Rails

[Robin Harrison]

A friend of mine has just put a nice Aeola for sale on ebay.Attached below the keys ,on each side is a piece of plastic type material that according to the Wheatstone ledgers were factory fitted and called "rails"

At first blush,it would seem obvious that they were fitted to protect the area from the hand that often causes wear .However its not really in the right area....wear is usually closer the edge.Strengthening ?? Unlikely.

Any information /ideas. It was originally a Sally Army instrument.

Robin

[Wrigglefingers]

Hello Robin

 

Are the "rails" on both sides or just one? Could it have been the support for a small music holder for street playing? I had a rosewood flute some years ago which had a tiny piece of plastic onto which a holder slid onto to hold the score book. the music was so close it's probably responsible for my short-sightedness now. I must admit I haven't got a clue if they're on both sides!

 

Incidentally it looks like a nice aeola - does he want to ship it to England? - I might be interested .....

 

Regards

 

Jill

[Robin Harrison]

The rail is on both sides.I'm trying to add aphoto but it's not "taking"

Jill,its a nice,quite loud aeola.I'm sure he'll ship.Emailhim direct.Robin

[goran rahm]

I had a look at the photos on ebay and the "rails" seem to be wooden bars not much unlike the handle part of Anglos and Duets. To me the probable idea is to lift and support the hand in order to achieve a more stable and relaxed handposition.

I have not seen the arrangement before so for me it was most interesting and quite alike some of my own first attempts to improve the handle of the english concertinas. I've tried about 50 variants on some dozen different instruments since...:-)

You can find more on that at:

 

http://www.concertina.net/goran_ergonom.html

[goran rahm]

Add to previous reply:

I just thought of another explanation....Since the "rails" together with the handstraps form in principle an application of the Anglo/Duet 'handle concept' at an English model this may be the point.

Maybe the customer had experience from Duet/Anglo playing and wanted an attachment of that kind ( which in my view is quite understandable....!)

A Salvationist (as the ordering customer according to the instrument history may have been) expected to play standing and outdoors and moving the instrument about could certainly benefit from a more stable handle and one method to play standíng used by both Anglo and Duet players is holding the instrument chest high with forearms vertical and the weight of the instrument resting on the palms of the hand. In this position the handle bar or the Anglo/Duet - or the "rails" of this instrument - is a great help. Despite the method itself ( arms high) could be regarded as slightly absurd from a general ergonomic viewpoint....:-)

[Robin Harrison]

Goran...I think you're on the right track.Looking at the Wheatstone ledgers,there is a notation "rails,duet straps".Having played this Aeola,it's really hard to understand how they could help though....they are only 2mm thick.It would be interesting to look at them from the inside,to see if they are covering something ,perhaps.

regards Robin

[goran rahm]

Robin,

2 mm thick(thin)...that's peculiar. Any signs that the original "rails" have been removed or modified??

I would like to get in contact with the owner/seller for more information on this interesting feature due to my own handle modifications.

Could you (or the advertising friend of yours) send me a private mail on the subject please?)

Goran

[Robin Harrison]

Absolutely...Robin

[Pete Dickey]

At the risk of providing too simple an answer, since the rails are so thin do you think that they could might have been added to provide some protection to the faces of the concertina in the way guitars have a fingerplate?

[Robin Harrison]

Peter,as I said in the initial post, that is exactly what I thought BUT Paul and I had five english concertinas between us and all of them had wear and none of it was in the place where the rails are.

I'm seeing him tomorrow pm and hope to take some focused pics.His digital camera was made shortly after the concertina was !! It's lost it's moxy. I think the duet /Salvation Army is the lead.

Regards Robin

[JimLucas]

One thing puzzles me: Where are the hand straps, or even the fixtures for atttaching them? I don't see anything like that in the photos.

 

I'm going to *speculate* that the "plates" on the instrument now are not the original "rails", but rather that the original "rails" were standard duet-style, with the straps attached to the rails themselves. I.e., I suspect that the "rails" that are on the instrument now are simply covers over the areas where the original rails were mounted, because a later owner wanted to play it "normally". If I'm right, it's an open question whether those plates were supplied by Wheatstone or by someone else.

[duckln]

Jim

Its says 'rail' in the ledger, it has rails , I would

say they are original. But where are the straps and how do

they attach.

I got 'blurry' closeup from the seller, and they look

very professional. The ends of the rails look eliptical

and appear raised. Could be a strap with a button hole

at each end was attached to the strap. This would make

sense, as you wouldn't need any thumb leverage because

of the existing english thumb strap.

So it's not really a duet strap, but I've never seen

a duet up close.

Joe

[JimLucas]

Its says 'rail' in the ledger, it has rails , I would

say they are original. But where are the straps and how do

they attach.

 

I has *something* there, but are those somethings what Wheatstone called "rails"? So far, we seem to have no way of knowing.

 

So it's not really a duet strap, but I've never seen

a duet up close.

 

I have. I play duets. The "handles" are essentially identical to those on anglos.

 

I got 'blurry' closeup from the seller, and they look

very professional. The ends of the rails look eliptical

and appear raised. Could be a strap with a button hole

at each end was attached to the strap. This would make

sense, as you wouldn't need any thumb leverage because

of the existing english thumb strap.

 

Today I got some good-resolution pictures from the seller. There is no place on the rails to attach hand straps or anything else. Furthermore, they appear to be of good workmanship, but different in both workmanship (my judgement) and finish from the rest of the instrument. I'm leaning even more strongly toward the idea that they are simply covers for the places where the real rails *were* mounted.

[Paul Read]

Gents,

 

Time I had a word. I've just sold the instrument. I think that Jim is right, based on the assumption that the straps attached to the rails. Having watched the discussion, it makes sense to me that the rails were removed (by, or for, the original owner because it came almost direct). What is there now is very well done and looks good. You can see from the photographs that the fretwork was modified to accommodate the 'rails'. I suspect he thought they would be a good idea and then didn't like them. I've promised Robin to get better photos before it leaves.

[Robin Harrison]

So in fact what Wheatstone called "rails" we would call "hand-bars"

Thus ,the Salvation Army client aksed for an Aeola with hand-bars/rails and duet straps(but are these different from anglo straps ?) and the next owner had them removed and typical English thumb and pinky attachments added.It really is such a beautifully done job,one wonders if the Wheatstone people did it.Are there ledgers that record anything other than sales ?

The red-herring was assuming that what we saw on the concertina were rails. Regards Robin

[duckln]

Jim L

On an Ebony domed Duet, I assume there is such a thing, is the domed

end piece cut out to accomodate the handle? I think not. Isn't

the handle 'shaped' to fit over the dome. If you remove the handle

from a duet, to cover up, why not plug the holes instead of making

a fancy plate.

Joe

[JimLucas]

...duet straps(but are these different from anglo straps ?)

 

Not really. Some of those on Lachenal duets seem to be slightly higher than those on their anglos and partially cut away underneath, but my 80-button Wheatstone duet has handles exactly like the dutes, and some Jeffries anglos have higher, all-metal hand rests that look more like handles (i.e., not filled in underneath).

 

the next owner had them removed and typical English thumb and pinky attachments added.

 

I think that, as ´Paul said, the original owner bought the instrument with the "rails", but then found he didn't like them and had them removed. (He did say it had only one owner before him.) But I believe that the thumb straps were also original equipment, not added later. I.e., it originally had *both* rails and thumb straps. I believe the pictures show that there are solid areas of wood under both the thumbstraps and finger rests, where no fretwork design was cut away. This should only be the case if the straps and rests were there from the beginning.

 

The red-herring was assuming that what we saw on the concertina were rails.

 

I think "assuming" is the right word.

[JimLucas]

On an Ebony domed Duet, I assume there is such a thing, is the domed end piece cut out to accomodate the handle?

 

No. In fact the raised portion is not centered and does not extend to the area where the handle is attached. That part of the end is flat.

 

On my 55-button New Model Triumph duet the center part of the handle is hollowed out, and some fretwork is cut into the wood under the hollow, but none of it is raised. On my 80-button Maccann the handle is solid, the area under it is flat, and there is no fretwork underneath, or even extending in to touch where the handles are.

 

If you remove the handle from a duet, to cover up, why not plug the holes instead of making a fancy plate.

 

I don't know. Maybe it was thought easier, yet stil aesthetic, to have separate plates than to try refinishing to match the old finish on the areas where the handles were removed? But I really haven't a clue.