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dherb10

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  1. I have a Harold Herrington 24 key, fully chromatic C/G "Edgley Special" for sale. It is in excellent, nearly unplayed condition and dates from around 2009-2010. No sticking buttons, all notes clear, no air leaks. 7-fold bellows of imported Italian leather, polished stainless steel grilles, walnut case. Black delrin buttons, with two rows of six buttons on each side. Traditional torsion springs, with reeds mounted in Jeffries style. Comes with Harold's own hexagonal cordura case and a key layout diagram will be included. The late Harold Herrington only built approximately 40 concertinas total, and the 24 button model was "an improvement on the original keyboard and specifically aimed at players of Irish music." It was developed as a collaborative effort between Harold, Frank Edgley and player extraordinaire Jaqueline McCarthy of Oranmore, County Clare. It is set up to favor the keys of D and G, but is fully chromatic. The top buttons(nearest the thumbs) have accidentals on both the push and pull, with a C# on both the right and the left and on the push and pull. At a hexagonal 5 7/8" inches, it is great for small hands. Harold Herrington had this to say about this innovative concertina: "Indeed, what has been happening with Harold Herrington? Well I am alive and well and still making what I believe to be one of the best accordion reed concertinas in the business. Production in 2003 was off a bit due to my time being taken up with some personal matters, however, 2004 should be a very good year. In addition to producing 30 button instruments in C/G and G/D, Wheatstone and Jeffries system, we are now also producing a very interesting 24 key concertina built on a 5 7/8" hexagonal body. Now before you dismiss this instrument out of hand, because of it having only 24 buttons, let me tell you a little about this truly outstanding little concertina. The 24 key concertina we have developed is the result of a collaboration between myself, Frank Edgley of Windsor, Ontario Canada, and Jacqueline McCarthy of Oranmore, County Galway Ireland. Jacqueline has long been an expert player of this fascinating little concertina. It was built by Wheatstone back in the late 1800's or early 1900's. The concertina has two rows of six (6) buttons on each side. These buttons incorporate the standard keyboard for the keys of C and G, but at the top of each row are added accidentals that make the instrument fully chromatic. We have made some alterations in the Wheatstone keyboard to make it a concertina specifically designed for play in the keys of G and D. Let me give you the logic behind our design. If playing Irish jigs and reels one will play primarily in the keys of G and D, and on rare occasion in the key of A. Of the 30 buttons available on a 30 key instrument, one will rarely if ever never use more than 18, or possibly 19, of those buttons. What the 24 key instrument gives you is all the notes you need, in the bellows direction you need, and eliminates the ones you will never use. It is set up very much like a well designed 36 key instrument, but with the third row removed. The accidental buttons give you the following notes, (push / draw). On the left you have A# / C# in the C row, and F# / G# in the G row. On the right side you have C# / D# in the C row, and F# / C# in the G row. This system gives you the essential F# and C# in both directions of the bellows. The accidentals being placed under the index fingers helps in making the system easy to learn. This is particularly true since the home keys for C and G are the same as on a 30 key instrument." These are rare and wonderful instruments and, unless someone takes up the task, are not being built anymore. The price is $1200.00 USD including shipping and I can be contacted at: dherb10@comcast.net. Upon purchase I will make a contribution to concertina.net.
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