seanc

There is logic in all layouts. And in a duet, there are always trade offs. you can fiddle around with swapping and modifying. The down side is that once you learn a non standard system. It makes it really hard to unlearn it to go standard. Or, if you want to buy a second instrument or upgrade. You might not be able to practically modify that new instrument. but, imo.. you’d be better served mid and long term. Learning the standard system and working within those limitations. So, yes. C/ D is easy. And B major is a pain in the butt.

In my most recent travels.. it seems like there is probably a 4 to 1 ratio of extended trebles vs tenor trebles out there for sale. It also seems that the extended trebles seem to be selling for about the same prices as the standard 48s. TTs tend to be much harder to find and much more expensive.

there should not be that much of a difference between a standard and the extended treble. but the bit of added size should give you a bit more volume with the increase in bellows. You probably won’t get a lot of use out the extra notes. But maybe you will.

I am guessing @8-9” across the flats? pic with a 55b crane

Ouch.. I did not think of that.. but, yes you’re right.. I recently picked up a nice 55 Wheatstone from that estate sale for 2500..

Not much of an expert.. and a lot depends on your budget. I would probably focus on Morse, AC Norman over the other hybrids mentioned. or better if funds allow, look for a decent vintage Wheatstone, Lachenal etc..

not a clue as to how many hands it went through before it got to the button box and then to me. or if they got it directly from the author as a sale or a trade. It seemed an obscure and out dated enough story for me to just take their word for it.

If you are not committed to the Hayden. There seem to be a lot of maccans out there. 2-3 k gets you a nice 55 button Wheatstone. the stagi may have more buttons. But you might not find it much of an upgrade in terms of playability or sound.

Interesting little factoid… the concertina pictured is actually mine now… kind of cool to own the concertina owned by the man that wrote the book..

Interesting little factoid… the concertina pictured is actually mine now… kind of cool to own the concertina owned by the man that wrote the book..

Probably going to need more pics. serial number, etc. but, from my limited knowledge. Off hand. To me it looks like a 50s era. They are (imo) very nice. But, generally taken to be not a desirable as the older Wheatstones. the one I had was very nice. I traded a Norman Anglo for it and ended up trading it towards an upgraded Wheatstone model. Money wise, it was @ $2000. Mine was pretty much as new. And played near perfectly. but, I am making huge assumptions here with not enough data. And I am by no means any sort of expert.

Wes. Thanks for that. I am glad I was pretty much on with my date range. unfortunately, the ARS guy was not one of their instruments appraisers. And was completely baffled by the appearance of this strange beast. so to their credit. They would not put any sort of figure on something they knew they were out of their league on. So, I give them a lot of credit and credibility on that.

I hope that my acquisition disease has maxxed out at the current 4. I say that… any time I see bright and shiny or warm and woody.. the temptation starts.

the ARS appraiser doing it here. Is the relative of a person I know. And this event is being done to benefit a charity I am involved with. as such. This can be not a gotcha type thing.

ok… an antiques road show thing is coming to my town tomorrow. I have a couple of things that I’d like to get a value on. This is in the US, not the UK where I assume they see quite a few less than they may in the uk. but I thought that it could be interesting and enlightening for all of us for me to throw this at them to see what they say.. it is obviously a new model 55b Lachenal crane, rosewood, steel reed. However, I have never got a date. Can anybody help? sn is 621. (My estimate is 1890s-1910s) I know what I paid for it from the awesome Greg J. And I know, generally current market on these. Probably $2-3k. you are welcome to put a value estimate, OUR valuation or what they will come back with. I am not selling. This is purely an academic, reality check persuit.

C/c# is pretty common. And most that offer a b/c box have a c/c# as an option.

Yes. But, at that point. Your playing while necessary, yet largely ignored. The focus is the people moving around. I would offer this addendum though. IF you play in the same spot at the same time. those people that passing by. Once those strangers passing by start to recognize you through repetition of seeing you in the same place at the same time they will start to listen. As you stop being an obstacle and start being a familiar sight. You stop being an impediment and switch to becoming a feature and a fixture. I am telling you… here in Boston we have lots of buskers in the subway. Many Berkelee and New England conservatory people. Fantastic musicians playing for change.. they are largely ignored.. but if a rumor is that the guy playing the cello is yo-yo ma… the crowd will stop whip out their cell phones and stay for the complete set. And all agree it is the best they ever heard.

IME… In a random passer by situation… unless they know/ recognize the song, they are not listening. If you are not playing a song in the way they are used to hearing it, tempo, chord arrangement under the recognized melody they don’t recognize it. by and large, to non musicians, if they don’t recognize what you are playing. They tune it out, as either background noise, noise, interrupting their phone call, conversation, lunch, walk, what ever. there will be some that Judge it as an obstacle, and inconvenience, but, they like your shoes, so they will toss you a buck. In the hopes that you will just stop or get out of their way. unless.. you are REALLY good, or you are singing, or you are very attractive. OR, the individual in the audience has some musical experience and is able to listen, judge and appreciate or discount your work. when in doubt… try either end of the spectrum… “pop goes the weasel”, “Popeye the sailorman” types.. or Brian Eno “music for airports” type stuff. If you get any reaction you’ll at least know if anybody, somebody is paying attention.

Can you not just add to your existing home owner’s or renter’s policy? I went that route. if you have an existing policy, that may be an option.

I am not a melodeon player. but I picked up a decent c/c# box a while back. As a self taught/ self Lerner. I had thought I had done enough research before plunging in. After I picked it up, I started really trying to dig in. I noticed what I thought was a lot of viable info just, to me, was not. I found that learning resources favored the b/c by an order of magnitude. I decided to sell it and stick with the concertina. that said. If I were to take the plunge again. As an Irish melodeon newbie, I would absolutely opt for a b/c first. I think the learning options and resources just lend itself to ramping up and learning a b/c quicker.

Not an Anglo player. but it may make the most sense to determine what you want to play, primarily and gear your choice to that.. if you intend to focus on Bach, and learn the violin, cello, or organ. That may drive you in one direction, or three. While if you intend to focus on Mozart, Tchaikovsky and do flute oboe and bassoon that may likely drive a very different instrument. I am sure you can get an Anglo to do a reasonable job at anything with enough practice, mapping out push pull and key choices on the front end. I think it would be easier, long term to look at a chromatic instrument that has the same notes on the push and pull and just read the score and play.

This is 1000% true. my rule with acoustic instruments, guitars, has always been to have somebody else play it. and me listen. there have been too many times to count that I thought I had found “the one”. And then after asking somebody else to play it was completely underwhelmed. The area between your body and the instrument gives an immense bass boost to the player. it acts as a resonating chamber. And with clothes and skin that really sucks up highs and let’s this lows through. Especially playing seated. my assumption is that this is the same with a concertina.

I will try that…but the low lows just seem to have substantially more volume. I have to think that I am not an isolated case. do the duet players out there tend to try to keep the lowest notes really short as a practical work around? Holding and releasing is definitely a skill I have not come close to getting a handle on. I definitely tend to have that lazy piano player left hand syndrome.

To all the duet people out there. A practical question… What is the best way to try to balance the volume? I am finding that the lows come through much stronger than the highs. when playing a chord on the left. It really overwhelms the melody on the right. Should I be trying to play more Stacatto on the left to get the melody to come through better? is it just that I am getting more lows and they are actually projecting where I am not hearing it? I am not sure if baffles are the right thing here as I am finding myself running out of melody on the right and needing to continue on the left quite a bit.

I would love to see something like this. I have to think that if they did a modular build then no reason you could not do any number of buttons. You could just clip in the button plate via some sort of snap connector and the buttons would all have corresponding midi note assignment. The only limitation would be the size of the shell. this would be a great way to experiment with different systems at presumably low cost. I also think this would be an awesome way to work up custom builds. Example, I would love to see a crane go below the c to a g.. but does it work? Or possibly bring the top end of a Hayden down a 4th, etc. it could allow for a lot of experimentation and new accepted standards. also, as it is midi. On an English, it would be very easy to fool around different tuning. Equal, just, commas, etc. I’d love to try an English where an A# and a Bb was different, but “in tune”. Or possibly have access to middle eastern Bb and B half flats, etc..