Anglo Wizard

[Stephen Chambers]

... the levers that Stephen mentioned are clearly Bastari flat aluminum ones, with the pads glued on. Also with regard to the "red"; Bastari used a red grille cloth behind the end plates.

George,

 

I shall let these interior pictures, of a Wizard Anglo that I bought recently, speak for themselves :

 

 

[Stephen Chambers]

There was another rare "Wizard Anglo" sold on eBay only today, this one appearing to have metal buttons:

 

 

It's now the second one I've seen being sold by someone in England (including the one I have), so maybe they were sold outside South Africa too?

[Ken_Coles]

Stephen's pictures reminded me of my own here. Mine is clearly labeled Bastari and has metal ends like later Stagi W15 anglos.

 

Ken

[JimLucas]

OOPS! Looks like my post crossed Ken's (which now just precedes this one). Looking at his photos, it does look as if "Anglo Wizard" is just a stamp on a Bastari end plate. Therefore, take the following with a grain large bag of salt. I have changed my mind.

 

I will take issue with you on it being a Wheatstone. The bellows are identical to early Bastari (and later Stagi), and the handstrap adjustment device is definitely Bastari, altho' the actual handstrap looks like Stagi. Plus the finish on the wooden ends is typical of Bastari/Stagi.

I seem to have missed some of this discussion when it happened, so here's my late response.

 

As far as the bellows... how much can one tell from a view with it closed?

How deep are the folds? Are there decorative papers? What are the gussets made of?

 

George (shipcmo) and Stephen, did early Bastari bellows differ significantly from the ones I saw in the 1970's-1980's... more like the Wheatstone design?

 

Stephen, your photo of the action on your own Wizard intrigues me. It looks like nothing I've seen before. Is it really a design used more generally by Bastari/Stagi?

 

With only 5 "Anglo Wizard" concertinas reported here so far (3 in reported in South Africa by Flip and 2 UK-based eBay listings reported by Stephen) and not all identical, I'm inclined to the speculation that they could be the product of an independent maker (possibly South African), who copied details from other instruments (Mayfair, Bastari, other?), but never went into volume production. If South African makers could copy Wheatstones, then why not other makes?

 

But can we ever know for sure?

 

Edited to insert what is now the first paragraph, which states that I've changed my mind about the rest.

Edited January 15, 2008 by JimLucas

[Stephen Chambers]

OOPS! Looks like my post crossed Ken's (which now just precedes this one). Looking at his photos, it does look as if "Anglo Wizard" is just a stamp on a Bastari end plate. Therefore, take the following with a grain large bag of salt. I have changed my mind.

Confusing, ain't they?

[Stephen Chambers]

Stephen the only MayFair that I have ever seen was the prototype in the Horniman Museum. We are not familiar with them in South Africa so I can not really compare.

Hi Flip,

 

I have interesting news for you, because today somebody has left me a 30-key MayFair Anglo that was definitely made for export to South Africa, only it says "Gallotone / English Concertina / Engelse Konsertina" on it, instead of MayFair. My customer volunteered that it was bought in South Africa many years ago and brought back to County Clare.

 

 

A Google search reveals that there was one for sale in Pretoria recently too: http://www.bidorbuy.co.za/item/45269023/Gallotone_English_Concertina.html

[gcoover]

Could they make it any more confusing, calling an Anglo concertina an "English Concertina"?!? And "Gallo" would imply a French connection. Or maybe too much California wine. Well, it most likely means it was a product of the Gallo Record Company in SA who also built (labeled?) guitars in the 1950's.

[Bill N]

_{There is a different naming convention in SA for concertinas. "English" is used to differentiate concertinas built using Wheatstone/Jefferies/Lachenal type actions from the German style, wooden action boxes that are also traditionally played. Anglo, English, Duet etc. are designated by # of rows e.g. an "English 3 row" is a 30 button Anglo, a "5 row" is what we call an English.}

Edited October 4, 2013 by Bill N

[Stephen Chambers]

On 10/4/2013 at 2:48 AM, gcoover said:

Could they make it any more confusing, calling an Anglo concertina an "English Concertina"?!?

Yes, though I've known elderly players of the German concertina in Ireland who described the "new-fangled" Anglos as "English concertinas" because they were made in England - and plenty of them preferred the sweeter sound of their cheap German instruments too.

 

 

Quote

Well, it most likely means it was a product of the Gallo Record Company in SA who also built (labeled?) guitars in the 1950's.

That would be them - they'd probably be best-remembered today as the makers of John Lennon's first, 3/4-size, plywood, mail-order guitar, which was sold at auction for an astronomical £155,000.

 

 

 

Edited April 2, 2021 by Stephen Chambers
Edited typo - it only took me 8 years to notice!

[Takayuki YAGI]

On 10/19/2006 at 8:42 AM, Stephen Chambers said:

George,

 

I shall let these interior pictures, of a Wizard Anglo that I bought recently, speak for themselves :

 

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b66/StephenChambers/P1010001-1.jpg

 

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b66/StephenChambers/P1010002-1.jpg

 

I recently noticed that my early Bastari which is exactly the same model as Ken's Bastari (numbered 13X instead of 52X) has different air button lever and pad layout from Wizard anglo. Is it possible that these Bastaris and Wizard anglos were manufactured at different periods ?

 

[Stephen Chambers]

8 hours ago, Takayuki YAGI said:

 

I recently noticed that my early Bastari which is exactly the same model as Ken's Bastari (numbered 13X instead of 52X) has different air button lever and pad layout from Wizard anglo. Is it possible that these Bastaris and Wizard anglos were manufactured at different periods ?

 

Frankly, we've no way of knowing what Bastari were doing at any given time, but they seem to have frequently altered their designs, whether to try and make "improvements" or just to make their instruments less costly to manufacture.

 

But you've reminded me of another (earlier?) "Wizard by Bastari" that I got going again last year for a friend.

 

 

It's a 20-key one this time, and I don't know where it was sold originally (the only "provenance" is that it was found at a rubbish dump in County Clare!), and the lever mechanism is a more-complicated and (probably) earlier form again:

 

[Takayuki YAGI]

30 button version of Wizard Anglo came up on ebay :

https://www.ebay.com/itm/126082122733

[Ken_Coles]

And that one is clearly one of the better models from the time of Dr. Bastari - individual reeds mounted flat, like the one I found many years ago in a junk shop. A good chance for someone willing to do some fixing to start on anglo.

 

Ken

Edited September 8, 2023 by Ken_Coles
Edited to add link

[SIMON GABRIELOW]

That is virtually identical to my own (Hohner branded) type; sane face plate, also. Mahogany veneered and the brown real leather bellows!🌝 Maybe they are relatives ( brothers etc😊...

Bought mine back in 1999 .. but would have been from existing stock earlier than that 

[wunks]

Very nice looking "vintage Basrari 40 b deluxe Anglo" up on Craigslist in Chautauqua NY.