The Edeophone

[Geoffrey Crabb]

In another topic in the Buy & Sell Forum, the 4 digit ID number of a Lachenal Anglo (Edeophone Model) has been a matter of discussion. I offered a possible reason for what seemed an unsual number for a Lachenal Anglo. Now rethinking the issue I wonder if all Edeophones (English, Duet and the very rare Angos) were all included in a 4 digit scheme that may have commenced with introduction of the model.

Try as I might, I cannot recall from the workshop days noticing such similarity. After all, the numbers then were only referred for identification on sales receipts or repair notes.

 

Perhaps members or collectors with Lachenal Edeophones would care to offer here,

 

Type (English, Duet, Anglo, Other??) & Number.

 

This may be enlightening.

 

 

Lachenal Edeophone Anglos are rare, I have only ever worked on a couple. I think that they were not a great success as the bellows was not robust enough for what may be regarded as general Anglo abuse.

 

Please note, I do not wish to critisize any maker producing 12 sided instruments now as they may be well adapted to a particular style of music.

 

I know that over the years, some 12 sided Anglos were made in our own workshop for customers against better judgement. These orders were not regarded with relish and every attempt was made to persuade a change to 6 or 8 sides.

 

Geoff

Edited July 11, 2010 by Geoffrey Crabb

[JimLucas]

In another topic in the Buy & Sell Forum, the 4 digit ID number of a Lachenal Anglo (Edeophone Model) has been a matter of discussion. I offered a possible reason for what seemed an unsual number for a Lachenal Anglo. Now rethinking the issue I wonder if all Edeophones (English, Duet and the very rare Angos) were all included in a 4 digit scheme that may have commenced with introduction of the model.

Nope.

I have records handy of two Edeophones:

• English, 48 button, amboyna -- 57175
  
• Crane duet, 55 button, ebony -- 4218

So I think the "anglo in a duet body" theory is the more likely one.

 

Lachenal Edeophone Anglos are rare, I have only ever worked on a couple. I think that they were not a great success as the bellows was not robust enough for what may be regarded as general Anglo abuse.

Not a "pure" Lachenal, but many years ago I had the pleasure of handling one of the Wheatstone Edeophone anglos. My memory, though I could hardly play anglo at all at the time, is that the bellows were quite sturdy and appropriate. (Not, e.g., overly flexible.) I also remarked at the time that although the ends were wooden and it had a great dynamic range, it was the loudest concertina I had encountered to that date. I.e., at low pressure it was loud, and at high pressure it roared!

 

Returning to the bellows, I believe that (at least) two of these Wheatstone Edeophone anglos have been played regularly for the last 30 years or more, with no complaints from the players.

[PeterT]

... I wonder if all Edeophones (English, Duet and the very rare Anglos) were all included in a 4 digit scheme that may have commenced with introduction of the model.

Hi Geoff,

 

I don't know what conclusions we might draw (based on a sample of only 6 instruments!), but here are the ones which I owned at various times:

 

Edeophone English:

56 key - no.43581

56 key - no.44389

 

Hexagonal English:

48 key - no.25623

 

Edeophone Maccann Duet:

61 key - no.3746

61 key - no.3847

 

Hexagonal Crane Duet:

48 key - no.867

 

Regards,

Peter.

[Chris Drinkwater]

... I wonder if all Edeophones (English, Duet and the very rare Anglos) were all included in a 4 digit scheme that may have commenced with introduction of the model.

 

I have a metal-ended 48 key Edeophone treble English, serial no 58856, which dates from circa 1922.

 

Chris

[malcolm clapp]

Currently in my workshop I have two edeophones:

 

#48066 56 key extended treble, ebony ends

 

#54359 48 key treble, ebony ends; unusual is the size of the "thumb-hole" in the reed pans, which is HUGE. (Is there a correct term for this? I'm sure that "thumb-hole" is not it, but I'm sure you will know what I mean!)

 

I've had a few nice edeophones through my hands in recent months. If I get time, I'll have a check through my workshop records for details of these. However, not quite sure what this thread will prove....

Edited July 12, 2010 by malcolm clapp

[SteveS]

I own ebony ended extended treble #43894

[JimLucas]

However, not quite sure what this thread will prove....

I think it has already proved its point.

Geoff's speculation that all Lachenal Edeophones had their own separate run of (4-digit) serial numbers, independent of the standard (and separate) runs for anglo, English, and duet, turns out not to be the case. The several examples of serial numbers reported for Edeophone Englishes are all more than four digits and I believe all consistent with being included in a single run of serial numbers for all Lachenal Englishes.

 

What I believe still remains to be determined is whether all duets shared a single run of serial numbers, or whether Cranes and Maccanns each had their own separate run.

 

If the latter is the case, then one could wonder how serial numbers were determined for Lachenal special orders which didn't fit any of the standard categories. I seem to recall that Jedcertinas' SN's were consistent with being part of the anglo run, but I'm not absolutely sure about that, and I don't have time to do a search at the moment. Does anybody know the serial number of the Linton concertina that's currently in the Horniman collection?

[Geoffrey Crabb]

Thanks folks for the responses and conclusions made .

It is now more than 20 years since I was involved with concertina repair and I am afraid that the memory is not what it was. It seems that my speculation was wrong. But I think that this simple exercise has been useful in some way to clarifying the situation.

As I said, instrument ID/serial numbers held no fascination for us but, from experience, were used meticulously to identify an individual instrument sold, repaired or presented to buy to protect ourselves from the more unscrupulous.

 

My observation about bellows suitability is again based on experience and the few 12 sided Anglos that I have dealt with have all required new bellows. Whilst some, it has been stated, have survived, I believe that this is due to the careful use of those instruments The recognised and repeated effort to get 'just one more note' on the 'pull' on Anglos eventually results in the bellows collapsing. Of course this is less common with 12 sided English and Duet concertinas.

 

Currently in my workshop I have two edeophones:

 

#48066 56 key extended treble, ebony ends

 

#54359 48 key treble, ebony ends; unusual is the size of the "thumb-hole" in the reed pans, which is HUGE. (Is there a correct term for this? I'm sure that "thumb-hole" is not it, but I'm sure you will know what I mean!)

 

I've had a few nice edeophones through my hands in recent months. If I get time, I'll have a check through my workshop records for details of these. However, not quite sure what this thread will prove....

 

The large central reed pan holes found on most Lachenal Edeophones was to reduce weight and, it was thought, prevent reed pan warpage. Malcolm please do not expend time on providing individual instrument details as only type and number was originally requested

 

Geoff

Edited July 12, 2010 by Geoffrey Crabb

[Dowright]

Chris Algar and I (Randy Merris) have been collecting descriptions/serial numbers for Lachenal concertinas for more than a decade. We plan to write one or more pieces about our database, when the sample size reaches 4,000 (an arbitrary benckmark, not a scintifically determined sample size). The database currently includes about 3,900 instruments.

 

Regarding the below-5000 serial number range, there were three main sets of serial numbers:

Set 1. Early Anglos that included, but were not limited to, those that Lachenal made for sale by Wheatstone.

Set 2. Maccann series that later became a joint Maccann/Crane series.

Set 3. Crane series, which recorded Cranes separately, up to (I think; subject to further study) about Crane #900.

Additional entries that may belong in Set 1, but probably were recorded in Set 2:

#2182 "Organoloe" 81-key specialty instrument (made for Arthur Watson, Leeds)in the Horniman Collection

#2277 A 48-key English baritone--the only English concertina that we have seen in the below-#5000 series.

#4108 Lintophone (made for a performer; Charles Gay)in the Horniman Collection

A few New Model Anglos made just prior to Lachenal's closure (for example, #4674, #4679,#4681, #4759)

#4860 The Edeophone Anglo that has recently been discussed at concertina.net

Maccann and Crane Edeophones (and Anglo #4860) are the only Edeophones of any type in our below-#5000 set. Our database currently contains 345 duets--223 Maccanns and 122 Cranes. The lowest numbered of the 31 Maccann Edeophones is #2274, and the lowest numbered of the 9 Crane Edeophones is #1172. Thus, it appears that Lachenal did not start making Edeophone duets until well after the Edeophone design was registered (RD 129662)in 1889.

 

I would much appreciate any Lachenal descriptions/serial numbers that concertina.net users would be so kind as to provide. The sooner we reach a sample size of 4,000, the sooner our write-ups will appear.

 

Dear Malcolm Clapp: Geoffrey Crabb politely said that you should not bother to provide all your descriptions/serial numbers. I want to be polite, but I am also a little greedy when it come to Lachenal information. I would much appreciate any information that you could kindly provide.

 

Regarding the Wheatstone Edeophone Anglos: I own one of those made in the mid-1930s for a performer based in Ohio. It is a 40-key in D/A--a nice key combination. My only complaint about the bellows is that they are 7-fold. Just a personal preference: I prefer 6-fold bellows, whether Wheatstone, Jeffries, or whatever.

[wes williams]

...Set 3. Crane series, which recorded Cranes separately, up to (I think; subject to further study) about Crane #900.

I've been using older versions of this database (2005/7) and lack of Cranes between roughly 1,000 and 3,000 is very apparent, so I'd come to similar conclusions. The counter argument (for a single series) is that there was a big fall in popularity of the Crane system until the Salvation Army repopularised it, but the model types/serial numbers quoted by Randy seem to show that this isn't true. So please get your Crane numbers to Randy folks!

[malcolm clapp]

Randy, happy to pm you when I have time to get some info together.

Good luck with the project.

MC

[John Wild]

Chris Algar and I (Randy Merris) have been collecting descriptions/serial numbers for Lachenal concertinas for more than a decade. We plan to write one or more pieces about our database, when the sample size reaches 4,000 (an arbitrary benchmark, not a scientifically determined sample size). The database currently includes about 3,900 instruments.

I would much appreciate any Lachenal descriptions/serial numbers that concertina.net users would be so kind as to provide. The sooner we reach a sample size of 4,000, the sooner our write-ups will appear.

 

My principal instrument for 25 years was a Lachenal edeophone 48-key English treble, number 35881. The RD was 129662. This was purchased from Malcolm Clapp in 1984.

in 1995 it had a major accident at Broadstairs festival when the soft bag I was carrying it in was hit by something hard. As our attention was on the fireworks display, no one saw what it was. The impact almost demolished one end and damaged the bellows. When it came back fully restored by Colin and Rosalie Dipper, it was a better instrument than before, and had 7-fold bellows replacing the original 5. I sold it last year when I acquired a baritone. It has gone to good home.

 

regards

 

John Wild

Edited July 14, 2010 by John Wild

[duckln]

Geoff

 

I have a Lachenal Edeophone, 6 fold, ebony raised ends, 48 treble. SN 55293

It's my main session instrument.

 

Joe

[Dowright]

To all: Thanks for the additional Lachenal descriptions/serial numbers.

 

Regarding the demand for Crane duets prior to the introduction of the Crane/Triumph (adopted by the Salvation Army in 1912): The Dutch Daly endorsement of the Crane concertina probably provided a significant boost to the popularity of Cranes. Though largely forgotten until my recent article, Dutch Daly was well-known in the early Crane years. (see "Dutch Daly: Comedy and Concertinas on the Variety Stage," Papers of the International Concertina Association, Vol. 4, 2007. pp. 1-26; available online in the PICA Section of the ICA website: www.concertina.org. Of course, it was an uphill battle against the highly respected Maccann duets and their famous players--John Hill Maccann himself, Percy Honri, Alexander Prince, etc.

[david_boveri]

Whilst some, it has been stated, have survived, I believe that this is due to the careful use of those instruments The recognised and repeated effort to get 'just one more note' on the 'pull' on Anglos eventually results in the bellows collapsing. Of course this is less common with 12 sided English and Duet concertinas.

 

Geoff

 

that sounds horrendous. i think people just don't get that bellows need to be taken care of. i have had my new anglo for over a year now, and have never opened the bellows all the way, certainly nowhere near while playing. i'm glad to hear that my intuition that pulling too far can damage the bellows. and here i just thought i was neurotically over cautious~!

[michael stutesman]

I have a 48 key Edeophone EC number 57513 with raise ebony ends. Intersting comments about the bellows. I remember Wim Wakker saying that in his experience in restoring instruments he almost never had to replace the bellows on an Edephone because they were so well made.

[Chris Drinkwater]

I have a 48 key Edeophone EC number 57513 with raise ebony ends. Interesting comments about the bellows. I remember Wim Wakker saying that in his experience in restoring instruments he almost never had to replace the bellows on an Edephone because they were so well made.

Concertina maker and restorer Colin Dipper, said the same thing to me and is of the opinion that, in general, Lachenal bellows seem to be better made and longer lasting than Wheatstone bellows, for whatever reason.

 

Chris

Edited July 19, 2010 by Chris Drinkwater

[Geoffrey Crabb]

Please note that my previous note, quoted below, concerned the problem with 12 sided Anglo bellows.

 

My observation about bellows suitability is again based on experience and the few 12 sided Anglos that I have dealt with have all required new bellows. Whilst some, it has been stated, have survived, I believe that this is due to the careful use of those instruments The recognised and repeated effort to get 'just one more note' on the 'pull' on Anglos eventually results in the bellows collapsing. Of course this is less common with 12 sided English and Duet concertinas.

 

Geoff

 

Maybe the 'experience' of other repairers has been with English or Duet instruments.

 

 

Randy,

perhaps your request for information may attract more contributions in a new thread instead of buried here.

Geoff

Edited July 19, 2010 by Geoffrey Crabb