Wendy M. Grossman

The baritone-treble I bought late last year came with its original leather box. The stitching at the top side of the box had come apart, and a whole side of the top had come away. I took it to Bag Repair in South Kensington, because they had done a good job when I needed the wheels on a suitcase replaced and they said they had worked on this type of thing before. They did a wonderful job at a surprisingly modest price. So I'm mentioning them FWIW in case anyone else has a similar problem. They say they've also worked on bellows. wg

Now you've got me wondering if that RH Ab could be an E2 instead. : ) (In fact, I now realize that moving the Eb means two identical notes right on top of one another. One should be something else. wg

Sorry, yes, a fourth. I plead that I was tired. : ) Here's the right side chart: F# F D Eb Bb B G G# Eb E C C# G# A F F# Eb D B Bb G# G E Eb C# C A Ab I'm told this is a former Salvation Army instrument, and they required customization. Not sure how much. I know the F2 is an artifact of that. All instruments require compromise, of course. I suppose it depends how it's going to be used. You may be thinking in terms of playing melodies and runs of low notes. I often use low notes for drones, however, in which case it's helpful to have the note on the outside where the finger holding it down doesn't get in the way of other fingers doing other things. This is very helpful. Thanks for taking the time. wg

It's an F2, so in a lower octave than the A and C. I think it stays where it is, but thanks for the idea. It's a fifth below the Bb, so that's logical enough for me. wg

Actually, *this* tenor-treble has a Bb in exactly the position where I'd propose moving the Bb on the BT to. wg

I made the same mistake about my former concertina (which got stolen) - I now realize that was a 64-key extended tenor-treble. I never could understanding the purposes of those dog-whistle-high notes... On this baritone-treble, my inclination would be to swap the Eb and the Bb at the bottom on the left hand side there. wg

Argh, yes. Edited to fix. (And that is of course the left side) wg

What's the range and key layout? wg

Interesting suggestion. Thanks. btw, here's the layout of the instrument I'm looking at, top to bottom (for this purpose I have not cared whether the note as described as # or b): C# C E Eb F# F A G# Bb B D Eb Eb E G G# G# A C C# Eb D F F# F G B Bb wg

I think I might struggle with a baritone in Bb. I grew up with classical piano, and the mapping of white keys to center rows and black keys to outer rows is pretty strong in my head. I suppose I'd adapt... wg

Geoff: I'm inclined to think you are right that I'd be better off with an instrument that sounds an octave lower than the one I'm contemplating. Or maybe not. I remain confused. Thanks. wg

Thanks for the tip. If the instrument doesn't have this issue, is it likely to develop it later through playing? wg

Thanks for the comments. The one I'm looking at is a Lachenal edeophone baritone-treble in excellent condition with the low G on the LH side and the G# next to it replaced by a low F. I also have a Wheatstone aeola tenor-treble, which I'm used to singing with and playing some tunes on. I think of the baritone-treble as a superset of the tenor-treble. I love the low notes, but thinking through the keys I sing in (a lot of Bb!) I'm not sure how much I'll be able to use them. So I'm wondering how much use I'd get out of it. Hence my question what others like to do with theirs. wg

Anyone own one of these rare beasts? What do you play on it? wg

They only get away with it if no one reports them. Don't know what anyone else did, but I reported this listing with a link to this discussion, and the listing has now been removed. wg