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"Silvertone" was a trade name used by Sears Roebuck on musical instruments ca 1950. That particular instrument looks like a post war Scholer, with totally wooden ends (no separate endplates). Cheers, Geo

Question to all & sundry, The current Hohners appear to be of the Stagi/Bastari genre. Were old ones of the traditional "German" manufacture, with wooden levers & large buttons? Cheers, Geo

Wes, Interesting German Web site. However there were only two pictures of a 20b Scholer; and nothing about same in the text that I clould find. Interesting that the particular model illustrated had only one bellows frame. Bye the bye, the pictures of roses on the sides of the bellows ends seems to be a Scholer "trade mark". Cheers, Geo

I gather that the reason for the "divided" bellows, i.e, with usually two frames in the bellows, is that the double reeded instruments had the reeds mounted on boxes that are raised over the pan. Thus requiring a larger bellows length. However I have a single reed Scholer which has the reeds mounted on the pan, that has a "normal" (7) number of folds. Cheers, Geo

It might be interesting to conduct a history of the Bastari-Stagi instruments. I have a 30b C/G Bastari ca. 1978 that has the flat aluminum button levers shown on the 20b of Ken Coles article. The buttons have the rubber sleeve. The valve pads are circular and the reeds are screw mounted on the pan. I later got a 40b C/G Bastari ca. 1982, where the mechanism was the same as Ken's Stagi. At that time I think that the instruments were available only in C/G. The original 30b bellows held up pretty good, especially if one reinforced the outer corners with electrician's liquid tape. The problem being that the bellows are the same size as the ends. Those reeds, 'tho accordian, were not too bad, especially compared to a 20b single reed Scholer that I had. Bob must think so too, if he uses them in one of his boxes. Cheers, Geo.

A quick compilation. To this point we have: ANGLOS Bastari 2 Conner 1 Crabb 2 Dickenson Wheatstone 1 Dipper 2 Gremlin 1 Herrington 2 Hohner 2 Jeffries 8 Jones 1 Lachenal 15 Morse 3 Norman 3 Riccordi/Bastari 1 Scholer 3 Stagi 1 Suttner 1 Tedrow 1 Tedrow Stagi 1 Wheatstone 1 Un-named 4 DUETS Bastari 1 Dickinson Wheatstone 2 Lachenal 5 Wheatstone 1 ENGLISH Case 1 Crabb 2 Geuns-Wakker 1 Hohner?/Bastari 1 Jeffries 1 Lachenal 5 Morse 3 Rock Chidley? 1 Stagi 1 Trinity College? 1 Wheatstone 13 Cheers, Geo.

I had to vote "other" since it is hard to hold one end against the knee when standing up! Cheers, Geo.

Jim, Yes, the picture did not upload. I have no idea what I'm doing wrong! The interesting thing about this box is that the complete end is sheathed in metal, with added metal staps on the corners of the ends, plus the corner straps on the bellows. It really is constructed to take abuse! (that should offer some occasion for comments.) I posted this only in semi-seriousness; it is the end of the dog-days silly season. I am sending an email to the Russian Cultural Centre regarding the use of concertinas by the army. Cheers, Geo

This box has the ends completely sheathed in metal, as are also all the corners of the bellows. I have heard that concertinas were an item of issue to the troops in the Russian army. Could this be an "armored" concertina? It would certainly hurt if thrown at somebody. Cheers, Geo

I call this tale the "Silent Concertina". Quite a few years ago I got a call one evening from a friend who was the producer of a local group doing the musical "Carnival" He said that the script called for a concertina, and that he had tried using an accordian, but it wasn't right. Would I come to the next rehersal and see if I could help out. As most everyone is aware, concertina players are great proselytizers so I said OK. As it turned out he wanted to "borrow" my concertina. Well, I had no intention of letting some hamhanded actor get ahold of my Jeffries, but I had a mother-of-toilet-seat Scholer that I could let them use. Then the music director wanted to know if I could play "that thing?" I don't think she had ever seen an Anglo. "Sure", I replied, not knowing what I was letting myself in for. Not being a sight reader, I took a copy of the score home to see what was wanted. Imagine my consternation when I found out that the actor came onstage at the beginning, under a spotlight, playing the theme song SOLO! The orchestra picked up the theme as the houselights came up. I had never done a real solo gig before, and certainly not before a theater audience. However I had committed, so I plunged ahead. First was the matter of the instrument for the actor. I have been perturbed by movie scenes where the actor is busily pumping away, with no thought to authenticity. So I took the reeds out of the Scholer, but left the valves intact. Thus the actor had to push buttons in order to move the bellows. Then, during rehersals, I sat directly below him in the pit and played my box over my head so he could get some idea of how the motions corresponded with the music. During the performance I was still right below him, but my actions were cloaked in the darkness. The tune turned out to be a simple melody line that was no problem. The effect was such that people complimented the actor on his playing! Cheers, Geo.

I thought it might be interesting to do a survey of the visitors regarding their boxes. To start off, I have: a 38b D/G Jeffries a 37b C/F Dipper a 30b C/G Bastari (my second box, the first was a 20b Bastari) a funky old 20b Scholer (long story behind it) Let's see who has top bragging rights. Cheers, Geo.

Well, why not. A very close up of my Dipper. Cheers, Geo

I used waxed whipping thread, but any really heavy duty thread will work. Geo

Hi, If the pic upload works, you can see a very reasonable alternative. I took a piece of line, the right length, whipped the ends, and screwed them to the handrests. Geo

First, let me say that at my age, any change can be somewhat disconcerting! My initial impression is that the pages seem to be too "busy". Also, there are more "options" than really necessary. The purpose of computers should be to make life easirer, not more complex. However, one adjusts. Since this system needs an ID, I decided to use my eBay moniker, not from a reason of anonymity, but to let acquaintances be aware if I am bidding. Cheers, Geo Salley