Lachenal contrabass on Ebay

[Chris Drinkwater]

Did anyone see this English concertina for sale on Ebay? The auction ended this afternoon. It appears to be a double action contrabass or bass, possibly made by Lachenal and has 35 buttons. The seller says the lowest note appears to be the D two octaves below middle C on a piano. It basically looks seemingly in overall good condition but needs complete restoration. It is quite a rare instrument, presumably an ex-concertina band instrument. Talking to Chris Algar in Sidmouth earlier this year, he said that in all the years he has been dealing in concertinas, he's only ever had one such instrument in stock and that was so big, it occupied all of his lap! The instrument sold for £1,247.99. I wonder if a forum member bought it?

 

Chris

[JimLucas]

Did anyone see this English concertina for sale on Ebay? The auction ended this afternoon. It appears to be a double action contrabass or bass, possibly made by Lachenal and has 35 buttons. The seller says the lowest note appears to be the D two octaves below middle C on a piano. It basically looks seemingly in overall good condition but needs complete restoration. It is quite a rare instrument, presumably an ex-concertina band instrument. Talking to Chris Algar in Sidmouth earlier this year, he said that in all the years he has been dealing in concertinas, he's only ever had one such instrument in stock and that was so big, it occupied all of his lap! The instrument sold for £1,247.99. I wonder if a forum member bought it?

I didn't see it, but then I haven't been following eBay. However...

It looks just like mine. Mine differs from the description in the following ways:

• Dimensions: 22 cm across the short flats; 29 cm between the long points.
  
  
• Range: My lowest note is G two octaves below the low G of a standard treble English or fiddle. Highest note is middle C.
  
  Yes, also 35 buttons.
  
  
• Mine was restored by Colin Dipper some time before 1981.
  
  
• Mine has a beautiful, solid mahogany, rectangular case.

So it seems that the range on mine is a fifth lower, but it's ever so slightly smaller. Makes me wonder whether the lowest note was reported incorrectly. D is unexpected as a lowest note, regardless of octave. Some C or G would be standard, or maybe Bb or F in an instrument meant for band use.

 

The serial number in the closeup reed pan photo looks to be 48861. That pretty much guarantees that it's a Lachenal. Mine is definitely a Lachenal.

 

As for condition, the interior photos look to me as if the condition is pretty good. For notes sounding badly or not at all, I wonder if it might just be reed frames loose in their slots. Might reseating all reed frames and supplying new thumb straps be enough to make it "playable"? If so, I think somebody got a real bargain. I am puzzled, though, about the seller's report of something rattling inside, yet no report of finding a likely cause when the instrument was opened. Then again, it doesn't look as if the reed pans were lifted out, so maybe there was no search.

[SteveS]

I put in a bid on this 'tina - sadly though I didn't win it (but I can guess at a man who did).

[Ron Wilson]

Oops, missed this one too! I've been following eBay, but not eBay.co.uk. I've been watching for a bass EC ever since playing one at an area festival. I was aware of the "Bass" when I started looking. Then I learned of the "Bass-Baritone" when I missed bidding on one that sold thru this site. Now I've learned there is also a "Contra-Bass", which I've also missed bidding on. What is the difference between a "Bass" and a "Contra-Bass"? I am becoming quite edu-ma-cated on these concertinas that I'm obviously not meant to own. Geez. Thanks for any help!

 

Ron

[JimLucas]

I've been following eBay, but not eBay.co.uk. I've been watching for a bass EC ever since playing one at an area festival. I was aware of the "Bass" when I started looking. Then I learned of the "Bass-Baritone" when I missed bidding on one that sold thru this site. Now I've learned there is also a "Contra-Bass", which I've also missed bidding on. What is the difference between a "Bass" and a "Contra-Bass"?

This old post is my own summary of the naming conventions as I have learned them. The thread also includes comments by others. There are some differences in usage of the terms, but here's a summary that covers all the "standard" usages that I know of:

• If the term begins with the word "bass", then the lowest note is the C two octaves below middle C. "Bass baritone", "bass treble", or just plain "bass" fall into this category.
  
• According to some old Wheatstone price lists, a "contra bass" is a full octave lower than a "bass".
  
• Some instruments, including the one mentioned in my above post, have a lowest note which is between the above two, i.e., the G between those two C's, or an octave lower than the lowest line on the bass clef. The few of these that I know of are all Lachenals, and I don't know of any documentation from Lachenal which indicates a "name" for an instrument with such a range. I used to call mine a "contrabass" until I learned that Wheatstone used the term for concertinas of an even deeper voice. Dave Elliott has called this a "'G' bass", and the standard bass a "'C' bass".

[saguaro_squeezer]

Jim,

 

Per your description , perhaps the G-bass would actually be a "Contra-Tenor?" Then again, that would make the treble a "Counter-Tenor" wouldn't it? So a Jackie is a Bargain-Counter-Tenor (a la PDQ Bach)?

 

Sorry, I had too much fun here .....

[conzertino]

I was in touch with the seller. A concertina-player visited him and called the instrument a "cello". To me that makes sence. I have seen several bass-baritones that were called "cello" ( down to C an octave below a tenor, like the cello from the violin-family ). I own a nice double-action Lachenal bass ( down to G ) and I have seen a few Wheatstones in that range. If they go down even further to C, they should rightly be called contra-bass...