Any Chidley Duet concertina players out there?

[Peter Smith]

I have a 80-button Wheatstone Chidley duet concertina. I believe only 50-60 of these were ever made. The button layout is the same as a MacCann but the layout of notes is the same for every octave. My Chidley has a 5 octave range from C2. (See http://www.concertina.com /chidley-duet )
I just wondered if there is anyone else on Concertina.net who plays this system.

Peter

Edited December 21, 2021 by Peter Smith
Additional photos

[alex_holden]

It's a fine looking instrument. I think this is the page you meant to link to:

http://www.concertina.com/chidley-duet/index.htm

At first glance, it seems more logical than the standard Maccann layout.

[Peter Smith]

Thanks, Alex, for correcting the link for Chidley layout.

I think it’s quite impressive. It doesn’t have the build quality of the earlier Wheastones, having a hook and lever action, rather than riveted. A couple of additional pictures below showing some of the internals. I think the concertina is dated in the 1950’s.

[alex_holden]

Thanks for the internal pictures Peter. The mixture of brass and thick aluminium levers is a bit unusual.

[Stephen Chambers]

1 hour ago, alex_holden said:

The mixture of brass and thick aluminium levers is a bit unusual.

 

Yes, they appear to have used aluminium for the long levers that needed to be bent to get around buttons that were in their path.

[Tiposx]

The weight saving would be significant.

[Peter Smith]

The aluminium reed shoes also help with the weight. Its is still quite sizeable, weighing in at 3.275kg and measuring 27.5cm across the flats. The Wheatstone Chidley concertina is number 36349, built in December 1956, when I was 3!!

I would still be interested to know whether any other Chidley duets still exist & are played.

I wonder if some have been converted to MacCanns.

[fred v]

I have a Chidley Baritone.

 

[Peter Smith]

Thanks for posting this. 

Could you post some pictures and tell me a bit about its range and history?

Thanks

Peter

 

[Little John]

On 12/22/2021 at 10:03 PM, Peter Smith said:

I wonder if some have been converted to MacCanns.

 

As the Chidley layout seems much more sensible, I'd have thought the temptation would be to go the other way: convert Maccanns to Chidley!

[fred v]

On 12/23/2021 at 9:15 AM, Peter Smith said:

Thanks for posting this. 

Could you post some pictures and tell me a bit about its range and history?

Thanks

Peter

 

I assume you meant me. I bought this from Barleycorn about 12 years ago. It was restored and in excellent condition. I wanted it for playing backup but i hardly ever used it. I would be interested in selling if anyone is interested.

[Stephen Chambers]

On 12/23/2021 at 1:59 PM, fred v said:

I have a Chidley Baritone.

 

 

That's a Rock Chidley (1825-94) baritone English-system concertina, made by the grand-uncle of Kenneth Vernon Chidley (1892-1964) who devised the Chidley-system duet that's the subject of this thread.

[Peter Smith]

4 hours ago, fred v said:

I assume you meant me. I bought this from Barleycorn about 12 years ago. It was restored and in excellent condition. I wanted it for playing backup but i hardly ever used it. I would be interested in selling if anyone is interested.

 

Your concertina looks really good. Maybe worth putting it on Concertina.net Buy & Sell.

As Stephen Chambers says, its a Rock Chidley English Baritone rather than  K V Chidley Duet. I have amended the title of this discussion to avoid further confusion.

Peter

[Peter Smith]

7 hours ago, Little John said:

 

As the Chidley layout seems much more sensible, I'd have thought the temptation would be to go the other way: convert Maccanns to Chidley!

I agree. It does seem logical & sometime the buttons seem to fall in the right places.

I am really interested to see whether any other Chidleys survive & are played.

The only other one I found on Concertina.net was a Lachenal Chidley - which was believed to be original - not a converted MacCann. Its serial number was in the 60,000's. (Link below to part of the discussion in 2011).