unusual german concertina

[david fabre]

I just saw this one on the french e-bay.

 

http://cgi.ebay.fr/concertina--anglo-german-30-boutons-restaur%E9,-accord%E9_W0QQitemZ120507883723QQcmdZViewItemQQimsxZ20091219?IMSfp=TL091219201001r15279

 

It seems to be of a better construction than many german concertinas.

 

The most surprising thing is the layout : http://dl.free.fr/offI4nSy1

 

According to this chart it is be tuned E/B, which is already quite rare, and in addition the alteration row is at the bottom, not at the top.

Has anybody ever seem something like this ?

[david fabre]

The link failed ; here is another one :

http://annonces.ebay.fr/viewad/concertina-anglo-german-30-boutons-restaure-accorde-TOP/5002494699

[Marien]

E/B is quite common for old german 30b boxes. The inside looks a lot like my old 30b E/B Viceroy concertina. The bellows are better than average. The action is nothing compared to a lachenal. The buttons are glued on the wooden levers.

 

The layout of mine is ordinary wheatstone layout transposed from E down to C. If the layout is otherwise I suspect that the reed plates have been exchanged.

[david fabre]

I asked the seller if the plates could be easily switched. He tried to do so and

replied that it cannot be done easily without modifying the separations between the

chambers. So it must have been in this way from construction.

[Ken_Coles]

So is this E/B a major third higher than a standard (English-made) C/G, or a sixth lower? Or perhaps they are double reeded like Italian models? Thought I should add this one to the article on keys.

 

Ken

[david fabre]

So is this E/B a major third higher than a standard (English-made) C/G, or a sixth lower? Or perhaps they are double reeded like Italian models? Thought I should add this one to the article on keys.

 

Ken

As far as I understand from the chart this one is one third higher than C/G (with a single set of reeds)

 

If you consider updating the article you could also add that Eb/Bb (cited as "no examples ?")

seem to have been common in south africa, for 20 instruments with two set of octave-tuned reeds.

These were taken up by black musicians who ingeniously inverted some of the reed plates.

This was discussed recently on this board.

[Marien]

So is this E/B a major third higher than a standard (English-made) C/G, or a sixth lower? Or perhaps they are double reeded like Italian models? Thought I should add this one to the article on keys.

 

Ken

 

Ken,

 

Yes you can add my Viceroy 30 button concertina as example for an E/B.

 

It is tuned one third higher than the usual lachenal layout of a C/G. It sounds a bit like a mouth organ. The instrument is not too loud, It has single (steel) reeds - not double. The notes are a bit high but it can be used with songs in E. I would prefer a bariton tuning for that.

 

It is an imitation of the mahogany lachenals - looks quite the same from a distance. The ends are real mahogany but looking closer you'll see that it is german (it says made in Saxony so it will be made somewhere between 1918 and 1940. The seller back then told me that it was from 1924, but I think he was just gambling about the date.

 

It has rolled paper buttons with ivory on top - glued on wooden levers - 4 wood screws to fit the ends - zinc plates - the whole thing is quite light (760 gram). For a german box it plays okay and the bellows are fine - with leather in every corner. The text on the box says:

 

V I C E R O Y

regist. made in Saxony

broad steel reeds

 

I have seen more of the same model and they were always E/B.

 

Marien.