My concertina family

[Lofty]

(This was supposed to be in the "What our concertinas look like" topic. Perhaps a moderator can move it for me when they have a chance. Thanks!!)

 

After a long period of remission from the dreaded Concertina Acquisition Syndrome, I have relapsed. I went from a sensible 2 (the treble and the bass below) to the current 5 (and I'm looking for number 6).

 

To save repetition, they are all Wheatstones.

 

Clockwise from bottom left:

69 button MacCann, from 1911, beautifully restored inside and out by David Robertson, my most recent acquisition;

56 button Model 24 extended treble, from 1920, thoroughly overhauled about 30 years ago by Colin and Rosalie Dipper. This is my longest owned concertina;

30 button May Fair, from 1960 or so, bought from eBay for use in the rain (with possibly the most uncomfortable finger rests that could be designed by humankind);

36 button "transposing tenor", from 1925, designed to play in the key of F on the inner two rows. The B and Bb were swapped from the normal positions, but I have swapped them over so that it plays in the more usual key of C on the inner two rows. Unusually for an English, it has parallel reed chambers, rather than the usual radial ones;

56 button raised end single acting bass, from 1886, which has needed virtually no attention in the last 30 years or so. It is very heavy (3.061 Kg), but amazingly fast, responsive and loud. This is my second longest owned concertina.

 

The 69 button McCann is very big, so I am looking out for a smaller, good quality, Wheatstone MacCann in case I am ever proficient enough to want to play it somewhere other than in my house.

 

Edited November 20, 2018 by Lofty
Minor change

[Wolf Molkentin]

So a fellow E-Concertinist going for the Duet too ? (my count is six as well, with my first concertina currently not being in good working order)

 

Could you give us a measurement of the Duet across the flats Steve? more than 10 inches would be my guess... And I'm curious re No 6 then...

 

Best wishes - ?

[Lofty]

20 hours ago, Wolf Molkentin said:

So a fellow E-Concertinist going for the Duet too ? (my count is six as well, with my first concertina currently not being in good working order)

 

Could you give us a measurement of the Duet across the flats Steve? more than 10 inches would be my guess... And I'm curious re No 6 then...

 

Best wishes - ?

It’s 10 inches across the flats.

 

I don’t know exactly what size a smaller MacCann would be, but I think a 46 button would be about 7 inches. Perhaps someone who has one could comment.

 

Steve

[Wolf Molkentin]

6 minutes ago, Lofty said:

It’s 10 inches across the flats.

 

I don’t know exactly what size a smaller MacCann would be, but I think a 46 button would be about 7 inches. Perhaps someone who has one could comment.

 

I can just add that my Crabb Crane (with a smaller overlap apparently, total range being from F to F, exactly 4 octaves), comes to 8.5 inches and my 56b TT Aeola to 7.25 inches.

 

Edited November 21, 2018 by Wolf Molkentin
TT info added

[Robin Harrison]

Hi L.

     Nice family !

I'm particularly interested in the transposing tenor.

      I bought one off ebay a couple of years ago that is similar to yours with parallel reeds chambers. Mine has the raised ends; I can't see if yours does or not. And like yours transposes to F on the inner rows.

Also,I noticed a feature on the large reed valves I have not seen before....I'm about to start a new thread,

Cheers............Robin

 

[alex_holden]

3 hours ago, Lofty said:

I don’t know exactly what size a smaller MacCann would be, but I think a 46 button would be about 7 inches. Perhaps someone who has one could comment.

 

I know someone who has a restoration project 46 button Wheatstone Maccann, 6 1/4" AF hexagonal with inset metal ends (in fact it looks a lot like your model 24). It would need quite a lot of work but the reeds look OK.

[Wolf Molkentin]

3 hours ago, Robin Harrison said:

similar to yours with parallel reeds chambers

 

from the pic it seems to make sense - the large reeds wouldn't fit that well into a radial design, particularly if to be placed away from the hole under the pad.

[Lofty]

1 hour ago, alex_holden said:

 

I know someone who has a restoration project 46 button Wheatstone Maccann, 6 1/4" AF hexagonal with inset metal ends (in fact it looks a lot like your model 24). It would need quite a lot of work but the reeds look OK.

I might be interested if it’s for sale?

 

Steve

[Ken_Coles]

Just spotted request by OP, but as this thread has taken on a life of its own, I'll let it ride. You may always link the picture (or a revised one after additional purchases!) in the "what our look like..." thread.

 

Ken

[Lofty]

9 minutes ago, Ken_Coles said:

Just spotted request by OP, but as this thread has taken on a life of its own, I'll let it ride. You may always link the picture (or a revised one after additional purchases!) in the "what our look like..." thread.

 

Ken

Thanks, Ken. I think that’s a good decision.

 

I will try to post correctly in future!

 

Steve

[Lofty]

On 11/21/2018 at 2:35 PM, Robin Harrison said:

Hi L.

     Nice family !

I'm particularly interested in the transposing tenor.

      I bought one off ebay a couple of years ago that is similar to yours with parallel reeds chambers. Mine has the raised ends; I can't see if yours does or not. And like yours transposes to F on the inner rows.

Also,I noticed a feature on the large reed valves I have not seen before....I'm about to start a new thread,

Cheers............Robin

 

Mine is a flat ended Wheatstone.

 

Here's a picture of one of the reed pans:very clean and neat. I'm amazed by the attention to detail: some of the reed chambers have been shortened by tiny amounts using extra chamber walls. 

 

I should have said previously that our very own Theo did some work on this for me. He retuned it and I think replaced the valves and a few pads.

 

Steve

 

Steve

 

Edited November 22, 2018 by Lofty