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FOR SALE: English 48 KEY BARITONE CONCERTINA by H.Crabb & Son


Connie M.

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Hexagonal, stretched, English 48 key baritone by H.Crabb & Son (late 1920s/30s).

Ebony raised ends, mahogany action boards with sycamore/maple button boards. Mahogany frames with ebony veneers.  No damage (cracks/warping) to the action boards, just some moisture staining on the button boards.  Some nail damage on the ends around the buttons. The ends are not French polished, but lacquered/stained. Minor damage around the endbolt heads, which is common with mahogany frames (soft).

The action is the Lachenal type hook action, but in good condition. The instrument has not been played much (no wear). It has glass buttons on brass sleeves. No damage to the glass.

Reed pan is maple/English sycamore with is half radial (higher notes) and half parallel (lower notes).
No warping or cracks in the reed pans. Reed pan blocks (and rails) are present and secure.

6 fold black bellows. No cracked hinges or worn bindings

It has steel reeds in good condition (rare for vintage baritones)

Original wooden case, black leatherette outside, green lining inside, in good condition.

The instrument is in good condition, It is in tune and airtight.  However,  it would be a good candidate for an action and reed overhaul. Pads are aging out, and it has a mixture of valves, some original, some low end concertina replacement valves, and some accordion type valves. 

Unfortunately, one of the previous owners, Mr H. Beard of 12, Thimbler Rd. Canley, Coventry, Warwickshire, who bought the instrument on 28-12-1972, got his hands on a sharpie and wrote his name, address and date on the bellows, actionboards and reedpans… This can be removed (sanded). 

Asking price $4800

 

I would be happy to chat with you about this instrument if you are interested.

 

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Edited by Connie M.
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Harry Beard and his son Eddie were good friends of mine and Inplayed the English concertina with them in a Concertina quartet in the early 1970's.Harry Beard was fine player and teacher of the concertina and had played in a concertina band in his home town of St Helens in the 1920's/30's .He took early retirement and intended to concentrate on his music and teaching the concertina but tragically died of cancer.He loved to play classical and semi classical music and was able to play baritone parts from the dots.I will post some photographs if I can find them.

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On 10/23/2021 at 2:56 AM, Stephen Chambers said:

Actually, it's a Lachenal "New Model" that must have passed through Crabb's workshop and shop in its life, and have got re-labelled by them.

 

It should have a very bassy bottom end, with that reedpan construction - a lovely instrument!


I have a New Model baritone - which had appeared to be stretched to a somewhat larger extent compared with this one to my eyes at first sight - myself and it has indeed a very lovely and profound tone:

 

image.jpeg.07376c660fd7cf6607fa81d9333bef9f.jpeg

 

Good luck with the sale - 🐺
 

Edited by Wolf Molkentin
adjusting forum link and more
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Thank you all who have responded with such interesting and helpful information about my baritone concertina.

It does have a lovely sound and it's good to know more about it's history.  I do hope I can find it a good home where it will be used and appreciated.

Best to all!

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56 minutes ago, Connie M. said:

48 keys, chromatic, an octave lower than my English treble - I think of it as the cello of concertinas

 

the cello? not exactly, if you'd be willing to parallel treble with violin/fiddle and tenor with viola, since the violoncello's range is an octave lower than the viola (not the violin), which sadly implies that you're not able to play the Bach suites on a baritone at their original level...

 

best wishes - 🐺

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HaHa - thanks for you input!  I don't happen to be at the location of where my baritone is now, so I  honestly am a bit confused with your explanantion.  I just thought that, it would be the range of the cello since they are both C instruments and when I play an A 440 on my piano or treble, the baritone playing that location on the clef would sound an octave lower.

And the richness of the sound reminds me of the cello.

Maybe my terminology is incorrect, so I appreciate you trying to clarify.

:  )

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I perfectly agree as to your impression - the need for clarification is on the side of the stringed instruments, i.e. a common misunderstanding re the range of a cello, which sounds 1 1/2 (and not just 1) octaves below the violin, with the empty strings matching the viola (and not the fiddle) 😏

 

Edited by Wolf Molkentin
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Having owned one of these, and have serviced/ restored several more. I have one on the bench now. I can confirm that they are super instruments if set up correctly. The trick is all in the valves, especially the large reed valves on the plane side of the reed pan. the picture shows the plane side which has been partially valved with accordion style valves. This may, or may not affect tone and response.  You can also see the original valve springs on the traditional type of valves. All good to see, (except the accordion valves of course).

 

do you have the original serial number, if you pull out the reed pan you will see it stamped on the inside of the bellows frame just below the chamois leather gasket. If you can give us that then we can give you a reasonable guess at the date of manufacture.

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Quote

I think of it as the cello of concertinas

Me too, Connie.

              I wonder if the error we made is to confuse  "cello part" with "third part".

     The image I have attached is from a Piccolo Press set of concertina marches for concertina, all written in the treble clef.

                 So the "third part", taken here by a baritone, would be a cello in a string quartet.

    So in the context of treble concertinas taking what would be "violin and viola" parts, the baritone takes the "cello" part.

            This has been my logic......

Robin

        

IMG_7926.jpg

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2 hours ago, Robin Harrison said:

              I wonder if the error we made is to confuse  "cello part" with "third part".

     The image I have attached is from a Piccolo Press set of concertina marches for concertina, all written in the treble clef.

                 So the "third part", taken here by a baritone, would be a cello in a string quartet.

    So in the context of treble concertinas taking what would be "violin and viola" parts, the baritone takes the "cello" part.

 

No, a string quartet comprises two violins, viola (still commonly referred to as a "tenor" or "tenor violin" in the 19th century), and a cello (which is the bass of the violin family, and was described in the old church bands as a "bass viol"). (The bowed instrument sometimes referred to as the "bass" is actually deeper again, and should be correctly described as the double bass, or contrabass.)

 

So the corresponding instruments in the concertina family would be two trebles, one tenor (or a baritone, which normally goes down lower), and a C-bass.

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12 hours ago, Stephen Chambers said:

 

No, a string quartet comprises two violins, viola (still commonly referred to as a "tenor" or "tenor violin" in the 19th century), and a cello...

Speaking as a cellist:

 

1) To be clear, the strings of a cello, from low to high,  are C2 (2 octaves below middle C) G2 D3 A3

 

2) What’s the definition of a string quartet?

  • An arrogant violinist
  • A mediocre violinist
  • A former violinist
  • and somebody who HATES VIOLINISTS!!

Also: A tenor violin is an octave below the violin, and a 5th higher than a cello (G2 D3 A3 E4). It comes in two forms: pre-20th century, played on the shoulder like a large viola or violin and post 1950s, shaped like a large violin, the size of a classical guitar, with an endpin, played like a cello (I’ve had a chance to play two of them).

 

Edited to add: The viola is often referred to as “alto.” It is played from music notated in the alto clef (C4 on the center line).

Edited by David Barnert
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On 11/5/2021 at 12:55 PM, David Barnert said:

A tenor violin is an octave below the violin, and a 5th higher than a cello (G2 D3 A3 E4). It comes in two forms: pre-20th century, played on the shoulder like a large viola or violin and post 1950s, shaped like a large violin, the size of a classical guitar, with an endpin, played like a cello (I’ve had a chance to play two of them).

 

The terminology can get horrendously confused, and complicated, David, and vary from place to place, time to time, and person to person.

 

What you describe as a tenor violin is described elsewhere, by others, as a tenor viola, baritone violin, or octave violin, but that's a very uncommon instrument and it isn't played in quartets. Whilst a mandola tuned that way is described as an octave mandola.


"Tenor" tuning of stringed instruments, including the (regular, not "Irish") tenor banjo, and tenor mandola is (historically) the same as that of the viola/tenor violin. You'll find 18th/19th century British scores commonly have the viola part denoted as for "Tenor" - indeed I see Schott still sell a tutor book that they describe as "School for the Viola or Tenor Violin" and Merriam-Webster's primary definition of tenor violin is "viola" - with the secondary definition "any of several instruments intermediate between the viola and the violoncello." I'm also aware of numerous  directory entries, etc., stating musicians of the time were performers on "violin, tenor" or "violin, tenor, violoncello," but better-still, I've found a book that was published in New York in 1847, "A Dictionary of Science, Literature, and Art" by W. T. Brande, p.805, that describes the violin family as "Violin, Tenor violin, Violoncello, and Double bass" and (conclusively) shows the range of each instrument...

 

Anyway, when they started to play string quartets on English concertinas in the 1840s, a fifth-lower-pitched instrument called the tenor concertina was devised, especially to play viola parts (and I've got one of them from that time). But viola parts can also be played (with different fingering) on baritone concertinas, which are pitched a fourth lower than the tenor, hence lacking the upper range.

 

 

 

 

Edited by Stephen Chambers
Edited to add link to Dictionary of Science, Literature, and Art
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