Recent Duet At Auction

[DavePraties]

Hello All,

So I bid on and won the recently discussed duet in the Malvern auction. It just arrived, and I have had a look at it. It is not a bass as Steven correctly summised, but as yet,(I am at work!) have not had time to chart its actual range. It plays fine, with little air leakage. It needs a bit of tuning of course. Interestingly, the action is riveted, not the usual Lachenal hook action. It has a Lachenal label inside the leather case. Did Lachenal make a riveted action ever? It is stamped "1876" above the capital "R" on the right habd side.

Photos attached. Any information/speculation welcome.

[malcolm clapp]

Interesting instrument indeed.

 

Assuming that it is a Lachenal, and I'm pretty sure it is, the 1876 number would put its date of manufacture as late 1890s. (Number 1819 was reported as purchased in 1898, according to a post earlier this year from a reliable source.)

 

I believe some early Lachenal edeophones had a riveted action, so this instrument may have been considered of suitable quality to have had such an action installed.

[Geoff Wooff]

I have had several rivetted action Lachenals over the years they were usually 'specials' or very fine examples ;

 

One I recall was a 63key Piccolo/Treble Edeophone and another, more recently, a 48key stretched Baritone New Model.

 

Good luck with your new baby Dave!

Edited November 9, 2016 by Geoff Wooff

[conband]

Hi. Harland and Rollison were circus/music hall performers around 1900, which also coincides with the date of this bold instrument.

 

Thus it probably has a very strident sound. Meant to be seen and heard!

 

Les Branchett

[DavePraties]

Dear All,

Thanks for various replies. Yes, Harland and Rollinson were a Music hall turn as you say Les, and between 1910 and 1920 worked the American vaudeville circuit, so the duet would no doubt have been there with them.. It has a good powerfull sound, the reeds are almost rust free and it plays slightly sharp of A440, but I will leave it there and just tune it to its self. Not much needs doing really apart form tuning and re-bushing the keys. The pads seem OK buttime will tell. it has clearly been well used, but also well cared for as you would expect with a pro's instrument. I think it has been stored for a long time though, the case is very dried and cracked. Fortunately the bellows are remarkably good and seem not to have suffered in any way. A puzzle is the metal ends. The fretwork is a little roughly executed, and the metal is alluminium. All signs though are that they are the originals. No change in button numbers has been made as suggested earlier. They are a little oxidised and scratched, but should polish nicely. All in all, I am really pleased with it. Dave

[Stephen Chambers]

A puzzle is the metal ends. The fretwork is a little roughly executed, and the metal is alluminium. All signs though are that they are the originals.

 

The ends are a puzzle, especially when you consider that this "stretched hexagon" Lachenal New Model was top-of-the-range in duets in the 1890s, and played by top professionals like Percy Honri at the time:

 

 

They were made (as you would expect) to the very highest quality - whilst (to my eyes) the fretwork on the ends on this one looks crudely executed, and (if they had made the ends) I would expect Lachenal's to have engraved their maker's label into the oval on the right side, and the serial number into a lozenge on the left, like they usually did on a New Model.

 

I wonder if the instrument might have been originally made with ebony ends that got damaged, whilst Harland and Rollison were touring somewhere, and got replaced locally by an amateur fretcutter.

 

 

No change in button numbers has been made as suggested earlier.

 

It seemed a possibility, with the size of the instrument and ends that looked replaced.

 

There's certainly plenty of real estate to spare in there!

[Stephen Chambers]

Unless Tommy Williams "had a go at it" sometime...

 

I have a crude aluminium end that Tommy made for an Aeola, and (for that matter) remnants of one of these "stretched" New Model duets that he seems to have used for scrap.

[Patrick McMahon]

So, what was the point of them?

 

Were they louder and deeper sounding, or needing less bellows work, or just more impressive to look at?

 

Maybe a bit of all 3 ?

[Stephen Chambers]

They were made (as you would expect) to the very highest quality - ...

 

So that this contemporary stretched-hexagon New Model tenor treble even appears like it must have originally had "Edeophone clips" for adjusting the thumb straps (later replaced by the present Wheatstone buckles) since there's no sign of it ever having had "top screws" for that purpose:

 

... whilst (to my eyes) the fretwork on the ends on this one looks crudely executed ...

Compare it with the fine fretwok on this one:

... and ,(if they had made the ends) I would expect Lachenal's to have engraved their maker's label into the oval on the right side ...

... and the serial number into a lozenge on the left, like they usually did on a New Model.