the anglos, duets and englishes which in principle are very much the same kind of instruments compared to other squeezeboxes got different means to hold them. Is there any reason for that or is it just an old tradition?

[Stephen Chambers]

Not an Anglo hand rest as such perhaps, but here's a best-quality "stretched-hexagon" Lachenal New Model that seems to have been made to have (now missing) wrist supports attached:

 

 

 

I've heard of a Wheatstone or two too....

[BW77]

Not an Anglo hand rest as such perhaps, but here's a best-quality "stretched-hexagon" Lachenal New Model that seems to have been made to have (now missing) wrist supports attached:

 

 

 

I've heard of a Wheatstone or two too....

I guess the probable hand rest may have been attached by two of the four holes?...any idea what it may have looked like? The metal pieces seem to be bent up at the sides which hardly fits with the traditonal anglo/duet wooden bar? Can it have been just an arrangement for some kind of wrist strap? Why the extra metal holders?

[Stephen Chambers]

Not an Anglo hand rest as such perhaps, but here's a best-quality "stretched-hexagon" Lachenal New Model that seems to have been made to have (now missing) wrist supports attached:

 

 

 

I've heard of a Wheatstone or two too....

 

I guess the probable hand rest may have been attached by two of the four holes?...any idea what it may have looked like? The metal pieces seem to be bent up at the sides which hardly fits with the traditonal anglo/duet wooden bar? Can it have been just an arrangement for some kind of wrist strap? Why the extra metal holders?

 

We can only speculate what it looked like, but it was evidently of a form that "bridged" the intervening fretwork (between the two pairs of holes). I've seen wooden hand rests like that before, and also metal ones similar to those you'd get on 4-row Jeffries Anglos).

 

And it does look like it was associated with a wrist strap, seeing that there appears to be a screw hole for one, which appears to then have been upgraded to a screwed-on brass plate:

 

[Henrik Müller]

The hand rest on the finished instrument was the outcome of playing around (literally) with physical additions to the little Stagi 18-key. The outcome was the realisation that I play at an angle with respect to the vertical center line. Thus, the hand rest was angled 10-15 degrees.

 

The shape of the hand rest? I didn't know, so I left it sort-of-rounded for 10 years, annoying the pinkie finger hand joint on the right hand! Only this summer did I add a slope (sloping of down to the edge) - a copy of the hand rest on my second instrumernt (finished, though still in the making = new reeds (not frames) need to be made). But the rests are good ;-)

 

This is not to be considered an experiment anymore - more than 3.700 hours of playing have proven its worth. This is also due to the "rearranged keyboard": horizontally spaced out buttons, which go all the way down. Heresy, heresy...

 

Better get started on the bellows for the third instrument ;-)

 

/Henrik

[BW77]

The shape of the hand rest? I didn't know, so I left it sort-of-rounded for 10 years, annoying the pinkie finger hand joint on the right hand! Only this summer did I add a slope (sloping of down to the edge) - a copy of the hand rest on my second instrumernt (finished, though still in the making = new reeds (not frames) need to be made). But the rests are good ;-)

/Henrik

You have said earlier that one reason for the concept was that you had trouble fingering the low range of the keyboard and got no support there for the hand. Since your instrument is fairly small and the keyboard is reduced haven't you considered the possibility to locate the keyboard further to the top to improve the balance and get more space for the hand and options for better contact between the palm/wrist and the instrument end...or even making the instrument a bit larger? Looking at your video it seems as if your wrist comes outside of the endplate still?

[Patrick McMahon]

I think the English Wanglo is a great name.