What is this concertina?

[dpolshaw]

Hi All

 

I am sure this has been asked before but I do not know how to look up a picture! A friend has asked me to see if I can find out about a concertina he has been given. I am pretty sure it is German made and low value but it is quite pretty and seems to have some age behind it. The bellows are good. The reeds are brass accordion reeds and it has 'sound holes' on the ends that you can see in the pictures. As I said, I am pretty sure it is of little value but if anyone can put a make an and age to it I would appreciate it.

 

Photos attached.

 

Cheers

 

Dave (Lachenal C/G Anglo. Not a good player :-( )

[dpolshaw]

Sorry - It says I can only upload 3.9Mb and while these files are only about 400Kb I can only upload 1 at a time :-S

[dpolshaw]

Bellows (Lots of folds and oddly enough, no leaks!

[Anglo-Irishman]

Hi, Dave,

This is definitely a German concertina, and definitely "vintage". Your photo of the reed banks shows this quite clearly. The drilled sound-holes (as opposed to fretwork) and the chamfered corners are also typically German. The reeds are not, in fact, accordeon reeds, but traditional German concertina reeds, arranged ten to a plate (5 for the press, 5 for the draw of the bellows), the plates being held in place by hooks. You'll find the same arrangement in Bandoneons. It looks like there are two reeds to a note, so the concertina will have a full, rich tone, quite unlike a traditional English-built concertina.

 

As to the value, this instrument will not have the market value of an English-built Anglo of similar vintage and condition, because the concertina world of today prefers the crisper sound of single, traditional English reeds. However, an aficionado of the older German concertina (of which there are not many, even in Germany) might fork out a couple of hundred Euros for it - if you're lucky!

 

If it's in tune, with all reeds working, it would be far superior to the accordeon-reeded East German Scholer models that crop up on eBay quite frequently. A voice from the past, so to speak!

 

Cheers,

John

[dpolshaw]

That is brilliant - Thanks ever so much Anglo-Irishman :-) I did notice that the reeds played a double sound. The straps are doubled up too which I would guess either allow for different sized hands or make then extra safe! It was decidedly out of tune and there is one button missing but I think I may be able to do a bit of restoration for him and get it at least partially playable.

 

Have you any idea of when it may have been made?

 

Thanks again.

 

Dave

[dpolshaw]

Just noticed your proper name at the end of the post - Sorry John. Mea Culpa :-(