Hello and help identify my new bandoneon?

[Moon_head]

Hello everyone!

 

I’ve just joined this forum so I’d like to start by saying hello.

 

i bought this lovely bandoneon recently, I think I got it for a good price.  Unfortunately it looks like I’m only able to upload one image, but I took several.

 

the case reads ELA, and ELA is also etched into each corner on the ends of the bandoneon.  There’s no other identifying information like a label or plaque anywhere. 
 

I’ve looked online and the thumb lever is a little confusing because it’s black and small compared to the larger metal ones I’ve seen from the side.

 

also the bellows are a lovely purple colour.  Hopefully I can upload files as responses.

 

Would love to hear from you if you might know anything about this.  Thanks so much!

[Moon_head]

Here are the bellows

[Moon_head]

And one side of the bandoneon.  Excuse my cat beside it.

[Moon_head]

Another photo from the top, again excuse my cat.

 

this should do for now but let me know if you would like to see any more.

[Richard Mellish]

What does the cat think of the music? One of mine used to squeeze in between my belly and my concertina: I was never sure if that was because she liked the sound or because she was trying to stop me playing.

[David Barnert]

Although the bandoneon is technically a type of concertina and this site is called concertina.net, very few here know much about bandoneons. We’re mostly concerned with the smaller polygonal instruments descended from those made in England in the last couple of centuries. Bandoneons are a German tradition and only tangentially related to the instruments most of us here know anything about.

[Anglo-Irishman]

Nevertheless, some of us do have (and even play) Bandoneons on the side, so to speak. So though we may not be experts, you could regard us as a sort of "self-help group" within CNet. 😊

 

As my forum name suggests, I'm an Irishman who plays the Anglo, but I'm also a German with family in the Rhineland - and the Bandoneon is a German concertina in "rheinische Tonlage", i.e. Rhineland configuration. My Bandoneon is a small one dating from around 1900, bought in a West Berlin junk-shop, and single-voiced (one reed per button, as opposed to the bigger tango Bandoneons). As I quickly learned, if you can play an Anglo concertina, you can easily get a tune out of a Bandoneon!

Welcome to the List!

Cheers,

John

[Daniel Hersh]

ELA is a good make.  (I have a Chemnitzer concertina that's probably an ELA, so I have a bit of personal experience with the brand.)  But condition is crucial on a vintage instrument, maybe more important than who made it. 

[Moon_head]

Thanks so much guys.  Really appreciate the response.  Time to see if there’s any bandoneon forums anywhere.

 

to those who do know, you’ve mentioned ELA is a good brand.  The bandoneon is in okay condition.  Some cleaning up needed and some notes have a bit of crackling.  Would you be able to estimate a value point?