rcr27

Not sure if it’s an actual inimitable or not, but yes it has brass reeds and a lovely sound. I forgot to ask Chris Algar about the history of this concertina.

Yes that’s website that I looked but still couldn’t find any mention or pictures of a concertina.

That’s the only bit of information that I found about him, I thought he was a maker or restorer. I’ve had a Lachenals in the past labelled Wheatstone and Crabb, who obviously were makers, so I thought Higham could have been a maker. I find it interesting that Lachenal concertinas had different labels; wouldn’t that be sort of “ilegal” nowadays?

Hi all Does anyone know anything about Joseph Higham and his relation with concertinas? Not long ago I acquired this beautiful Lachenal English concertina from Barleycorn Concertinas. What draws my attention is the fact that it has a “Joseph Higham” label on. I’ve been trying find some information about Joseph Higham manufacturers and I can’t really find much that relates him with concertinas, other than he had a music shop/factory in Manchester? Is not uncommon to see Lachenal concertinas badged under a different name or manufacturer. Nevertheless this concertina plays beautifully and even looks like the inimitable, just with brass reeds. The serial number is 19082.

That looks beautiful! I’m guessing is in concert pitch? Just out of curiosity how much would you ask for it?

Sounds really good to me, I never played a duet but I would imagine the difficulty of the instrument is the coordination of the left-right hand like an accordion or piano?

I’ll have a look now, by the way is yours a 35 key?

Is this question directed at me?

Hopefully the seller wasn’t a diehard person and we sorted out the return already. He clearly doesn’t know anything about concertinas and yet he said the description was correct when there wasn’t any description at all! Thanks very much for your offers, although I returned the concertina already, I might buy another concertina from an auction in the next couple of weeks/months, and if I need new spares I will let you know as I want to get some experience repairing.

The good thing is that you could check the condition prior to buying it. If only I had the opportunity to know what the condition of the condition of the concertina was I wouldn’t have bought it at all. Mine is even worse, almost unplayable and too much air leaks. It pretty much needs a full tlc with new everything (new fretwork, buttons, valves, pads, springs, bellows, straps... etc). As much I want to get some experience with restoring concertinas the best thing to do is just return it as I wouldn’t be able to restore it myself and it would cost me more than concertina itself. Yes the EC Crabb that I posted was a Lachenal labeled Crabb. I part-exchanged it with Chris Algar for another concertina, but at least that one was playable and worth the price.

No I made an offer of £325 for it and the seller accepted it (he wanted £400!) I didn’t “bid” on it but it ebay marks it as if I bidded, and £99 is due to the starting price of the auction. A bit confusing I know

How much did you buy yours for?

Seems to be rosewood I doubt it’s mahogany. I paid £325 for it and restoring it would cost me a lot of money and time because there is a lot to do. But even if I restore it and then want to sell it, I could only sell it for around £500, so I’d be loosing money. I’ll just return it hopefully eBay protects the buyer.

What a joke... what seemed to be an ebony ended duet with metal buttons ended up being a dark rosewood with dirty bone buttons and in poor condition ? Deteriorated straps, cracks in the fretwork, keys producing 2 sounds, air leaks, very out of tune... and so on. Incredible how the light in the picture made this concertina look so different. Anyways I’m not even going to bother opening it, I’ll just return it as Im sure nobody in here would want this thing. See the pictures:

Could be a possibility, I had an english concertina with what seemed to be painted wood, but it ended up being actual ebony. I will take and post more pictures when it arrives.

Thanks for the information. I also doubted whether to buy that concertina or not, but since duets are rare I decided to have a go. Recently a Lachenal Maccann got sold on ebay for less than £200! but it was just like a tutor model. This one that I bought seems to have ebony ends and metal buttons, which made me think that the value would be higher. I guess the best thing to do is part-exchange it with Chris Algar for another concertina.

Take no offence, but it’d be better if you translate your posts before posting them so we can understand what you’re saying. Even if your concertina was fully restored it still wouldn’t cost that much, I’m just being realistic, but good luck anyway.

£647 for what seems to be a tutor model Lachenal brass reeded in old pitch which requires revalving and retuning... a bit too much I think, don’t know...They cost around £500 fully restored. It’s better if you put it on eBay, although you probably won’t sell a tutor model for more than £350.

Yes the seller was selling it on behalf of someone else. Indeed there aren’t many Cranes about so I might just keep it or part exchange it with Chris Algar if he is interested. I guess I can just re-leather the bellows or at least use some corners patches. It’s likely to be out of tune so probably some revalving will be needed. Doesn’t seem to be that bad anyway, but yes there is certainly some work to do.

In terms of fingering and playability. Which one is the “easiest” or the most appropriate for someone who plays english concertina?

True not many people show interest of duet concertinas. I’m more likely to part-exchange it than to sell it then. I wonder if Chris has any bigger Crane I think 35 keys isn’t enough. Just one thing, are Crane duets very different from the other types (maccan and hayden)?

Hi all I just recently acquired this duet concertina which I’ll be receiving very soon. It’s my first duet and I really don’t know much about this concertina system. This one in particular is a 35 key Crane duet concertina - likely to be a Lachenal - with ebony ends and metal buttons (and I’m guessing it has steel reeds). I just want to know what is the value of Crane duets on the market? I know for fact that duet concertinas are the rarest compared to the English and Anglo, so I just had this curiosity. I don’t pretend to sell it straight away as I want to learn to play it, (and I’ll have to repair it first) but I might want to part-exchange it in a near future for a bigger duet, so if you have any idea of the price of this particular duet I’d appreciate it. These are the most similar ones that I found. Lachenal: http://www.craneconcertina.com/details.php?indexnum=42 Wheatstone: http://www.craneconcertina.com/details.php?indexnum=53 Regards Roger

Really good price for that type of concertina in my opinion. Considering that the it has aluminium ends, metal buttons, steel reeds and 6 fold bellows, £1220 is an excellent price, plus Crabb english concertinas are not very common. If you were to buy that concertina from a dealer it should cost £1500 minimum.

Probably sold or part-exchanged to Barleycorn Concertinas as Chris was interested on this one but he missed out.

The concertina has just been removed (“ended”) from eBay, not sold so I guess the owner isn’t making any profit.