Bill Crossland

Hi Dowright - I've recently worked on two Lachenal Bass Anglos, both originally 6 fold bellows, though one has had another three folds grafted in. Both 30 key, steel reeds 151,069 pitched in C/G, used by the Tottington Concertina Band 174,914 in Bb/F, marked internally "Pride of Wooton" Picture below - any dates please? From the other data you've published, both would appear to lie between 1896 and 1906?

It was rediscovered in America nad now heading back to Mr Wayne's concertina museum

This Louis Lachenal instrument has just come in for conservation, but is amazingly original. The inlay work on the ends and around the sides is magnificent, and the buttons glass. The end construction is very similar to early Wheatstones, with the fretted ends and side panels removing in one piece There is a date inked on one of the bellows cards inside which is 6/12/75. Would that tie in with other date estimates for manufacture?

Duplicates on different buttons. All the buttons I tried were different in and out, with some several notes apart in and out... I didn't look at relationships between columns, my brain was beginning to hurt......

I saw the instrument today, it is bisonic but to no system that I recognised...... I didn't have chance to try any mapping of the notes, but it did not appear to extend much beyond the range of a standard treble anglo. All the reeds in standard radial pattern. Lots of duplicate notes, no note progression in rows as in an anglo. Bellows in good condition and in old pitch. Decent reeds.

Fletcher Newman offer a good range of woven felts in various thicknesses: https://www.fletcher-newman.co.uk/

40 key, 1920....

Brendan Dalley may be able to help, I will send his email by PM

The Swaledale Squeeze is organised by the ICA - details here: http://www.concertina.org/yearly-events/

Stephen has more of a facebook presence these days

Two pictures of the Tottington Band, no dates - any suggestions?

Yes - it doesn't make them any faster to respond though!

Yes there is quite a mix of reed sizes in there, you can see the low G and the low F side by side in this picture and they are significantly different in size.

No, it's double action - you can see the valve of the opposing reed which is conventionally mounted on top of the reed pan, situated under the left end of the pipe.

Pictures of the Tottington Bass, including one of the underside of the elaborately engineered left hand reed pan. As well as being built on two levels to accomodate two depths of chamber (16mm on one side to 25mm for the lower notes) it has an underslung pipe constructed for the lowest reed (low E, rather than Low C). Dave Elliot tells me that this isn't unusual on bass instruments, but you can only admire the techniques by the Victorians/Edwardians who put it together.