Squeezebox Of Delights

Out of interest, do you think you could post photos?

It'll definitely be a Lachenal, quite a basic model but nice all the same! I'm not an expert on the value of these things, but concertinas seem to be on a scale of Expensive to Incredibly Expensive, and, depending on the condition, it'll probably be on the cheaper end. It doesn't look in that bad condition, but it's hard to tell with the bellows closed.

I know it’s not exactly a concertina, but I’m currently practicing my restoration skills by consolidating a very old, very broken, very basic Lachenal case. I’m literally just glueing it back together, plugging the holes, painting in the old horrible white glue marks, putting a new lining in, making new straps etc. etc., but it’s quite fun. I think I will also modify it a bit, as it is of the standing-up sort, which I know isn’t ideal for concertinas.

So I have a couple of old Lachenal concertinas I am working on, one with steel reeds and the other with brass reeds. One steel reed and one brass reed have a sheared bolt, and one brass reed shoe is entirely missing its tongue. Does anyone know how to get hold of replacement reeds/tongues/bolts? I have tried Mark Lloyd-Adey twice (once in January, once in June) but he hasn’t responded, so I have pretty much given up on that. Thanks!

I am no big fan of Ed Sheeran and Adele myself, so I don’t have that much experience with that sort of music, but a three row C/G anglo has every note in a chromatic octave at least once, meaning you can play almost anything on it. Traditionally it would be used for jigs, reels, etc. etc. but I find it no more difficult to play ‘Summer Nights’ or ‘Wake Me Up’ than ‘Garryowen’ or ‘English Country Garden’. In short, as long as the tune is not ridiculously complicated, it should be possible.

Fascinating! Kind of like a free-reed hurdy gurdy...

If it’s anything like a normal 60 bass, it should have two rows of single notes, one row of Corresponding major chords, one row of corresponding minor chords, and one row of corresponding dominant sevenths, going along diagonally. The diagonal chord columns go up in a circle of fifths, and if there is a button with a dimple in it, it is C. That way, you get the I, IV and V chords all next to each other, so you can play accompaniments with your left hand quite easily. as the right hand, it looks like a melodeon, but that’s all I can say. I’m a piano accordionist myself (don’t kill me!).

Oh, and that correlates quite nicely with the writing inside 142125, saying it was tuned on 4th September 1897 by an S. Wooding of Liverpool Road, Newcastle under Lyme, and another mostly illegible address dated as 10th December 1896. I don’t think it has been tuned since!

Thanks! They are both simple models in C/G with the same wooden fretwork, 5 fold bellows and bone buttons. No 49427 is a 20-button with brass reeds and No 142125 is a 30-button with steel reeds. They don’t have fancy bellows or bushing in the button holes, so I imagine they were made for home use rather than performance. I can post photos if you’d like.

Hi Dowright, Do you think you could try and date my two Lachenal Anglos, No 49427 and No 142125? It’d be really helpful. Thanks!

I was fixing three stuck reeds in a Hillier harmonium recently, the problem sounds very similar to this. I found bits of grit (possibly plaster from the wall, or just old woodworm dust) blocking up the problematic reeds, and simply twanged them manually a couple of times to remove the bits. These were lumping great thick brass reeds mind, so they might react differently to finger-twanging than your little accordion reeds. You wouldn't want to snap them.

We have an old folding singer table very much like this, only less decorative. All the veneer is peeling off and my mum wants me to have a go at mending it so it can be used again. As for suggestions, maybe it could be used to power a little saw, or a rotary sanding thingy.... you could probably modify the treadle to run a little centrifugal blower for tuning, but that would be rather complicated.

I don't know if it's anywhere else on the forum, but I have seen it before on YouTube, and it is one of my favourite videos! That sense of humour though...

Very nice! Out of interest, how does the air get in/out of the ends?

Oops- I suppose my mind was probably in a different place. I’ll edit it ASAP. Interesting about those concertinas, though. I was trying to be funny and was not expecting to actually be right... ! Thanks, Oskar

I was reading a book of poems to my younger brother when I came across a picture of what seems to be a rare seven-sided ten-button Anglo. The age is uncertain but the ends and bellows look possibly German. Any suggestions? Thanks, Oskar ?

Hi, Here are three photos (I am having trouble uploading any more) of taking apart the Wren 2, it is very simple and everything should be stuck in place rather securely, so there shouldn’t be any danger of bits falling off! Just mind that you put the screws back in the right order - for some silly reason they appear to be different lengths...? The bit of wood with the reeds and action on may require a bit of wriggling to get it out of the end, as the foam gasket sometimes gets stuck to it. Getting the buttons back into the holes can be a bit fiddly too, but it’s nothing some patience can’t handle. Thanks, Oskar

Oh and it is pretty simple to take the ends off. Remove the screws and then when the end is separate to the bellows just pop the bit of wood with the reed blocks out of the end. You should end up with 3 pieces: a large hollow end piece, a hexagonal piece of wood with reeds on one side and buttons on the other, and the rest of the concertina. Putting it back together is the same but in reverse. Make sure all the buttons are in the correct holes and that you are putting the screws back in in the right order.

Hi Geoff, I have a Wren 2 which I play as my only playable concertina. I swapped it on gumtree a while ago in return for a piano accordion which I had been keeping at school and not using very much. On receiving the concertina, I was very pleased with the tone and build quality, but I found that a few of the buttons were sticky. They would stay down for a few seconds then either: slowly slide back up; pop up unexpectedly with a *click*; just stay down. I took it apart, and promptly discovered that the buttons are stuck to the thingies that slide into the rods by a tacky grey sort of glue which had seeped out around the edges and was causing the buttons to stick to the sides of their holes. It was fairly easy to scrape off the excess and now the issue is fixed. Could this be the problem with your concertina? Thanks, Oskar

Thanks! That was easy... Oskar

Yep, if you are talking about the ones in C. You can find them on Amazon, Ebay, and most music shops. I have a broken second hand one and despite some missing reeds etc. it is a surprisingly well-built instrument with a sweet sound. Oskar

I picked the following piece of music up a while ago from a video of a mechanical accordion. Unfortunately the video did not give the name of the tune, and I thought Concertina.net might be a good place to find answers. Does anyone know what the tune is called, or any more information on it? (I know it's played on a piano accordion, but that is the instrument I can play it best on!) Thanks, Oskar

In my house, I am afraid so! : )

Yeah, there's hardly a fold that isn't cracked or ripped. I am going to try and learn to build new bellows, but I don't imagine it's as easy as it looks (and it doesn't look very easy!). Thanks, Oskar

As I mentioned before, my 30 key Lachenal has steel reeds which are rather rusty. Since sealing the constantly playing notes with sellotape, it has become apparent how bad the reeds are. Does anyone have any suggestions as to cleaning the reeds and getting them back to playing condition again? Here is a video outlining the current condition: Thanks, Oskar