John Sylte
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Posts posted by John Sylte
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I’ve had this idea in my head for years… instead of buttons connecting to pads with levers, use pneumatics. I’ve done all sorts of googling but never really found anything like I was imagining until I saw this;
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1EYaJxkXmD/?mibextid=WC7FNe
hope those links work?
i was thinking you could use pneumatics along with a fully chromatic reedpan, map the buttons to whatever notes you want, and rotate the reed pan to change keys. With an air piston like this, you could connect to a pivoting pad/spring with tube and effectively cover each hole with the same sensitivity as your finger tips. Am I dreaming? I’m not an engineer. But I’ve had this evolving in my head over the last 12-15 years, but no time or resources to do anything with it.
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Pics? Prices?
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I’ll buy them if they aren’t sold
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I have one just like it, unstamped. How might I also determine if mine is Crabb or Jeffries?
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is this in good playable condition? Still available?
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For the record, there are two true Lachenal miniature anglos 3 3/4 inches across. The first:
And the second:
Both are now in marvelous condition, restored and highly playable, in key of D/A, with brand new 9 and 10 fold bellows, and owned by me.
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4 hours ago, Alex West said:
I have a 26 key Jeffries which has very similar (but not identical) wooden ended fretwork. Mine has a C Jeffries stamp on the veneer on the RHS. I wouldn't rule Jeffries out without further examination.
I can send you some pictures of mine if that helps
Alex West
Hi Alex, I would love to see some pictures for comparison. I'm trying to decide if I should fix this up, or sell as is. I don't really need another concertina, but I've never owned a Crabb either. Maybe I do? Another action pic attached…
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I've never had or seen the inside of a Jones before. I was surprised to see the riveted action! It appears to be complete and with all original materials.
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Hi everyone. I bought this after thinking about it for less than sixty seconds. I have a problem! It needs lots of work but it’s complete and in sound condition. Can someone help me identify the maker? Riveted action. No serial number. No maker stamp. Thanks!
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For whatever it’s worth, I’ve done the C/G to D/A conversion myself, on two different twenty button Lachenals, and they turned out great. It helps to have a donor concertina for cannibalising reeds. Move around the original reeds as much as possible then swap out others and retune as necessary. It’s very affordable if you don’t mind doing the work yourself. And though I appreciate the previous advice and would like to get better at playing in A major on my C/G, it’s nice to just have the simple twenty button layout play in A. I like playing American old time tunes on concertina, and there’s a lot in A. So I’d say, go for it!
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So I’ve acquired a 35 button (plus left side drone) steel reed, rosewood ended Lachenal with serial number 90503. Where does this fall for manufacturing date?
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This is definitely a Jeffries, as described.
edited to add... read description again and now I see they said something about Lachenal so, my bad. At first whiff, it appears to be Jeffries. That's all I should have said.
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And I'm not far from Spokane WA. You could take my Lachenal, Stagi, and Jeffries for a spin if you're in my area?
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I recommend having a slight (and manageable) drinking/gambling/snowboarding habit. That way when you need to justify a purchase like this it's much easier, you can just say to yourself... "I waste too much money on this other crap anyways!"
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I am interested, can I see pics please?
Oops, just re-read your post. I am in the states. I guess I'm interested if you are willing to ship.
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So I've got this wonderful miniature Lachenal, steel ended, bone buttons, originally had 6 bellows. I believe the serial number is 48556. What can you tell me about when it was made?
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A few years later… a set of new NINE fold bellows from Sandy Lane Man PO’C, a retune to D/A and extra love from Greg Jowaisas… this is not a toy!
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The size of Lachenal reeds are not standardized. I have a good collection of spares myself, and if I line up a few reeds of any one note, some are big and some are small and some are in between. So, a randomly chosen replacement may not fit your reed pan. You may need to pick another one of your reeds (adjacent D or C?) that fits well in the empty slot, and be prepared to send that to whomever you contact for a C# replacement. Just a heads up. I wouldn't mind sending you a C#, but it is likely out of tune. And, I'm not sure what you mean by thumb screws? The brass hand strap screws?
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Steel or brass reeds?
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I second the recommendation for a twenty button Lachenal. They are affordable and may serve to whet her appetite for a better instrument down the road. And if not then, you haven't spent a fortune. You can play a lot of tunes on a 20 button C/G.
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I have a student that is looking for a starter instrument. This would be perfect.
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Back in January of 2019 a wonderful little Lachenal miniature came up on eBay. Owning a mini and semi mini already, and being short on money at the time, I told myself it was selfish to want another, and that I couldn’t afford the buy it now price. I made a lower offer, and have regretted it ever since. The price was reasonable and of course it sold to someone else within the hour. These minis are so rare, I feel an obligation to document their existence and was wondering if by chance it was someone on here that bought it? Maybe it’s been fixed up?! If no one speaks up, at least maybe this little unicorn can be remembered and preserved in these photos? I had the wherewithal to take screen shots of the listing photos, but not enough to just buy the darn thing myself. Better luck next time I guess. Can anyone tell me what happened to… or anything about this little treasure?
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If only I could print money… I could have so much fun with this little gem. Would love to try it out. Someone will be very lucky.
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Pneumatics
in Instrument Construction & Repair
Posted
So I am not sure exactly how these work, but I know a fair amount about conventional liquid hydraulics. I’ve ran and fixed farm equipment my whole life. Instead of an individual piston for each button, which would be way heavier than levers, perhaps a master cylinder could be enabled, managing pressure in all lines equally? Or maybe just plastics with a closed air system/small airbags could be used instead? Maybe pneumatics is overkill.
A rotatable reedpan would obviously have to be radial, like an English, with an in/out for each button, and slightly bigger to accommodate keys G/D - D/A. Might need to be in 3D somehow, like double helix shaped. Mad scientist at work here. 🤓