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Older Bastari Hayden Duet


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Hello, All.

 

I am truly excited by my chance good luck!  Went on my quarterly pilgrimage to the ButtonBox in Massachusetts, USA, to have a look at the new CC “Troubador” Hayden system duet, with an eye towards trading in a nice older Hohner Corona three row box and my now-well-used Elite Hayden.  The box and Elise were only worth enough to leave me too-many-hundreds-of-dollars “short” for the deal, and frankly I was about to stick with that part of the musical empire intact.  Then Doug said, “have you looked at the Bastari in the corner?”

 

So, for a swap, I am now the proud owner of a genuine, “old fashioned” metal ended, metal buttoned, 46 key Hayden duet.  It sounds sweet, plays easily, and compared to the Elise (and the Minstrel and Peacock) has LOTS of buttons I’ll find use for.  It just looks and feels so much more like a “concertina” than the new Stagi version (which I can’t disparage, but never was moved to purchase.) Doug and I looked inside, and the workmanship was clean, tight-looking, and very tidy, compared to some low-cost new.  I am very psyched, and it will help me break out of the “play the key stamped on the side” box.

 

Questions:  Does anyone else (I think David B.? others?) have one?  Seems I recall Inventor wrote once that that run was only 30 units;  I’d be curious to hear of any others who have them, and to hear any sound from them.

 

Thanks, and regards,

 

David 

 

 

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And....I happened to pick the thing up reversed left for right, and without noticing much, began to play a tune on the right, as I normally would.  What the heck...a BASS (or baritone, anyway?F983CE6A-3E09-472A-B720-36565746D663.thumb.jpeg.0ac27370b120aaf8fd497f998150738c.jpeg) with the same fingering.  Now, of course, anyone who knows music and this system thinks, probably, “What did you expect?”  But, as  a true “hempen homespun,” as the Bard might say, it never occurred to me to try it.  One reason for not reversing or mirroring the keys on the left side of a Hayden...just flip the whole danged thing when you want to play a low range and your left hand isn’t up to speed yet.  Of course the slant is now different, but it actually seems to make sense to me to play with that slant direction.  I suspect I will come eventually to the conclusion (as apparently have many) that parallelism between key rows and handrest is comfortable.  I also will read (and there’s a lot, I recall) about hand ergonomics and rests/grip arrangements.

 

This is fun.

 

David

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I own two of these instruments and played them for maybe 12 years before I could acquire higher quality Haydens.  One of them is still playable and I keep the other for parts.    .  

Edited by Jim Bayliss
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  • 2 weeks later...
On 2/6/2020 at 5:54 AM, David Colpitts said:

Does anyone else (I think David B.? others?) have one?

 

Yes, I have one that I still use as a spare. It plays very nicely, although the buttons stick through the endplates at all sorts of cockeyed angles. I’ve had to patch the bellows in numerous places and reinforce the insides with silicone caulk in the valleys to keep it from blowing out and I’ve had to replace the veneer on the ends. It’s the one on the right in this picture:

 

Haydens.jpg.15dbb1172fe7548030d6e78ff55c9e56.jpg

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Thanks, David and Jim.  That makes 4 of these still “out there” at least.  Any others?  And, David, the crazy angled button projection is due to worn bushing felt sheet?  Metal-to-metal worn slots?  It doesn’t seem to much matter, since they are not jamming in nor getting stuck otherwise?  As for the bellows, the ButtonBox (or prior techs) neatly repaired the bellows with carefully skived (skiven?) replacement parts, and there’s just the very minor air leaks now.  I hope for a few years of careful play.

 

David

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Bob Tedrow, of Homewood Music used to have a service where he “Hot Rodded” Bastari Haydens, replacing the buttons, bushings, and other flimsy original parts. Several folks on these forums took him up on it (not I). Later, Tedrow (an Anglo player) started producing his own line of hybrid Haydens.

 

My friend, George Davis (lived in Hudson, NY and then retired to New Jersey), had a 46-button Bastari Hayden. He died a few years ago. I don’t know what became of the instrument. Maybe you just bought it. There was also a guy from Rochester, NY who used to come to the Squeeze-In (I don’t remember his name) who had one.

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