2 replies to this topic

[Alex West]

I came across Wheatstone number 2118 today in a collection of other instruments. It was a nice looking (as in well preserved) 48 button rosewood English instrument with 4 bellows and buttons (coloured, with letters on the tops) indicating that it was probably a student model. It had pine baffles as well and the case was an extremely handsome piece of woodwork.

I didn't have time, equipment or liberty to open it up, but inside the case was a quantity of spare (?) brass reeds mounted on a rectangular piece of wood, neatly routed to house the reeds so I imagine it was original. I also didn't have any tuning devices with me so I don't know what pitch it was in.

From the ledgers, this number appears to fall into the gap between the last of the 1848 numbers and the start of the 1851 numbers (so 1849 might be a good guess?).

My questions are, would anyone out there have a better idea of the date? And was it common at that time to have included with the instrument a set of spare reeds?

Alex West

[Larry Stout]

I own ones on either side: 2037, a baritone with hand cut reed shoes (square ends) and nickel silver reeds; 2667, a treble rather like the one you describe with brass reeds in the round ended machine made reed shoes that were introduced when Lachenal went to work for Wheatstone. I'd guess that the shape of the reed shoes might give an indication of date in the 1848-51 period. I'm rather fond of both of these. They are mellow and quiet.

Some people view that quietness as a fault and may have replaced the reeds with later steel ones (the reed shoe sizes and shapes remained standard for a while after the steel tongues were introduced). Perhaps they made the board with the dovetails to hold the original reeds in case a later owner wanted to restore the concertina to its original configuration??

[Theo]

And was it common at that time to have included with the instrument a set of spare reeds?

I don't think it was common, but occasionally concertinas were supplied with two sets of reeds. I have a Lachenal EC from several decades later which has two sets of reeds and reedpans, at two different pitch standards. All four reed pans are stamped with the same serial number so they were clearly made to go together.