sympathy Posted June 14, 2005 Share Posted June 14, 2005 Just spotted this on Ebay. Bidding is in US dollars but seller is in Queensland. It may have been mentioned here before (only 4 days of bidding left). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Read Posted June 14, 2005 Share Posted June 14, 2005 I think this is one of the later Wheatstones. I believe that the quality went downhill in the later years but I haven't tried one and would be interested to hear what those who've tried them think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Humphrey Posted June 18, 2005 Share Posted June 18, 2005 (edited) I recently examined a wooden-ended Wheatstone from the early 1950's - a treble English - to help the owner decide what materials would be needed for repairs. The owner bought it used about 25 years ago, and used to perform baroque, ragtime, and traditional music with it. The construction of the bellows looked traditional. The instrument had plastic buttons, and some of the wood looked like perhaps it could have been plywood, but the general construction seemed solid. The instrument had steel reeds in aluminum frames; the reeds appeared to fit in the frames closely. It was fairly well in tune with itself, very slightly flat of concert pitch. It had a hook action that looked like it could work at least as well as the hook action I have seen on mid-range Lachenals. There were too many deteriorated gaskets, bushings, valves, and pads to know how it might play when restored. The owner said that when he was playing it regularly, he liked the tone of the instrument but the notes didn't seem to have a very crisp "attack". Edited June 18, 2005 by Brian Humphrey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulino Forte Posted June 23, 2005 Share Posted June 23, 2005 I recently purchased a similar one from the same seller. I'm very happy with it. It honks brightly and plays relatively "fast" compared with Lachenals from the same time period. I'm no expert, but considering the prices that these sell for I thought it a good value. It sounds like a concertina (instead of concertina like) and is not much more expensive than a new concertina with accordian reeds. While you can't compare it with a Wheatstone from golden age, a Jeffries or a Dipper, it's an alternative, a nice "step" towards these more expensive models. Anyone else try/have one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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