Stephen Selby

I have one to sell. Bisonoric, but for some reason tuned one full tone down from conventional bandoneon tuning. The price would reflect that. Would be ok for learning this 'Devil's Instrument' on your own. Email s r s e l b y@ a t a r n.o r g if you want to know more.

David, When you prepared your lay-out, did you use the sound you heard when squeezing the box, or the note values stamped on the reed shoes? Did you allow for adjustment to modern tuning?

No problem.

Maybe. Are you the Morris Dancer?

This is a sound sample from the concertina described above. Unnamed Concertina.mp3

Early English Concertina. Unnamed. Buttons: 48 Stained red/black and marked with note values on whites. Bellows: four-fold. Dark green with starburst papers. Bellows are sound. Serial number: 112 Reeds: brass in brass shoes with squared ends, stamped with note values. Valves cut square as per original. Condition: excellent internal and external condition. Fully restored on a historical basis by Andrew Norman in 2016. Plays at modern concert pitch. Sweet tone, not loud. Case: Victorian scientific instrument case with sliding top and handle. Name card of owner pasted in the top: Daniel Whitelaw, Glasgow. The name of the maker cannot be ascertained; but Andrew Norman thought is resembled work by William Dove. 1,700 pounds sterling. Estimated shipping to Europe, USA or Australia: 80 pounds.

Before you go, check this out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xh2ud5n1t9k

Has anyone noticed eBay item # 132025131856 ? (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/old-LACHENAL-CONCERTINA-ACCORDION-39-keys-English-Make-patent-No-4752/132025131856?_trksid=p2050601.c100607.m4280&_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D37140%26meid%3Dac9066a2bc99434fa44977d076f34489%26pid%3D100607%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D4%26sd%3D322114455891) The seller says that there are buttons missing; but that doesn't seem to be correct. There are the same number of buttons as there are valves. But the buttons seem to have come from an older English concertina and have been arranged in random fashion (or latterly wrongly positioned) into a cut-down McCann. Anyone have any comments?

Did you notice the open fretwork on the sides of the ends? I've only seen that in continental concertina.

Can anyone explain the drunken layout of this Wheatstone McCann? http://www.ebay.com/itm/142129156661?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

I have a lot of bone buttons. Lachenal. 4mm diam. 12mm body. 6mm shank. Black, white, red. Most have reasonable bushings present.

WANTED: Case for 80 button Wheatstone Duet Aeola, Approx 12" diameter and 12" deep. Or 12" cube. Modern or original.

It has been a pleasure reading Geoffrey Crabb’s two articles, ‘Lachenal Portable Sounding Bellows’ and ‘Pre-Electronic Age Method of Tuning Concertina Reeds’. I should like to add some observations of my own. I have two sets of these thingies. One is just the tuning bellows by itself, while the other is a set with its original carrying case and sales receipt. The receipt dates from 1905 and was issued by Joseph Wallis and Sons Ltd. of 133-135, Euston Road, London N. W. The description is ‘4 Hole Tuning Apparatus for Eng(lish) Conc(ertina)’. From the the description, one might surmise that there were models with more or less holes, and for concertinas other than English. The sales price was twelve shillings and sixpence (about sixty pounds in today’s money). A cheaper model English concertina in 1905 cost two to three pounds. It is unlikely that an ordinary end-user of an English concertina would justify spending so much on a tuning apparatus. As far as the market is concerted, apart from the piece-workers mentioned by Mr Crabb, they must have been sold to suppliers and repairers in the provinces or the colonies. The apparatus illustrated in my post and Mr Crabb’s article are almost identical. All have three-fold bellows with the Lacunal star burst pattern in white. It should be noted however, that contrary to what one correspondent observed and Mr Crabb surmised, the reed shoe holders are all identical in size on both sets of apparatus. However, in my two sets, the pairs of blanks are not the same size, one set being much bigger than the other. All the blanks (two blanks are present on each apparatus) seem to be original. One notable difference between my two sets of apparatus, not greatly noted by Mr Crabb in his articles, is that in one set, on the brass tongue on the right hand side, where the reed shoe and reed can be secured for filing, the brass tongue is furnished with a brass stud, rounded at the top and standing 1/16” proud of the bass tongue. (See my photographs). One set of apparatus only has this stud. I believe that this stud serves to secure the reed shoe for filing the root of the reed to lower the pitch. The stud will allow the reed shoe to sit on the brass tongue without slipping forward while the reed is shaved from the root in the direction of the tip. This avoids the problem that Mr Crabb warns about in his endnote of not forcing the reed onto the tongue right up to the root, where permanent damage would be done. The box supplied with one set of apparatus is similar to lower-end Lachenal hexagonal concertina boxes, but one third of the length. It is made of deal, with leather paper on the outside and red paper on the inside. There is a hook-and-eye to secure it, not a lock. There is no handle or strap. Apart from allowing the note of the reed to sound for longer, I think that these bellows also have an advantage in supplying a pressure gradient similar to that of a real concertina (subject to the limitation that the reed is not inside the reed pan.)

Thank you for uploading this useful article. I shall come back with some comments and questions.

For any who are still interested in these (i.e. the one illustrated in my previous post), I have a receipt for a new one dated 1905. The price was twelve shillings and sixpence (sixty pounds in today's money). The receipt specifies that the tuner is for an English concertina. It comes in a hexagonal case with faux leather covering and red paper inside. The other item on the receipt was for a "solid leather case for an English concertina". Also twelve shillings and sixpence.

Is the document "Lachenal Tuning Bellows.doc" still available for download anywhere? I am interested in knowing about these devices, which firms made them and who used them.

When talking about Wheatstone or Lachenal 'regular' manufacture 30 button Anglos, with radial lay-out reed pans, is the assignment of buttons to the related pad/hole/reed housing always the same?

A Lachenal Anglo 20 button concertina serial number 198140 was shipped to its buyer on 14 January 1927, according to an eBay listing.

When Whetstone re-built old instruments in the 1950s, did they give the reed pans a new serial number? I have an Aeola 81 button McCann Chidley variation duet. The serial number on the nickel-silver end is 25260 (1911 production ), but the number on the reed pan is 88. For a Chidley duet lay-out, it must have been modified post-1950. There are no papers on the reed pan. Alternatively, this is a post-1950 duet and someone has put old ends on it. The ends seem to have been re-plated.

Yes. That's my one. Just bought it on eBay.

I have acquired a Lachenal McCann Duet concertina from the 1890s. The oval paper insert with the maker's name has been replaced by an oval brass badge, engraved with: "J. Thomas. Concertina Soloist. March 4 1896." Has anybody heard of him?

Closer to 1930. That's a high number. The accidentals lay-out will be the same as those of a standard 30 button Anglo, save that two buttons are absent. If it's in C/G, you are missing low e/f in the left hand and high a/f in the right hand.

Reed pan here. (Some reeds are late additions.) Pics of the levers are not available to me just now.

Grateful to know if anyone has any English 48 button concertina with a serial number close to 112. I am trying to identify the maker. Rosewood ends. Riveted action. Square ended reed shoes. Not Wheatstone or Lachenal. Only mark other than the s/n are 'L' and 'R' marks for the ends.

What's on the extra buttons? Cock crow and mice?