Alex West

I was recently "gifted" a 20 button rosewood ended Lachenal (No 38381) which is probably beyond repair. The interesting thing is that on both ends of the bellows are inscriptions from Wm Summerscales of Stuton via Leeds. On one side, in glorious copperplate - it says that he "tuned and repaired with steel reeds, Dec 22nd 1886. On the other it declares in pencil "Wm Summerscales, Sleeton tuner and repairer of Concertinas and Accordions" The instrument itself doesn't have the traditional Lachenal "Steel Reeds" stamps on the handrest so I wonder iwhy he said that he repaired with steel reeds, if the instrument came fitted with brass reeds and he really replaced brass reeds with steel reeds? Also the lever hoops are bent wire rather than the pierced brass which I'd expect from a fancy ended Lachenal I haven't had a really good look yet to see if the reeds look non-standard Lachenal. The reeds have light rust but the fretwrk is badly damaged and the action woodwork has woodworm so it's probably not a fixer-upper Anyone else come across Mr Summerscales? Alex West

Before you get to the Button Box, there are quite a number of players either in or not far away from Toronto. I know Ontario's not a small place and journey times can be - significant - but it might work! Best of luck! Alex West

OK Folks - is there any real use for a 39 key Lachenal McCann Duet? I've just been "Gifted" a metal ended one and it's in pretty bad shape. Most of the buttons are there but there's mould everywhere, the wood is falling apart, a lot of the reeds are rusty and I seriously question whether it's worth the effort of trying to put it back together. Normally, I'd bend over backwards to get it playable again but even if I cost my time at nothing, I wonder if it's any practical use? Is a 39 key Lachenal a good starter duet? It's just possible that I could turn it into a decent anglo but even that would mean making new ends, new bellows, some new reeds and levers. Any thoughts before I stoke the fire up and use the reeds as spares? By the way, it's number 1147 - 1900 or so? Alex West

WHereabouts are you? It's more than possible that you're near enough to someone who has an instrument (of whatever flavour) you might be able to try before you make a decision Alex West

I'm in the final stages of restoring a 62 key Lachenal New Model Duet no 755 - maybe from around 1890? What's puzzling me at the moment is that this instrument doesn't seem to be laid out the same way as other 62 key Maccanns in that it has only 25 keys on the Left (not 28) but has 37 keys on the Right, and instead of having a range from A2 to A7, it goes from C3 all the way up to C7. Lachenal catalogues of around the time seem to denote a 62 key instrument as a Baritone from Cello G or A upwards so this one seems to be somewhat higher (more like a tenor treble range?) and maybe a special of some kind. It seems to have the same range as a "standard" 56 key Maccann but with more overlap between the Left and Right hand. I'm not a Duet player so don't know if this would be normal - has anyone else come across this configuration and range before? Alex West

Another question is raised; what is the difference between a Baritone-Treble model 14 and a Baritone model 20a? Same range, same number of keys, same price Alex West

Short answer is yes Alex West

I'd say Scotland is one of the places where the English system is doing fine. Maybe older players still out-number the younger players but without doing a detailed head-count, there seem to be more English than Anglo instruments around. Having said that, there is rarely more than 1 concertina player at any given session Alex West

With regard to playing a concertina close to the sea, here's where my experience differs. My main squeeze is a Jeffries G/D which I got nearly 10 years ago. I live quite close to the Firth of Clyde (within 500 metres) and we occasionally get salt storms which are bad enough to take the tender shoots off plants and turn the leaves of the trees brown. We sail during the summer and I always take a concertina on the boat with me for up to 3 months at a time. It's usually the Jeffries although one year it stayed home while I tried a less valuable instrument - but the joy of playing disappeared so I haven't tried that again. I don't play in the rain or when the waves are crashing over the sides but I do play outdoors. On reviewing the correspondence here, I thought I ought to take a look inside at least to check the reeds - not a sign of rust or tarnishing. Maybe I've been lucky but I don't think it always has to be the case that playing concertinas close to the sea necessarily involves replacing the reeds frequently Alex West

I'd echo Frank's caution - before leaping to conclusions about the cure, have a good look around to see what's causing the problem. If it's the pad failing to close it's unlikely to be something stuck in the reed (so bashing the concertina, however gently isn't the cure - and in any case, there are gentler ways to remove dust from reeds). The logical answer is that there's something preventing it closing - which could be: something physically in the way a misalignent of the lever mechanism (which might be the staple rising) friction in the action mechanism either at the lever pivot, at the button where it passes through the fretwork (unlikely with a Lachenal 20 buttin but possible) a weak or poorly performing spring There may be other issues associated with the above but the cure will depend on the problem. If it's a weak spring, then removing and regluing the pad isn't necessarily going to fix it. If it is the humidity, waiting until spring probably isn't an option! Alex West

Mike The cross row fingering is indeed different. It was made for a specific person playing Southern English music in an idiosyncratic style but he was an anglo player first (although he did gravitate towards Cajun button accordeons before giving up free reed instruments entirely and becoming a proper musician - saxophone and drums!). Since I now play normally configured anglos, it's harder for me to get the most out of the Dipper but I still get it out occasionally for a bit of exercise Alex West

Looks more like sellotape holding the ends together! BTW, I have a relatively early Dipper (No 104) with pierced ends. It's a GD but with the G row an octave higher than a normal GD. It's a very piercing sound but how much of that is due to the pierced ends and how much the pitching is difficult to tell Alex West

As with most things, it depends. If it's the Lachenals you're looking at, the quality range when new varied from cheap mass produced beginner instruments to top end boxes with more bespoke reeds and woodwork. The ones you see on ebay are across this spectrum and it's not always easy to see what the extent of the damage and likely repairs might be. All of the issues you describe are fixable, but whether it's worth it depends on whether you can tackle the work yourself (and don't cost your time) or have to outsource it and how much extra you'd have to pay for an instrument with all of those issues fixed - up to the point of a fully restored instrument from one of the restorer/dealers. It might be worthwhile repairing Whereabouts in Scotland are you? Happy to chat more over a cup of tea if you're nearby Alex West

Well that's me failed the intelligence test then Alex West

Does anyone know who the English concertina player is here with Emannuelle Pariselle and Christian Maes? I though it was my old pal Roger Digby until I realised it wasn't an anglo! Alex West

Rich I'm in North Ayrshire and I'm an Anglo player. There are also EC players around and if you send me a PM, I can see if I can introduce you to some. Otherwise, there's the Central Scotland Concertina Group with a number of EC players which meets once a month - not in Ayrshire but in some cases within striking distance - the Arran Concertina Event coming up in early October and a few local sessions where it doesn't really matter what system you play but can help you along the learning road Alex West

This one's been at David Robertson for restoration, then at auction and on ebay before within the last 12 months. Here's the keyboard layout Alex West 72k Aeola anglo.pdf

No need to apologise David; my knowledge is only based on the instruments that have passed through my hands and I can't be sure of the history and dates of manufacture even of those. I suspect that what I assume (and referred to above) is a C Jeffries (senior) instrument could also be attributed to C Jeffries (junior) - my only comparison is to a similar looking instrument for which I've also seen a dated receipt but there's nothing I could call a definitive fact based on my direct experience. Now, why did the Jeffries produce instruments (albeit in relatively small quantities) in such a diverse range of keys? - I can only guess. C/G is certainly the predominant key (and there's no need to have an anglo concertina in each key if one is appropriately proficient - sadly that excludes me) Alex West

I've had a couple of Jeffries G/Ds (and a few more Ab/Ebs) and whilst 1 was a Jeffries Brothers, so perhaps 19101920s, 1 was a C Jeffries so more likely to be earlier and well before the Morris revival. They were of similar overall size to C/G instruments but I've never checked the individual chamber sizes. The left hand reeds were certainly well weighted with solder and definitely not "long scale" so they could be a similar length to C/G reeds - but they were stamped as G/D so made that way Alex West

David Excellent questions! For the first, you'd need to ask Paul. There's a lot you can tell from visual inspection - whether there's been significant filing post original manufacture, how tight the tolsrances are etc - but I suspect he'd tried them out in another instrument by swapping reeds in and out. As to the second - time will tell. My own suggestion would be that the majority of the movement has taken place in the first 50 years or so of the instruments life (or the wood's death if you prefer). Further movement which might open up the cracks will occur but should be limited. Now that the instrument is all back together and snugged up, the reed pans should be constrained from further warping. There are other posts which go into the need or desire to keep old concertinas in a constant (and less aggressive than North American) humidity. I have no direct experience of such matters Alex West

The same thing happened to me when I lived on a farm just outside Aberdeen. I was playing outside in the late afternoon sun and the cows dashed up from the end of the field, hanging their heads over the fence to get as close as they could to the music. Best audience I ever had; can't claim it was anything to do with youth or cuteness though Cats have a very different reaction Alex West

Just so nobody gets the wrong impression, this instrument was in poor condition, but it was never represented to me as anything other than a project and Paul Groff was a very honest and helpful prior owner. The quality of the instrument is down to Paul's ability to spot first class Jeffries reeds, the Dippers' work in setting me on the right road and whatever else I did along the way. I visited Paul back in 2008 whilst on a work trip to the US and saw this concertina. Paul was very open about the instrument even before I went to see him - it was a serious project but the reeds were really good. It was impossible to tell at the time as it wasn't playable but I had a good chance to look all over the instrument and Paul was extremely helpful, especially over the payment and shipping as I had neither the ready cash nor the space in my luggage to do everything in my trip. The reed pans were warped, the action faces had large cracks in them and there were a number of levers which needed replacing. Also the bellows, whilst functional weren't the prettiest. The first stage of restoration was down to the Dippers. Rosalie made a lovely set of bellows and Colin sorted out the warping - bringing the concertina back into cold damp England helped a lot! - and he also did a few other things which I hadn't asked him for and he didn't charge me for; he went well beyond his brief to help me along the way with things that, at the time, I would have had difficulty doing. I then repaired the cracks (most of them had closed up in the re-acclimatisation), rebuilt the action, cleaned everything and got it into working condition but never had the heart to retune to concert pitch and equal temperament - it was good enough as it was. I have very little need of a BbF - in modern pitch or otherwise - it hasn't had much use since restoration so I was happy to help Robin with his request. Thanks to Paul, Colin and Rosalie - enjoy the concertina Robin! Alex West

Tried to send you an email off forum Robin - have I got an outdated email address for you? Alex West

I'm pretty sure it was John Kirkpatrick on the record. Other concertina players were around the Albion Band at the time (other Johns were available....) but I think John K was occasionally in the stage show Alex West

If there's a good logic for having three slots including the master reed, what about the tuning bellows which have four slots? Alex West