May Fair EC vs Scholer EC

[gcoover]

I recently bought a 22-button Wheatstone May Fair EC and was quite surprised at the similarities between it and a 22-button Scholer I came across several years ago.

Although one has wooden ends and the other has beautiful red "mother-of-toilet-seat", the action is virtually identical between the two.

The May Fair has reeds screwed in with chamois gaskets while the Scholer uses  traditional accordion wax. Not sure why the May Fair has a hole in the reed pan since it's all glued together.

It's a little sad to see the finish work on the May Fair - the wood cuts are rather crude and still have burrs that could have easily been removed if they'd spent 2 seconds extra.

But the sound is surprisingly good with strong bass reeds. With only 22-buttons, it's basically an accompaniment instrument since you've got nothing above "e" above high "c" and only about 1.5 octaves range. You can play Carolan's Draught and Planxty Irwin, but it's much better for songs like "Pleasant and Delightful" or "Blackwaterside" (think Tony Rose, Louis Killen). Wish I could compare the sound with the Scholer but that one is currently packed away and still in need of restoration.

I rather like the way the button levers attach to the buttons, Harold Herrington did a similar thing with his instruments.

But what say ye experts out there about the construction similarities? Do you think the two companies were coordinating somehow, copying each other, or buying from the same suppliers?

 

Gary

[Little John]

They certainly look uncannily similar, but what fascinates me is the way the levers are hooked at right angles into the buttons. That would seem to require more accurate, and hence more expensive, manufacturing technique than the normal straight levers. Counter-intuitive in what I assume to be a budget instrument.

[alex_holden]

7 hours ago, Little John said:

They certainly look uncannily similar, but what fascinates me is the way the levers are hooked at right angles into the buttons. That would seem to require more accurate, and hence more expensive, manufacturing technique than the normal straight levers. Counter-intuitive in what I assume to be a budget instrument.

I think it works because the pivot design allows the rod to slide through the hook as the lever travels through an arc; I would expect them to bind and stick if you tried to do the same thing with a riveted or Lachenal-style pivot. It's quite a clever idea, though probably a bit clicky when played fast.

[Little John]

10 hours ago, alex_holden said:

I think it works because the pivot design allows the rod to slide through the hook as the lever travels through an arc; I would expect them to bind and stick if you tried to do the same thing with a riveted or Lachenal-style pivot. It's quite a clever idea, though probably a bit clicky when played fast.

Oh yes, I see. I also now see that the buttons go full diameter into the action board - not narrowing to the usual pins.

[gcoover]

I'm a little puzzled by the chamois reed gaskets on the May Fair. It's obvious they used one standard reed pan for 22-button or 30-button, but I wonder why there are those extra bits of chamois that extend beyond the reeds? If this was indeed a budget model I wouldn't think there'd be anything extra without a purpose.

Gary

[gcoover]

And here's a photo of the May Fair that will make the woodworkers amongst us cringe...

[d.elliott]

On 5/25/2018 at 7:39 PM, gcoover said:

I'm a little puzzled by the chamois reed gaskets on the May Fair. It's obvious they used one standard reed pan for 22-button or 30-button, but I wonder why there are those extra bits of chamois that extend beyond the reeds? If this was indeed a budget model I wouldn't think there'd be anything extra without a purpose.

Gary

 

You will spot that the reeds are clamped into place so that reeds were removable for ease of maintenance. At the time the may fair was being developed virtually all concertinas had access to reeds on bellows pull and push, the waxed construction does not permit this. The extended chamois on chamber walls and indeed the extra chambers would indicate that the jigging was probably intended to be versatile, different numbers of keys & layouts etc.

 

Dave