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Lachenal 48 button just given to me, value?


TedR

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Hello all

 

First of all I would like to say thanks to everyone that has contributed to this website, it is fantastic. I happened upon concertina.net while researching a concertina that was given to me. Apparently it has been in my family for a while and nothing has been done with it for quite some time.

 

It is a 48 button Lachenal, wooden ends with 5 fold bellows. The serial number is 39406. It is in pretty good shape overall, bellows have no holes or repairs of any kind. The only thing I see that is wrong is one of the keys is stuck down, probably an easy fix. I haven't attempted to fix it because I know nothing about them and I want to make sure I don't mess something up.

 

I have attached pictures, please let me know what you think. It has the original leather case but it is pretty beat up. I am looking to sell this as nobody in my family has any real use for it.

 

Thanks in advance for your responses.

 

Ted

 

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Edited by TedR
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  • 1 month later...

The amount of money you will make from this will be nothing to the value of the pleasure you would get from learning to play it. You may think your life is too busy to learn, or that you are not musical. I can almost guarantee, if you spend a couple of weeks at it, it will be a companion and pleasure for you for many years to come.

 

Take time to think about it, as instruments go it is a very, very good instrument to start off with, whilst not being hugely valuable, you will get years of pleasure from playing and maintaining it. You will expand your mind, you will find a new way to relax, you will find it a channel to meet new people, you will be maintaining a long tradition of concertina playing.

 

Take it into decent sized room with hard walls and not much soft furnishing and play a few notes one after another with a decent amount of bellows pressure. Listen to that beautiful, beautiful sound. Don't worry about making a tune, just listen to those long notes and how they sound.

 

Now take it somewher small and soft-furnished and play it gently, feel the intimacy it creates between you and it.

 

There is a magic in concertinas which is not often mentioned in this forum, and should be mentioned more often.

 

Think hard before you sell.

 

Simon

 

 

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The amount of money you will make from this will be nothing to the value of the pleasure you would get from learning to play it. You may think your life is too busy to learn, or that you are not musical. I can almost guarantee, if you spend a couple of weeks at it, it will be a companion and pleasure for you for many years to come.

 

...

Think hard before you sell.

 

Simon

 

Orrrrrr... maybe his musical skill is rubbish, and the original poster wouldn't mind being able to pass on an instrument to someone who would really play it, treasure it, and cherish it! I cringe a little when I think of people coming across their grandfather's instruments, and putting them back into the attic to rust for another 50 years.

 

Well, cringe a bit more when people have the "Oh, I see new concertinas selling for $6,000! Surely, this old concertina must be worth that!" and they aren't willing to put it up on eBay to get a fair shake at the real world market price.

 

Of course I like when people come to the concertina forum, and hope that someone who will fall in love with this instrument will make them an offer that sounds fair, that they can live with, and someone can get a nice possibly vintage instrument to have restored and to play. I'm just saying that yeah, it might be nice for a person to learn their family history, but just because I have my grandma's wedding dress, doesn't mean I need to wear it. :)

 

Patrick

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I have to agree with Simon,

 

First, try it out and see if the love of music has been passed down in the blood. No one is born a musician, some have a greater gift for it than others but not born with an instrument already for them (except maybe vocal). Try it out, find one of us Tech's that are near by and have us take a serious look at it for you and see what needs done to bring it to top shape. That way you have both the knowledge of whether you want to learn it from the enjoyment of playing and hearing (and talking to other players and having your world opened and changed a good bit). With the option being there that you have had a Tech look it over and you have an idea of what it will take to bring it to full playable condition and a better idea of what it is worth.

 

Now from the pictures it looks to have metal buttons and the higher quality fretwork finish. That in it's self speaks well of the instrument. Only first give it a go try it out, see if you have found something that can give real joy and open doors in the real world of music and dance for fun and joy.

 

Michael

 

PS my reasoning for this is biased, I have a restored English student grade the wife is getting a new mechanism for from me and a whole host of other free reed instruments that we own and either have restored or are restoring. I have also restored instruments for clients that on the outside looked like they where beyond repair and only needed a bit of love and care to be put in right proper playing condition. Unfortunately I have also had to tell clients that the instrument that looked so nice on the outside was dead, do to needing over 80% of the reeds replaced and internal joints repaired or replaced.

Edited by Michael Marino
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Grief, we get this sentimental slop time after time.

 

Look Gentlemen, the bloke has decided to sell. He doesn't want to play it nor does anyone else in his family. He wants to cash it in and is happy with the idea that it goes to someone else who wants to play it. OK????

 

The only reason I have my concertinas is because other people felt that leaving them in the attic to moulder JUST IN CASE a member of the family decided to show an interest in an obscure, nay antiquated, instrument sometime in the distant future purely because great Gran' dad happened to have owned it (note I didn't even concede played it to any standard)was a stupid waste of both the money and the instrument.

 

Ted, I wish I could be the first to give you a decent reply to a reasonable question, but I don't have the knowledge. I will however have a punt in the hope it irritates someone else into putting some real sense down and actually answering your question. The metal buttons suggest a better model; that odd varnish suggests lower end better (Unless you reckon it's real rosewood underneath that red stuff, that would be a good sign.) Assuming it's a treble, under a span across, £1200 restored. It might need tuning up to concert pitch and new valves and pads. £900 as it stands. I don't watch English prices so don't rely on these.

 

Grief...

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The amount of money you will make from this will be nothing to the value of the pleasure you would get from learning to play it. You may think your life is too busy to learn, or that you are not musical. I can almost guarantee, if you spend a couple of weeks at it, it will be a companion and pleasure for you for many years to come.

 

...

Think hard before you sell.

 

Simon

 

 

I'm just saying that yeah, it might be nice for a person to learn their family history, but just because I have my grandma's wedding dress, doesn't mean I need to wear it. :)

 

Patrick

 

The family history piece is not at all what I'm talking about. It's a nice instrument, he might get a lot out of learning and continuing to play it. This is concertina.net. We like concertinas, we encourage others to play them....

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"Grief, we get this sentimental slop time after time.

 

Look Gentlemen, the bloke has decided to sell. He doesn't want to play it nor does anyone else in his family. He wants to cash it in and is happy with the idea that it goes to someone else who wants to play it. OK????"

 

AMEN!........ can someone who is familiar with unrestored Lachenal trebles please give this gentleman some good advice on its realistic value.

 

David

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"Sentimental slop"

 

Telling someone in a concertina forum to reconsider selling a nice instrument and trying to use a few emotional words to explain why. In that case If that is how you see it then I'm happy with my viewpoint and you can stick to yours.

 

EDIT: Take a look at the posting dates. He wasn't getting much response from all you hard-nosed valuers.

Edited by Simon H
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Some people get nervous when you try to explain what's so beautiful about your wife's eyes. They prefer to hear what's her income.

 

That doesn't necessarily make them worse lovers, though.... rolleyes.gif

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"Sentimental slop"

 

Telling someone in a concertina forum to reconsider selling a nice instrument and trying to use a few emotional words to explain why. In that case If that is how you see it then I'm happy with my viewpoint and you can stick to yours.

 

EDIT: Take a look at the posting dates. He wasn't getting much response from all you hard-nosed valuers.

 

He doesn't see any charm in concertinas. That should be all it takes. Do you want all the concertinas in the world to be sat in attics mouldering? Because if you are consistent in your thinking that's what you are advocating.

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He doesn't see any charm in concertinas. That should be all it takes. Do you want all the concertinas in the world to be sat in attics mouldering? Because if you are consistent in your thinking that's what you are advocating.

 

 

 

[whisper]

Don't tell them about the magic. When your consistent in thinking you know that once they listened carefully to the sound and felt the intimate character of the instrument, they'll stuff their concertinas in the damp corner of their attics.

Let's just enhance their greed, so they sell all their concertinas at eBay where we can buy them for half the price they hope for.

[/whisper]

 

Funny man, Dirge.

 

For the OP: two weeks ago there was a similar one on eBay. Sold for just over £600:

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.u...#ht_1066wt_1138

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AMEN!........ can someone who is familiar with unrestored Lachenal trebles please give this gentleman some good advice on its realistic value.

 

David

 

It could be one of Lachenal's better quality Rosewood models, with 5-fold bellows, moulded edges, and nickel keys. Original price circa 1920, £11 13 shillings and 6d. Todays value, unrestored, perhaps £500, £800-£900, restored.

 

Chris

Edited by Chris Drinkwater
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