Stefan Egli Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 Hello everybody A friend of mine has the concertina pictured in the appendix in his possession. Unfortunately he has no other information on age, origin, manufacturer, tuning etc. The Concertina has one or two broken buttons and has not been opened yet. Does anyone have an idea of which manufacturer it could be, who could repair this instrument and what value this Concertina could have? Thank you for your help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Wooff Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 (edited) That is a Wheatstone by the look of it. Where to get it repaired depends which country you live in. In reasonable playing and cosmetic condition these can be worth £1500 - £2000 . The fretwork is a little crude and it is impossible to tell what needs repair. If you can find a number stamped on the woodwork inside ( 5 digit serial number) then it is easy to find out how old the instrument is . Good luck with it. Edited September 5, 2019 by Geoff Wooff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stefan Egli Posted September 5, 2019 Author Share Posted September 5, 2019 The concertina is located in Switzerland. Not necessarily a country where many people play concertina :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Wooff Posted September 7, 2019 Share Posted September 7, 2019 Then I would suggest finding a concertina restorer in England.... there are quite a few. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Selby Posted September 14, 2019 Share Posted September 14, 2019 I see a trigger-style breather button next to the l/h thumb strap. Did Wheatstone do those? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Takayuki YAGI Posted September 14, 2019 Share Posted September 14, 2019 I think some model of Lachenal and Wheatstone have such slots for air levers (bowing valve?). But I am not sure they only have slots or they have actual levers. For example (from buttonbox.com), Lachenal: https://www.buttonbox.com/images/ceu0558-02b.jpg Wheatstone: https://www.buttonbox.com/images/ceu0557-02b.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Wooff Posted September 14, 2019 Share Posted September 14, 2019 (edited) 4 hours ago, Stephen Selby said: I see a trigger-style breather button next to the l/h thumb strap. Did Wheatstone do those? Yes, you will find these on Wheatstone concertinas. In the Wheatstone Ledgers the 'air' buttons ( where they are present on an instrument) are noted by the designation SV ( for slide valve) or KV ( for key valve). The change over from Slide valve to Key valve happened in the early 1920's . The breather , button or lever, is only on the right but if they are on both sides then they will be 'bowing valves' and only work in one direction each. I have two similar models of Wheatstone , one with and one without the Slide air lever on the right. Although we might utilise this as an 'air' lever these days I feel it might have been meant to be a double action Bowing valve as none of these work very well as a quick way of opening or closing the bellows. Edited September 14, 2019 by Geoff Wooff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonard Posted September 14, 2019 Share Posted September 14, 2019 2 hours ago, Geoff Wooff said: .......The breather , button or lever, is only on the right....... ......two similar models of Wheatstone , one with and one without the Slide air lever on the right. ....... The pictures, both from the OP and from Takayuki, shows the slot for an air lever on the left hand side.? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Wooff Posted September 14, 2019 Share Posted September 14, 2019 (edited) 5 hours ago, Leonard said: The pictures, both from the OP and from Takayuki, shows the slot for an air lever on the left hand side.? Yes they have the slots on both sides but rarely levers on both sides and often slots but no levers at all. I have seen levers on both sides of a Wheatstone but it is rare. Edited September 14, 2019 by Geoff Wooff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonard Posted September 14, 2019 Share Posted September 14, 2019 Thanks. After a better look indeed I see lever slots on both sides on the OP's pictures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stefan Egli Posted September 29, 2019 Author Share Posted September 29, 2019 Hi My friend has now opened the concertina and took the following pictures. The Concertina shows the number 22690. Can someone tell me how old the Concertina is and what brand it is? My friend is considering a sale, what value does the concertina have in this conditon? (not restored) Thank you for your imputs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david robertson Posted September 29, 2019 Share Posted September 29, 2019 Well, it looks like a Wheatstone serial number, although it falls into the pre-1910 gap in the ledgers. However, I don't think I've ever seen a Wheatstone with a handwritten number on the back of the action box. As Geoff has already pointed out, the fretwork is also a bit crude... certainly not up to the quality you would expect to find on a raised-end Wheatstone. Could the ends have been replaced at some time by a less skilled hand? But then again, why would anyone replace metal ends? Personally, I would be very wary of the Wheatstone attribution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theo Posted September 29, 2019 Share Posted September 29, 2019 What is the measurement across the ends between the flats? I have a suspicion that it is smaller than the typical 6 1/4". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stefan Egli Posted October 6, 2019 Author Share Posted October 6, 2019 Excuse the late reply. In the picture you can see the size of the concertina Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Wooff Posted October 6, 2019 Share Posted October 6, 2019 Yes , indeed slightly smaller than normal, 'normal' being 15.9cm. or 6.25 inches. The number 22690 suggests a Wheatstone made in 1898-1900... I cannot think who else could have made this instrument but it is interesting to me because I have Wheatstsone number 22695.... which , incidentally is of the standard size. Rivetted action can be clearly seen in third photo of the original post. It appears that the very late 1800's was an era of experimentation at Wheatstones, with the introduction of their first metal ended models where several distinct styles of fretwork can be found. Chris Algar at Barleycorn Concertinas ( www.concertina.co.uk) currently shows another 48 treble from the same period with fretwork less open than the example in question here but more open than my own. There is, at least, one other very different style of metal end fretwork from the pre 1900 period. I could be interested to purchase this concertina Stefan . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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