Wheatstone Bandoneon

[Howard Mitchell]

Remember the Wheatstone bandoneon that was sold on Ebay a while ago?

 

I manged to get a look inside today. I've put some photos and comments on:

http://www.hgmitchell.plus.com/wb/wb.htm

 

Howard Mitchell

 

On reflection I should really have called this the Wheastone Chemnitzer as the layout is that of a 54 button/102 tone Chemnitzer rather than a bandoneon.

Edited April 28, 2005 by Howard Mitchell

[D Moore]

Remember the Wheatstone bandoneon that was sold on Ebay a while ago?

 

I manged to get a look inside today. I've put some photos and comments on:

http://www.hgmitchell.plus.com/wb/wb.htm

 

Howard Mitchell

 

On reflection I should really have called this the Wheastone Chemnitzer as the layout is that of a 54 button/102 tone Chemnitzer rather than a bandoneon.

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[D Moore]

Remember the Wheatstone bandoneon that was sold on Ebay a while ago?

 

I manged to get a look inside today. I've put some photos and comments on:

http://www.hgmitchell.plus.com/wb/wb.htm

 

Howard Mitchell

 

On reflection I should really have called this the Wheastone Chemnitzer as the layout is that of a 54 button/102 tone Chemnitzer rather than a bandoneon.

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[D Moore]

We have a six sided, 24 key concertina with a label "by her majestys letter- C Wheastone, Conduit St, Regent St, London." Any information would be appreciated.

 

Mr D Moore

[D Moore]

I have a six sided, 24 key concertina with a label-"By Her Majestys Letter patent- C Wheastone, Inventor, 20 Conduit St, Regent St, London." Would Appreciate any any information.

 

Mr D Moore

[Greg Jowaisas]

Hi, Mr. Moore.

 

A serial # usually found on the fretwork end of the concertina would be helpful in determining when your concertina was made. The Horniman Museum has an archive of many of the Wheatstone #s and often mentions a model type.

 

A few pictures, if possible, would delight the crowd and help the experts in evaluating your concertina.

 

Regards,

 

Greg

 

PS. You might want to repost your inquiry under a new topic heading titled:

"24b Wheatstone information wanted"

Edited May 6, 2005 by Greg Jowaisas

[Chris Timson]

Not meaning to sound condescending, but you could probably do with a bit of basic knowledge about the history and the different types of concertina before you carry on with the discussion. For that, in an easily digestible format ("do you want fries with that?") I would commend my own site, theConcertina FAQ. I also agree that when you have done that you should start a new topic. It helps the rest of us a lot if the topic has at least a passing resemblance to its title!

 

Chris

[Pete Dickey]

Remember the Wheatstone bandoneon that was sold on Ebay a while ago?

 

I manged to get a look inside today. I've put some photos and comments on:

http://www.hgmitchell.plus.com/wb/wb.htm

 

Howard Mitchell

 

On reflection I should really have called this the Wheastone Chemnitzer as the layout is that of a 54 button/102 tone Chemnitzer rather than a bandoneon.

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If thats the one Neil Wayne bought, then what surprised me was the size of it. He brought it to the last Royal concertina session. Lovely old instrument though.

 

Pete

[Howard Mitchell]

If thats the one Neil Wayne bought, then what surprised me was the size of it. He brought it to the last Royal concertina session. Lovely old instrument though.

 

Pete

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Pete,

 

Yes, that's the one. It is enormous. What has surprised me most is the good state of the left hand - bar a couple of missing wooden blocks and broken buttons - but the right hand has been messed about a bit with replacement reeds, ad hoc leather seals on pads and gaskets etc.

 

I must get up to the Royal session.

 

Howard Mitchell

[JimLucas]

If thats the one Neil Wayne bought, then what surprised me was the size of it.

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Yes, that's the one. It is enormous.

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Enormous? It's 9" across. If it has the standard Chemnitzer note layout, it's lowest note (E below the bass clef) is between that of a standard baritone-treble (the F just above that E) or baritone (the G just above that) and a bass (the C below that E). My baritone-treble is 8-3/4" across, and my bass is 9-1/2" across. The round baritone-treble that recently sold on eBay was also 9-1/2" across, and my 80-button Maccann (with the same lowest note as a bass English) is 10-1/2" across. So the size doesn't surprise me at all, though it is rather more than the 6-3/8" of a standard treble.

 

On the other hand, I suspect I would have difficulty with the 9- to 10-button width of the rows in the right hand, especially since they don't have nearly the arc found on a normal anglo.

 

Lovely old instrument though..

What has surprised me most is the good state of the left hand ... but the right hand has been messed about a bit

Howard, is it the difference between the sides that surprises you? A production date of April 30, 1953 isn't normally considered "old" for a Wheatstone, and it seems a shame that in "only" 50 years it's been messed about with as you describe.

 

But the ledger indicates that it was one of a pair. I wonder what happened to the other one?