gem deluxe? could somone tell me about it.?

[drummer2fear]

Hello everyone, I am new to the concertina world. I found this concertina in a attic of a house i was working on. I was hoping somone might be able to tell me some history on it and what somthing like this may be worth. All i know is that its a Gem deluxe it has made in italy engraved on it with a 4 didget number. Any help would be greatly appriciated thanks.

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[Daniel Hersh]

Hello everyone, I am new to the concertina world. I found this concertina in a attic of a house i was working on. I was hoping somone might be able to tell me some history on it and what somthing like this may be worth. All i know is that its a Gem deluxe it has made in italy engraved on it with a 4 didget number. Any help would be greatly appriciated thanks.

This is what's known as a "Chemnitzer" concertina. It's not the type of concertina usually discussed here. For pricing, a Gem Deluxe recently sold on eBay: see http://cgi.ebay.com/BEAUTIFUL-LOOKING-AND-SOUNDING-GEM-DELUXE-CONCERTINA-/190389645615.

[danersen]

Hello,

 

Here's a link to a summary with a couple of other useful links to information about Chemnitzers.

 

http://www.absolutea...tzer_concertina

 

 

This text from the article may be of particular note to folks here:

 

"Sources differ whether German inventor Carl Friedrich Uhlig created his first concertina after seeing Charles Wheatstone's instrument of the same name, or whether the two men invented their instruments concurrently and independently. Uhlig's patent dates to 1834, and while Wheatstone patented a related instrument, the symphonium in 1829, he did not patent an instrument under the name "Concertina" until 1844."

 

Be Well,

Dan

[wes williams]

Your link doesn't work Dan. But even so, we've read these Chinese whisper versions of concertina history many times. Truth is Uhlig never had a patent, he just advertised 'a new type of accordion' in his local paper in 1834. So far no one has ever knowingly found one of these instruments, unless Stephen Chambers' Eulenstein is a rebadged one.

[Daniel Hersh]

Your link doesn't work Dan. But even so, we've read these Chinese whisper versions of concertina history many times. Truth is Uhlig never had a patent, he just advertised 'a new type of accordion' in his local paper in 1834. So far no one has ever knowingly found one of these instruments, unless Stephen Chambers' Eulenstein is a rebadged one.

Wes, what are you saying here? Uhlig certainly made concertinas - I know that Stephen owns one of his larger ones (a bandonion, I believe). Harry Geuns has a more detailed account of Uhlig's story on his site:

 

Carl Friedrich Uhlig (instrument maker from chemnitz <1798-1874>) got acquainted with the first accordion invented (1829) by Cyrill Demian, on a trip to Vienna (Austria).

 

He was not pleased with the "programmed" chords at the left side of Demian`s accordion and back home, he started making a modified instrument increasing the range, and making some improvements.

 

At the end of 1834 he finished the first instrument , square schaped with five keys on the left- and five keys on the right side,every single key producing two different tones when changing the bellows direction (bi-sonoric), producing 20 tones...

 

Uhlig named his instruments "Konzertina" and in a short period of time (1840)his first 56 tone square Konzertinas were sold.

I don't know where Harry got his information, but it seems to me a bit stronger than a "Chinese whisper".

[danersen]

Thanks, Wes.

 

Links, again.

 

http://www.ConcertinaMusic.com/

 

http://www.concertinamusic.com/sbox/history.html

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemnitzer_concertina

 

Be Well,

Dan

[wes williams]

Wes, what are you saying here? Uhlig certainly made concertinas - I know that Stephen owns one of his larger ones (a bandonion, I believe). Harry Geuns has a more detailed account of Uhlig's story on his site ...

Hi Daniel,

Well, first the quote Dan gave said about Uhlig's patent - there never was a patent on the 1834 instrument, although this often appears in historical accounts. If there had have been one, we might know exactly what it was. All we have is the 1834 newspaper advert for 'a new type of accordion'.

 

Harry's account is factually correct, except when he writes about the instrument, he is describing the form as it appeared widely in perhaps the late 1830s and after (see Item A50 of 1844 in Randy Merris's Anglo Tutors article section).

 

We know that Wheatstone's 1829 patent was developed further to produce a concertina by 1834, when Regondi took on one tour, so it's equally possible that the late 1830s German concertina could be a further development of what Uhlig originally announced. So far, nobody has been able to say that any of the old German instruments is an 1834 'new form'.

 

Which brings us to Stephen's enigmatic Eulenstein of 1835 (see here). This might be a Uhlig 'new form' - or might not - as Stephen explains more fully. It certainly isn't the late 1830s German form, although its got a lot in common.

 

So in answer to the quote that Dan gave us to consider, when we go back to source data we find nothing that answers our questions on Uhlig's 'new form'. Our earliest Wheatstone concertina reference is 12th June 1834 for Regondi's tour of Ireland with guitar and concertina, and 19th July 1834 for Uhlig's advert, so speculation on who got what from whom would seem to be pointless. Add to that the confusing 'patent' statements of the second sentence, and you come to the conclusion that whoever wrote this should have done more research into the sources, rather than just rewrite what earlier writers had said.

[m3838]

Carl Friedrich Uhlig (instrument maker from chemnitz <1798-1874>) got acquainted with the first accordion invented (1829) by Cyrill Demian, on a trip to Vienna (Austria).

 

He was not pleased with the "programmed" chords at the left side of Demian`s accordion

Did Demian's accordion have left side?

As far as I remember his patents describes a lap held organ with bellows and something like 10 spoon like keys on the top, able to play many kind of chords, including minor, for song accompaniment. Instrument was played up/down, not left right, and didn't have any treble vs. bass side.

[wes williams]

Carl Friedrich Uhlig (instrument maker from chemnitz <1798-1874>) got acquainted with the first accordion invented (1829) by Cyrill Demian, on a trip to Vienna (Austria).

 

He was not pleased with the "programmed" chords at the left side of Demian`s accordion

Did Demian's accordion have left side?

As far as I remember his patents describes a lap held organ with bellows and something like 10 spoon like keys on the top, able to play many kind of chords, including minor, for song accompaniment. Instrument was played up/down, not left right, and didn't have any treble vs. bass side.

You'll find the patent here.