SteveP

A few years ago I set up a website devoted to the Crane Duet, www.craneconcertina.com As I no longer play the concertina, I will not be renewing the domain name & hosting when it expires next month. If anybody wants to take the site over, including updating the Gallery, I can look into getting it transferred, and provide instructions etc. If anybody just wants to preserve it, I can send them the .html files behind it all. Unfortunately the gallery pages will not be so easy to transfer, as it is held in a SQL database - not sure if I can get into it to export everything. PM me if you are interested. Steve

Sold! Thanks to c.net - a donation is on its way.

Just click on my name and then choose the "Send Message" option.

SOLD!! - I have a very nice Wheatstone Crane Duet for sale, number 32584, made in 1930, probably for the Salvation Army. Dark wood with metal buttons, black bellows, all in very good condition, with recent replacement straps. Tuned very close to concert pitch (I measured A as 441.2 Hz on my meter) and plays very well - I have never had any problems with it. The lowest note on the left hand side, normally a C#, has been replaced with a low F (~88Hz) It comes with an old leather case with working clasps. The price is £800, with UK postage £15 - please contact me for overseas quotes.

Sold - thanks! A donation to c.net will be on its way.

Still available, and still holding out for a sale on here, rather than e-youknowwhere

Bump, with a price reduction

SOLD - I am selling one of my Crane Duets – I only have one pair of hands, and a concertina like this deserves to be played, not kept in a box. I am selling to fund the purchase of other instruments. This is a very nice 48 button Lachenal, steel reeds, rosewood ends, bushed metal buttons, six fold black leather bellows, tuned to concert pitch. It looks as if it was restored fairly recently – reeds are clean, valves look new , and the straps are modern. The serial number is a bit of a mystery. The Left hand end and bellows frame are marked 3008, whereas the right hand end has 2000 on the reed pan and pad board, so possibly a hybrid, but likely to be 80-90 years old. Whatever, it plays very well, and I have had no problems with it in the four years I have owned it. It was my main concertina until last year, when another came along...The middle E on the RHS sometimes needs an extra bit of puff to get it sounding when you pull, but I seemed to get used to that, or maybe just played a bit louder! You may be able to see in the photos that there is some wear around a few of the buttons, where the top layer of varnish as gone, but other than that it looks pretty good for its age. It comes with a modern case, oversized, but which could be blocked out to hold it snug. The price is SOLD. Postage in the UK would be £25, insured. Anywhere else, just ask, and I will try and get a quote. I will advertise it on here for a month before letting it loose on a well known auction site, but I would rather sell it on here, and make a contribution to c.net. Thanks for looking Steve

Interesting. I also have a Wheatstone Crane with a very low F where the C# should be. Are there any more out there like this?

I too am in the non-Facebook camp. The fact that it tracks your web browsing activity, even after you have closed Facebook down, is a little bit sinister. But if it drives more people to the ICA website, then best of luck with it.

When I saw the original post, I thought "we need Geoff Crabb...", so thanks to Geoff for coming along and explaining things.

I asked the seller about the tuning (like many others, apparently) and he tells me that he doesn't know, he doesn't know any musicians who might be able to help, and he doesn't know much about concertinas. Buyer beware...

Would I be right in thinking that's Geoff Crabb?

I play Crane. Wish I had some money

Busking is usually OK, but a lot of city centres have become more "regulated" than they used to be. In York, for example, there used to be buskers everywhere, of all standards, right down to tramps playing one note on a harmonica. So now you have to get a permit from the council, and to get that you have to audition. The result is better buskers, but less variety. I would say stick to smaller market towns, where they might not usually get such entertainment, and be ready to explain that you're not hungry or homeless, just making people smile!