Dieppe

Do you have this one? 1880's Man With Accordion? I know it's an accordion.. or something resembling one anyway. o.O Or this "Genuine Unseen" MGM Photo of Jimmy Stewart and some sort of bellows instrument? Wow.. search for "photo accordion" and a good handful comes up!

Oh, touché! A definite minority there!

That's so funny because I had the opposite experience! I started with an Anglo, and it just wasn't coming as naturally to me as I'd have liked. (I started with Piano Accordion in my free-reed life.) Switching to the English I found, being fully chromatic, I could more easily play the songs in my head that I wanted to hear and I didn't have to worry as much about things like bellows direction. So it's definitely a "your Mileage WILL vary" sort of thing. I get the feeling though that there are more Anglo players here than EC. Ah well, I'm used to being a minority anyway!

Hey, nice to see another SoCal English player!

Interesting pictures! Especially the 3D picture... considering Wheatstone and such! Also, the EC in the ad for the Old Gold cigarettes isn't even right-side up. And besides, we now know today what cigarette smoke can do to a breathing concertina. Tisk.. and here's one that's smoking! I beleive tar settled on the reeds, creates very firm microscopic film, that adds to mellowness of the tone. That good old sound may be the result of century of heavy smoking. When instrument was new, it may have been sounding tinnier. What about the recent study referenced in this post showing that concertina and accordion repairs are down in Ireland where smoking has been banned in pubs? I don't know if "mellower tone" would be a reason to play a 'tina in a smoky environment. Or is this one of those things where "smoking cigarettes help me during my workout to keep alert"?

Interesting pictures! Especially the 3D picture... considering Wheatstone and such! Also, the EC in the ad for the Old Gold cigarettes isn't even right-side up. And besides, we now know today what cigarette smoke can do to a breathing concertina. Tisk.. and here's one that's smoking!

I know the later period English concertinas I have do have air buttons. One's a Stagi and the other is a Chinese. (Heh.) The Wheatstone from 1890s doesn't have an air button. Which I found odd, but I guess they originally didn't come with one? I don't know when they started adding them to ECs. Still, I love the eBay auctions that say things like "I can't play it" and use that as an excuse why they can't record holding a few notes down and doing a few buttons. Because they really don't have the instrument, not because it's so impossibly hard to hold a button down and pull out the bellows. Bah.

Well I'm insulted! Now who would claim a restored 19th century box is less pleasurable to play? as compared to what? Maybe what the author meant, and I'm reading minds here, is that non-restored 19th century concertinas may have a different pitch (though he never mentioned pitch), or perhaps they hadn't be as refined in the feel? I dunno beyond that...?

It's a shame we don't have any sort of internal-to-us method of "registering" our concertinas, in case of theft and what not. My Stagi is so generic though, no serial #'s. I don't know if I'd want to mark it, but... something so that if it ended up on eBay a person could say "Hey, that's my instrument!" I don't know the right answer.. just pondering out loud here.

Indeed no! It'd have to be all of the reeds.. It does sound pretty though, just. I need to play well with others.

My Wheatstone EC was Old Pitch when I got it. It sounded very nice, but its inability to play with A=440 instruments became a tremendous frustration. I had it re-tuned to A=440 by a concertina craftsman named Mick in rural Yorkshire (also went from 5-fold to 6-fold bellows). The results were very pleasing: the sound quality was maintained, and my EC was much more useful and welcome in sessions. That was 25 years ago, and the instrument is still in perfect tune. Well, here's the tuning as I've found it so far. Most reeds are tuned about 10 cents flatter than regular tuning (A440). Except for a few reeds which are very flat (and out of tune of course). (The low D on pull is a very bad C#)... So is that old pitch or just everything-out-of-tune pitch? It's amazing though because the brass reeds look so clean and shiny!

Yes...3 octaves. I was writing the original post at work and didn't want to pull it out to make sure. 3 octaves up and a fifth down. Just like my last night drinkin'!

Well, I'm now the proud owner of Wheatstone Serial #22764. It finally came today. A few things. I don't have a key for the original case, but that's okay. It'd be interesting to find one, but more academic than anything since I won't be using that case to transport it. I'm just thankful that I wasn't ripped off, or scammed, or what have ya. (Seller had a high rep. though..so..) In short: English layout, treble, bone(?) buttons with the color faded, bellows in very good condition (flexible, leak free, if worn a little here and there), reeds are brass and riveted. Four reeds needed to be adjusted (tap-tap. Done!). It needs tuned. ___________________________________________________________ I have noticed one thing though about the case. The black from the leather REALLY comes off on my hands when I handle it. Which is a bad thing. What's the best thing to do to black (fading) leather like that to keep it intact? I'll assume that black shoe polish is a bad thing.. but what would be a good thing? Okay, so I played all of the notes, and about 4 of them wouldn't sound but would just buzz instead. So of course I get out the screwdriver and take it apart (one end at a time, of course.) Looking at the offending reeds it appears as those they're too close to the side of the reed holder. The easiest thing to fix was place a small flathead screwdriver and gently (very gently!) tap it with another screwdriver until the reed is in the middle of the hole and moves freely. That fixed the four problem reeds. So reed report: They all look.. good? (Not corroded.) They are definitely brass, not steel. So they're brassy, not irony. Also the reeds seem to be all riveted to the (brass?) reed holder. The reed holders are all pushed into the dovetails on the boards (as they should be?). The little leather flaps on the opposite sides of the reeds look mostly good, soft and flexible (like they should be?). On the left hand side there are some that aren't quite over the hole, but that's the least of my worries. The finish on the surface is a little worn here and there, and there's little bits of green here and there on some metal parts. (Just a small bit.) Maybe someday I'll refinish the top wood, when I know what to finish it with. The leather thumbstraps seem to be in mostly good shape, with a little bit of wear of them. The pinky finger holders are covered in black leather, and could use reattaching to the metal parts. But that's the least of my worries. The buttons appear to be bone. At one time they would have had the tops of the buttons painted: the C notes would be topped in red, and the accidentals topped in black. The color is mostly worn off of all the buttons, though the C note on the left hand has a tiny bit of red you can see if you look closely. Also the buttons look a bit yellowish with age. I'm assuming that they're bone because you can see little pores in some of them. I don't believe that ivory was used for buttons then??? For the huge plus: The bellows seem to be AIRTIGHT and almost perfect. There's some wear on the bottom where it would have wore against someone's pants leg. I'm not sure how to get the black back on that.. black shoe polish? The paper seems to be mostly perfect too, though a few pieces have a tiny bit of green on them. The bellows also seem to be flexible and not cracked or cracking. At worst they may need to be cleaned a bit. To the bad part: Concertina needs tuning... badly. Some of the notes aren't quite the same on push as they are pull. I don't need my fancy electronic tuner to tell me that. Also, inside the 'tina was stamped on the wood "L 97" and "R 97" on the left and right sides respectively. Hmmmm.... 1997? No! 1897! According to the list of the Wheatstone serial numbers though it would have come out in 1899ish. It is a treble as well, going from the G right below middle C, way up to a C two octaves up. (I think 2?) It's probably Rosewood on the outside, but I'm not sure how to check. Also, on both sides none of the little decorative cuts/pieces are broken at ALL. It's just PERFECT in that regard as well. So I probably should find the best place to send it to tune it. In theory I *could* tune it, but it'd be a lot of work and I'd need tools and skills that I don't have. The notes it does sound do sound really perty though!

From one of the posts it sounds like it might be screwed reeds... I guess I'll have to take it apart when I get it huh?

Coming in late on this one... but it'd be nice if ya had two things: 1:An option of an English Concertina, and 2:2X or 3X (if you don't have 'em already). Are you the one selling them on eBay or is that someone else?

Hey, Perry. Don't be so quick to give up on wax cylinders. I wouldn't! Here's one for sale on eBay! I wonder how one would go about converting that to mp3?

Sometimes though Real Junk can show up on eBay. I do wonder what it used to be though, but even for $1 I wouldn't buy it for parts. Someone might thought!

I sure hope they're screwed! I guess I get to find out ... soon I hope!

?! From Neil Wayne's online history: Is that from this one? The Wheatstone English Concertina by Neil Wayne? Very interesting history there. I sure hope it's one of the better quality concertinas from that period! Ah well, here's to waiting...

Does it have brass or steel reeds? I don't know yet, but I'll find out when I get it. Can I tell by listening? Or will I need to open it... if the reeds are all brassy then they must be brass, but if the reeds are all irony, then they must be steel? It's a shame that it's from when there weren't records though. Patrick

The sad thing is.. I don't have it yet. I'm eagerly waiting for it though. So, once I do. Yeah, I just wonder where it has been all these years. It's like I'm waiting for the birth of a child.. or the delivery of my new Russian bride or something. Hm, bad analogy I suppose?

That was awesome! I listened (watched the slideshow) at work here with my headphones on, and I have to say that the stereo separation on the concertina.. well it's like I could see the notes/buttons in my head or something.

Okay, so I buy this Wheatsone 48 key concertina on eBay. I really wanted it, so I watched it all weekend. I think I got a good deal on, but who knows. Hopefully I'll get it later this week, and it won't be a scam or completely broken. If it is, needs tuning, or fixed up. For West Coast dealings, are there any recommendations or should I ship it back east? In any case, I've read the concertina buyers guides, etc.. but still any advice? Anything I should look for once I get it for instruments of this age?

Oh, yes I know there's as many ways to hold a concertina as there are people playing them! Probably Anglo vs. English would make a difference too as well? I had a thought earlier for a joke (or bumpersticker?), but I'm not sure it's refined yet. "Anglo players do it in shorter strokes" or something like that. Trying to figure out what the EC equivalent would be.. Patrick

My 2 cents... if you practice holding the 'tina in the air, you'll build up arm muscles and not need to rest it on anything or use a strap. AND you can tell the wife (hubby, girlfriend, soon-to-be-ex-girlfriend, etc.) that you're just exercising! Seriously though, since I've been playing without supporting it I've developed more muscles where I didn't have 'em before, and I can play longer periods without getting tired.