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24 key Lachenal?


Edward Jennings

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I bought this unknown concertina because I thought it was a 20 key Lachenal. However, after winning the auction, I realised that I hadn't taken in the pictures properly, and it was a 24 key instrument. Can anyone confirm or deny that it is a Lachenal? All I've seen so far are a few pictures, as I'm 3000 miles away from it until the back end of November. Typically, the label is hardly to be seen, but perhaps someone can tell? There is no "Steel Reeds" stamped into the hand rests, and the fretwork cross doesn't look to be as well shaped as that on 20 key examples which I've seen, but it does have metal mechanics inside.

 

Lach.thumb.jpg.a3f3aba9e2be658e92de59d1e006d05c.jpg

 

Also, are the extra buttons likely to be accidentals|?

Thanks for any info, it would really be appreciated.

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Thanks, chaps. Mind, it does look exactly the same as the one sold in Yorkshire!

Here's a bit better look at the label. Although blurred with enlarging, and unclear at the best of times; I cannot recognise the wavey bit that's usually evident on the Lachenal label.

1797739062_Lachlabel.jpg.9c4ae265cbf48c2477a71dd3a6ad3f1d.jpg

 

Edited by Edward Jennings
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Looks like a Lachenal to me. Here are photos of my 24-button and 22-button Lachenals. These have the all-important C# for playing in the key of D along with useful reversed G/A notes. I read somewhere that these were designed for the Irish market - a lower-cost alternative to the 26-button (my main instrument) and 30-button variants, and just fine for playing many tunes in C,G, and D.

Lachenal_22_button.JPG

Lachenal_ 24_buttons.JPG

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Thanks for that Myrtle's cook. I once had a 20 key thing with a label from (if I remember correctly) Jones of New Bridge Street, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. But I was told that they were just a retailer and that the instrument was a Lachenal. That was 30 or so years ago.

 

Thanks, too, SeanD. I see that your 24 has entirely different fretwork, just to muddy the waters even further! lol.

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It seems J. Wallis sold a wide range of musical instruments - I found these pages in the HathiTrust database, from the "Music Trade Directory 1912-1913", published in London in 1912

hathitrust.The_music_trade_directory_London_1912-1913_p231.jpg

hathitrust.The_music_trade_directory_London_1912-1913_p159.jpg

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What a can of worms, eh? This is all fascinating stuff, and many thanks are due to the likes of Stephen Chambers, Neil Wayne and the rest of those who've put untold hours into researching these queer little instruments on our behalf. I can hardly wait until November 22nd, when I'll be able to try this thing out and look for any numbers inside. (Along with the Saratovskaya which I've also bought and not yet seen!)

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Thanks for that, Wolf. However, it doesn't mean much to me as I don't know music at all. Mind you, I do know that there are often notes in tunes, which I'd like to play on my 1 row melodeons, which just aren't there. I take it that these might be the missing notes (accidentals?) in some cases. Thanks again, I'm looking forward to more learning!

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Yes, I've thought all along that it was actually manufactured by our friends at Lachenal. But the (dare I say, necessarily) muddled picture given in the bits and pieces which I've found on or via here, from renowned experts, have made me doubt my own judgement. I'll report any internal numbers on here as soon as I find them, if there are any to find, that is.

Thanks to everyone who's replied, I really appreciate it.

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