Pinhole Aeola

[A.D. Homan]

I've come across this (in writing) a few times, but have never seen one. Could someone explain:

1. What was the reason for these? Advantages? Disadvantages?

 

2. Can someone post pics of these? (Or are there pics anyone on concertina.net?

 

Just curious.

-Andy

[Chris Timson]

Really, this was just a description given to the style of fretwork. It was also called "dot-and-comma" which may give a better picture of the rather tadpole-ish appearance of the fretwork. They were the earliest Aeolas and looked nothing like the later boxes. For one thing, they had six sides, for another, they were brown. Because the fretwork was so small in relation to the size of the instrument they have a very sweet tone. Nice singers instruments if that's what you want. Pretty rare, I have only seen 2 in the flesh as it were.

 

Chris

 

Edited to undo the effects of the memory-resident typing trojan

Edited July 15, 2004 by Chris Timson

[JimLucas]

I've come across this (in writing) a few times, but have never seen one.  Could someone explain:

Can someone post pics of these?

I could chide you about learning to use the Search facility here on Concertina.net, but instead I'll suggest you check out this Topic.

... If you click on the photo showing the fretwork, you'll see it much enlarged.

[Greg Jowaisas]

Andy,

 

There is an interesting discussion about the "pin hole sound" and a couple of pictures under a Jan. 9, 2004 topic entitled, "Wheatstone No. 22002. Try the search feature.

 

Regards, Greg

[JimLucas]

...they were brown....

Not all of them, as you can see in the photos in the Topic I referenced (previous post).

[Chris Timson]

So let me then correct myself and say that the ones I saw (an inadequate sample of 2) were dark brown.

 

Chris

[JimLucas]

...the ones I saw (an inadequate sample of 2) were dark brown.

Three comments:

.. 1) When it comes to samples, all those reported in these Forums seem to be "inadequate". I think Göran Rahm and Paul Groff each reported seeing three, each group of three having similarities within the group, but differences from the other group. I, too, have seen three... one was one that Paul had, one was Jenny C.'s (some years ago, and I don't remember the color; is that one of those you've seen, Chris?), and one is my own.

.. 2) True ebony is not necessarily pitch black. It can have streaks and (I'm told) even large expanses of lighter color,. I have some ebony "bones" which have as much brown as black, and I've seen ebony with streaks as light as oak or pine. I'm told that for this reason even real ebony was often dyed black.

.. 3) I have a couple of Wheatstone price lists that advertise "Æolas" which I presume are these, since they don't mention either raised ends or 8 sides, as later price lists do. These lists do describe the Æola as having "ebony" ends, so that was presumably the standard. Nevertheless, Wheatstone often made custom variations, especially on the top models -- e.g., amboyna or tortoise shell, but also walnut ends, -- so I wouldn't be too surprised to learn of a pinhole Æola -- or more than one -- with ends of rosewood or some other wood.

[wes williams]

True ebony is not necessarily pitch black. It can have streaks and (I'm told) even large expanses of lighter color,. I have some ebony "bones" which have as much brown as black, and I've seen ebony with streaks as light as oak or pine. I'm told that for this reason even real ebony was often dyed black.

True ebony? When I purchased some a few years ago, I was given a choice of at least three varieties - Maccassar and Indian come to mind - all with different characteristics and colourings, and I expect our wood experts will have more to add!

[A.D. Homan]

I could chide you about learning to use the Search facility here on Concertina.net, but instead I'll suggest you check out this Topic.

... If you click on the photo showing the fretwork, you'll see it much enlarged.

 

 

Well, Jim, perhaps you didn't "chide" me; "patronize" would be a better word choice here. Since I _did_ use the "seach facility" (_facility_?), and that topic did _not_ come up, perhaps it's the search function that should be chided! And remember that when you respond in such a way to a novice's inquiry, there is a human being at the other end...

 

Seriously, I _did_ run a search, on both c-net and on the forums, and the topic that you pointed me toward didn't come up. (Some other topics did come up, none of which satisfied my curiosity.) -- Now I realize that one has to search each sub-forum separately! A bit cumbersome...

 

And at any rate, like you say, the "sample" is inadequate, and I'd like to see more. Apparently I'm not the only one!

 

-Andy

P.S. thanks to the others who provided _helpful_ responses.

Edited July 16, 2004 by A.D. Homan

[JimLucas]

Well, Jim, perhaps you didn't "chide" me; "patronize" would be a better word choice here.

I certainly didn't intend to be patronizing, Andy. I was trying to be helpful. I'm sorry if you took offense.

 

Seriously, I _did_ run a search, ... Now I realize that one has to search each sub-forum separately!

Actually, that's not so, so I hope you don't find it patronizing if I teach you a better way or two:

.. 1) When you enter the Search engine, there are two fields/windows. The one on the top is where you enter the keyword(s) to search on. (The Advanced Usage Help link tells you how to specify more complex search criteria.) The lower window contains a display of the Forum structure, with the highlighted entry being the one which will be searched, and that defaults to wherever you were when you clicked on the Search tool. If you highlight "Discussion Forums" by clicking on it, then all the subForums indented immediately below will be searched. If you click on ">>All Forums", then the "News & Announcements" and "Test" groups will be searched as well. The result is a listing of individual posts from any of those Forums that meet the search criteria.

.. 2) But next to the Perform the search button is a More Options button. If you click there, it will take you to a page where you can do more sophisticated searching. It has the same "Search by Keywords" and "Search Where" input fields, but you can also restrict the search on member names and how old they (the posts, not the members) are. You can also choose whether to get a list of Topics which contained hits (useful if you expect an entire topic to be useful) or a list of individual posts (useful if you expect to find a brief mention in a Topic devoted mainly to something else).

 

One thing to note in using the second method is that after you've done one search, your earlier specifications may disappear, so you may need to respecify every detail (e.g., to include all "Discussion Forums"). I find that when I'm using MS Internet Explorer, my selections are forgotten, though when I use Mozilla as my browser, they're remembered. I have no idea why.

 

And at any rate, like you say, the "sample" is inadequate, and I'd like to see more.

Wouldn't we all!

Maybe if other members have pinhole Æolas, they could post photos, but the fact is that they're rare enough that few people have seen even one, much less three or more. In fact, I wonder if any Concertina.net member has seen more than three.

Edited July 16, 2004 by JimLucas

[Peter Stephenson]

Cop this.

[JimLucas]

Cop this.

Nice. Can you tell us something of its history?

[Wrigglefingers]

Jenny C's is black, newly restored and plays beautifully even in my hands.

 

Jill

 

(Couldn't say whether it's ebony or not, I'll ask her next practice)

[Peter Stephenson]

Nice. Can you tell us something of its history?

 

Jim etc.

All I know of this Wheatstone is that it's number is 11895 and was up on e-bay a while back. you may guess the seller by the background material.

[A.D. Homan]

Actually, that's not so, so I hope you don't find it patronizing if I teach you a better way or two [...]

 

 

 

Hi Jim,

 

No, not at all -- thanks for the tips. Thanks as well to all those who responded to me off-line. When I saw the pics of the Hamish Baynes concertina, it triggered a memory of reading about a "pinhole Aeola," and perhaps a photo that I had once seen -- although the memory was vague and so I did a search, then posted the question, since I figured it was a topic that others would know about. I see know that the Baynes design has larger holes than the pinhole, yet I can't help but think that he was inspired by the dot-comma design.

 

As for my reaction to Jim's post, I think I was just in a bad mood on Friday after hearing the Martha Stewart verdict. If only she had exclusively invested her entire fortune in venture capital in Morse Hayden concertinas (perhaps also sending a few mill to Mr Baynes), she wouldn't be doing time now. Didn't she realize that the concertina is "a good thing"?

 

 

Thanks again to everyone for your responses.

-Andy

[JimLucas]

Didn't she realize that the concertina is "a good thing"?

Hey, don't blame Martha!

Neither Hamish nor The Button Box has mentioned pastel colors in their adverts.

[A.D. Homan]

Didn't she realize that the concertina is "a good thing"?

Hey, don't blame Martha!

Neither Hamish nor The Button Box has mentioned pastel colors in their adverts.

 

 

 

If Martha would have invested, we'd be seeing the Morse Hayden with raised Jadite ends, with dot-comma fretwork. Great for St-Paddy's day, too!

[JimLucas]

True ebony is not necessarily pitch black.....

True ebony? When I purchased some a few years ago, I was given a choice of at least three varieties - Maccassar and Indian come to mind - all with different characteristics and colourings...!

I should say that I was quoting supposed experts, who regularly dealt with exotic woods. I don't recall the naming details, but I believe they said the original or "true" ebony was African, not Indian, and that the name "ebony" was used only for the heartwood of the tree.

... Anybody else know more?