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Barleycorn Concertinas sale


Geoff Wooff

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Over the last week or so Chris Algar of Barleycorn Concertinas has been offering some of his private collection of instruments on Ebay. There have certainly been some very nice ones on offer but he appears to have a problem with some of his pictures which are often not in focus. I find that strange, perhaps Mr. Algar needs a visit to "Specsavers" (the english cheap optician chain store) or he has a problem with his camera. Has he forgoten where the 'macro' button is ?

 

His latest offering is very tempting, a 64 key Baritone-Treble Aeola Wheatstone finnished in Amboyna wood and gold plated fittings!! :blink:

Edited by Geoff Wooff
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yes, some of us were commenting on another thread somewhere about the phrasing of his ebay postings for the last several months, sounded to me as if he were divesting somewhat for whatever reason, and it has intensified last couple weeks. i believe there's now language in some of the listings about him 'raising funds for a project' or such....

 

well, i'm interested in a metal-ended "anglo-sounding" Tenor, as in, Tenor 48....perhaps i should email barleycorn...

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I don't remember where I heard this, but I remember hearing that Chris is planning to do some home remodelling and was selling off some special tinas to fund the project. If accurate, there's no need to worry for our most prominent concertina dealer AND there may be a once in a lifetime to scoop up rare concertinas.

 

Ross Schlabach

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Tough week indeed Shelly !

 

The starting price was tough that is. I've heard of another one of these,albeit not with Amboyna and gold plated finish, which could be bought for about 2/3rds of this starting price. Which begs the question "how much is rarity worth"?

 

Amboyna is a very pretty finnish, true, but does it add to the playability or the tone ?

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Yeah, 2 years ago, with I took up this madness, I would read my Hubbie ads for $2,500 concertinas "...are they crazy?" OK, so time for true confessions: I did actually contact Chris about this instrument. Fortunately he did save me from myself; he had already sold it. I told him I was a "player" not a "displayer" so the eye-candy was not necessary. I'm still sort of languishing for a baritone-treble maybe dialed down just a touch...like black or brown??? I'm just a plain sort of gal--with expensive tastes I guess.

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Well Michelle,

a Baritone/Treble is a nice thing to lust after. Also quite a big beast to play at 8 1/2 inches across ( for the 64 key version).

 

I see these as an English to play like a Duet... melody playing as a normal 48 Treble but using the extra octave at the bottom end to add low harmonies at the same time.

 

One problem that I see with the Baritone/Treble is that, because the thumb straps are moved down one whole row of buttons (so that the upper edge of the strap on the right side is level with the D button and not the A) which means that on a full 64 key version the stretch to reach those highest notes can be a little too much unless one has long fingers.

 

My own B/T (which is the type 14 , 56keys only) has extra long "pinky plates" which reach to the same position at their upper ends as a normal Treble but, I have seen 64key versions that do not have this feature and that would make for more of a hand stretch to the upper notes.

 

With the 56key version, which is only 8 inches across, you lose the eight buttons at the high end of the range, so it runs four octaves G to G.

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[melody playing as a normal 48 Treble but using the extra octave at the bottom end to add low harmonies at the same time.]

 

i have been thinking that as well, but am also thinking perhaps i could do much of that on a baritone 48 with less bulk....

 

are there baritone 48s that are loud, bright, and quick that would be good for dance and band playing? or are all baris by definition soft, mellow, and quieter? i am starting to really like the bari sound, but i'd like a growly, barky, bright one with metal ends, not a soft, mellow one...

Edited by ceemonster
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[melody playing as a normal 48 Treble but using the extra octave at the bottom end to add low harmonies at the same time.]

 

i have been thinking that as well, but am also thinking perhaps i could do much of that on a baritone 48 with less bulk....

 

are there baritone 48s that are loud, bright, and quick that would be good for dance and band playing? or are all baris by definition soft, mellow, and quieter? i am starting to really like the bari sound, but i'd like a growly, barky, bright one with metal ends, not a soft, mellow one...

 

 

 

 

I think there are Baritone that are quick; my B/T is quick enough to play Irish sessions an octave below normal pitch. I have also used it with our French Trad music bands although I needed microphones fixed to each end and a guitar Amplifier/speaker behind me so I could hear it.

 

I also think that loud Baritone 48's exist: I know one member of this forum who has a Wheaststone Baritone 48 which is very similar in construction and sound to my Treble 48 (band instrument).. and that one should have the charateristics that you seek. It could be difficult to find such an instrument, and I would like one myself!

 

How did your researches go in relation to these modern Hybrid Baritones ? Did anyone suggest a model to suit your requirements?

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my hybrid bari research has turned up nary a peep to date. almost. i did receive a reply from The Music Room after sending an inquiry since they now have both Morse baris on hand. i just received a very nice answer from Jon, who seems to be more the chordal and "song accompaniment" end of their demo wizards, that he has posted a clip of the Geordie Baritone, which i can't listen to until late tonight. i'm hoping their more instrumental-dance demo wizard, Chantal, will do one on her end as well, because the chordal/song samples are often softer just by definition...

 

i am also thinking of sending an inquiry to harry geuns, who shows a hybrid Baritone 48 on his site with a note that it is quick and bright. it is noticeably more expensive than the morse, but i believe the reeds are screwed in rather than waxed blocks, and also believe the reeds are a grade something higher than the duralle in the morses. so i guess the higher price would correspond to different features from those on the morse.

 

there is also a Wakker Rose Baritone in the pipeline, apparently.

Edited by ceemonster
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For what it's worth, I owned and played a baritone treble but found it a most unsatisfactory instrument. It was an Aeola from the 20's and was in good playing condition; there was nothing wrong with the concertina

I felt it fell betwixt and between other English systems. Such a heavy instument is not particularly responsive; in the treble area it's so hard to get it moving quickly.

I ended up understanding why it was not a popular instrument, for good reason, they were made only in small numbers I believe, .

It is ideally suited to someone who can play (and were built for the playing of) fistfuls of chords. If you can't do that, you're overwhelmed by its physical size with no particular upside . May be a good band instrument.

I sold mine to someone, a rare player I think, who could play 6-8 note chords. It sounded wonderful and he loved it.

Robin

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For what it's worth, I owned and played a baritone treble but found it a most unsatisfactory instrument. It was an Aeola from the 20's and was in good playing condition; there was nothing wrong with the concertina

I felt it fell betwixt and between other English systems. Such a heavy instument is not particularly responsive; in the treble area it's so hard to get it moving quickly.

I ended up understanding why it was not a popular instrument, for good reason, they were made only in small numbers I believe, .

It is ideally suited to someone who can play (and were built for the playing of) fistfuls of chords. If you can't do that, you're overwhelmed by its physical size with no particular upside . May be a good band instrument.

I sold mine to someone, a rare player I think, who could play 6-8 note chords. It sounded wonderful and he loved it.

Robin

 

 

 

 

Which only goes to show that we all judge these instruments on very direct personal experience, often the condition of just the one instrument that we have tried.

The first year I had my B/T I took it to a week-long Irish music summer school and used it for session playing every night, 5-6 hours at a stretch, in preferance to my Treble. More recently I aquired a very responsive Treble and have retired the B/T to the "fist fulls of chords" department.

Very recently I've bought another Treble that has the potential to have as much 'GO' as my main Band/session instrument... but potential is all it has and a great leap of faith will have to be made to realise its full worth. Condition is all important and therein lies the one problem when looking for instruments that are 80-120 years old.

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i'm getting the bug, and i'd like a loud, bright, fast Bari AND a loud, bright, fast Tenor.... :rolleyes:

 

and heck, a loud, fast, bright Hayden or Maccann.... :rolleyes:

 

i think it's too bad that tenors and baris have been stereotyped as chordal or background-accompaniment slots. these note ranges are great for what was said earlier here about melody playing with the low notes available for some vamping or bass chords....perhaps we will launch a re-think of the Tenor and Bari, with concomitant re-designs and new production models!

Edited by ceemonster
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My tip: get small ones! I ended up with the 48 key baritone that Dick Glasgow owned. It is a good bit faster than my 56 key baritone ( both EE Aeolas ). If you don't have to play with others, I recomment F-tenors: by swapping over a few reeds and ultimately retuning a few others one can play a fifth down with normal treble fingering ( by playing one row down! ). I did that to a 48 key ME tenor Aeola and to a 52 key!! tort BT. That one now plays with the range of a TT, but a fifth down!

 

I recently parted with a fine Lachenal original F-tenor - the only one I have seen so far!

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[My tip: get small ones!] that is my thinking also....when looking for a tenor i was urged from more than one quarter to go for a 56 TT because they are more plentiful, but i would like to stay 48 if possible for faster response.

 

Re swapping reeds on a Tenor--that is intriguing, but i think i'd like to just learn the different fingerings to play a tenor as a chromatic insrument in any key desired. as a cba player, i really love the tenor range and think they haven't been appreciated, designed, built, and exploited as the fast instrumental-dance purposes they'd be great for...i'm very interested in both tenor and baritone....what i don't like are those useless super-high notes taking up space on trebles that could be used by far more useful lower notes....

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