What is the difference and effect of flat and raised ends

[daviseri]

Hello.

 

I am curious what is the definition of raised or flat ends and what difference does it make in the sound, feel and price of the instrument?

 

Thanks for your counsel.

 

Eric

[Dirge]

The raised end ones have a a slight bulge arround the keyboard area whereas the flat ones really are dead flat. I asked 'Why?' a few years ago and the consensus was that it didn't really make much practical difference, that it was a marketting ploy to distinguish the better models (the raised end ones come second on the tree after aeolas and edeophones). Like putting a 'power bulge' on the bonnet of a car.

 

So you would expect good quality especially in the reeds with a raised end model. (although after a century of varied treatment that's not certain any more either). The ones I've handled have always been very nice.

[Geoff Wooff]

One techincal reason for "Raised Ends" would be ( for metal ends) to stiffen the plate. This allows the makers to use a thinner sheet and thus save weight and money and dispense with any extra support blocks. The height of the End frame Wood can then be less and the whole instrument looks more elegant.

[Anglo-Irishman]

So you would expect good quality especially in the reeds with a raised end model. (although after a century of varied treatment that's not certain any more either). The ones I've handled have always been very nice.

 

Dirge,

You could have a point there.

Some years ago, I was looking for a classical guitar, and spent an afternoon in the music shop trying to find my optimum between price and quality. And it was noticeable that the guitars that sounded best and played most easily were also the "prettier" ones. There's not much variation in the decoration of classical guitars, but the inlays round the sound-hole, the joint between the halves of the back and the purflings were more elaborate and higher class on the good-sounding instruments with good actions. I reckon that a luthier has a feel for the pieces of wood that will make a fine instrument, and since instruments are priced by their sound, he sees that a good instrument will repay the additional effort of a bit more visual elaboration.

 

Could well be the same with vintage concertinas. Seems logical to make your best instruments look best.

 

However, modern concertina makers - at least Jürgen Suttner - offer raised German silver ends as an additionally priced option on some of their instruments that have flat German silver ends as standard. So two used Suttners of the same model, one with flat and one with raised ends, could be exactly equivalent in respect of reeds, wood, action, workmanship and probably sound and playability.

 

Cheers,

John

[Pete Dunk]

I have owned two Æolas, one treble English with ebony ends and my current tenor/treble with metal ends. Both of these instruments have very light actions and a very short button stroke. The buttons project barely 5mm through the ends compared to the 8-9mm on my flat ended model 21, the Æola is noticeably easier to play at speed and less prone to sounding false notes by catching a nearby key. I have encountered quite a few other Æolas with much higher keys so I don't know if key height was specified when they were ordered or that some have been adjusted over the years.

 

The Lachenal New Model had raised ends and every one of these I've played has been a wonderful instrument and I'm firmly of the opinion that raised ends enhance the playability of the concertina as well as the looks.

[Chris Timson]

Colin Dipper has told me that raised ends in his opinion add nothing to the instrument apart from the look of the thing. FWIW my Jeffries G/D has flat ends and is wonderfully playable, as has and is my Dipper baritone C/G. If I were in the market for a concertina then whether the ends were raised or not would have little or no importance to me. The sound and playability is all.

 

Chris