Hohner International 48/96/8L

[Sandra A]

My Tedrow concertina seems to like Atlanta, Georgia so much it has been visiting the post office sorting center for the last 4 days. I have never had a problem with the post office before so this must be another lesson in patience, but This is torture!  I will call our local post office tomorrow and see if they can get it to move along to me.  

 

In the meantime I have acquired this Hohner International 48/96/8L which is in very good condition and is an English Wheatstone layout according to what I can find.  If you know anything about these things, please chime in.  I have been figuring out where the notes are and found that it needs tuning which I am not about to do on this one.  I did take one of the ends off just to look inside and WoW!  It has all of the reeds screwed down with two tiny screws each, laid out in rows and at angles to one another and little hinges with a little piece of wood that holds them in place you have to turn so they can be lifted off of the ones underneath.  So Cool!  I put it right back together!  No way am I doing anything here.  I will be sending it to Bob Tedrow if he will be willing to do whatever it needs to get it in shape to play.  The eight fold leather bellows are great  too!  I am amazed they are good, I figured they would be toast.  It is completely different from the others I have been experimenting with since it has leather thumb loop thingy's with which to hold it and metal things toward the outside I guess to also be able to hold it.  It is much heavier than the Bastari I was working on but I can play twinkle twinkle on it  and I don't know if I am playing the notes on the correct sides, left or right,  but I am just feeling my way around on it.  Remember, I cannot read music and it is out of tune so am doing what sounds right.  I know you probably should play specific notes with specific fingers etc. and I will get there eventually.  I think I will really be having great fun with the Tedrow when it arrives since it is in a Jeffries layout and makes more sense to me to play.  I haven't been working on the Bastari lately, I ordered the book by Dave Elliott to look at before I do anything more on it.

 

Anyway, have any of you had any experience with these?  The pictures are not of the one I got.  It actually looks better.

 

 

Edited September 4, 2023 by Sandra A

[SIMON GABRIELOW]

Your post office is probably having a musical event with your concertina?maybe they always wanted to play one themselves!!😊😊😊

[Sandra A]

2 minutes ago, SIMON GABRIELOW said:

Your post office is probably having a musical event with your concertina?

Now THAT is funny Simon!  

[SIMON GABRIELOW]

On a serious point .. English system is different to Anglo, so be aware of this fact, and I would choose one system that you feel most comfortable with, and then stick with it.  Anglos have two notes on one button remember ( one in on bellows and another when bellows out).

English has one note in or out ( two reeds tuned to same note).

I am NOT an English concertina player, but thought you should be aware of switching from one to other, as it could be confusing your learning at this early stage.

I hope the postman realised this as he did a jig round and about the post office too😊😃

 

[Sandra A]

1 hour ago, SIMON GABRIELOW said:

it could be confusing your learning at this early stage.

You are right about this and I am going to be sticking with the Anglo for now.  I will be sending this one for tuning and whatever else it might need in the meantime.  I think it is a really nice instrument and will tackle it down the road sometime. 

 

I just checked the tracking on the Tedrow and it is actually at our post office now so will be here around 3 p.m. tomorrow.  Yea!!!    

 

 

[Bill N]

Just to confuse the issue further 😎:  You referred to your Hohner as an "English Wheatstone layout", and your Tedrow as a "Jeffries layout".  While it is true that Wheatstone pioneered the English concertina (i.e. the kind with the same note push and pull and thumb loops), they also made Anglo and Duet concertinas. The terms "Wheatstone layout" and "Jeffries layout" both apply to the Anglo concertina (different note push and pull and handstraps -like your Tedrow).  Wheatstone and Jeffries were early competitors in the manufacture of concertinas, and each used a slightly different arrangement of notes in their third row of "extra" buttons on their 30 button Anglo concertinas.  Those two variations have become more or less the standard for the Anglo.

 

Some people can go back and forth between the two layouts with no problem.  I can't, so always have to ask "Is it Wheatstone or Jeffries?"

Edited September 5, 2023 by Bill N
clarity

[Sandra A]

5 hours ago, Bill N said:

Just to confuse the issue further

Ha Ha!  Yes, I think it would confuse me too much right now to play the Hohner.  I am going to stick with the Tedrow now while I learn to play these instruments.  The Hohner has the same note on the push and pull which is kind of cool but the layout doesn't make sense to me yet like the Jeffries does.

 

5 hours ago, Bill N said:

Some people can go back and forth between the two layouts with no problem.  I can't, so always have to ask "Is it Wheatstone or Jeffries?"

I hope that eventually I will be able to do both but who knows?

[Bill N]

2 hours ago, Sandra A said:

Ha Ha!  Yes, I think it would confuse me too much right now to play the Hohner. 

I think I confused you even further!  The point I was making is that your Hohner is an English Concertina with the standard English concertina layout.  People don't refer to an English concertina as having a Wheatstone layout.  Your Tedrow concertina is an Anglo (a contraction of the original name " Anglo-German")  Anglos come in both Jeffries and Wheatstone layouts.  The majority of the buttons are the same in both layouts, but there are 2 or 3 differences in the third row, which contains extra sharps and flats and some duplicates and reversals of buttons found in the main rows.  

 

[Sandra A]

3 hours ago, Bill N said:

The point I was making is that your Hohner is an English Concertina with the standard English concertina layout.

You are right!  Thank you for letting me know this.  I was thinking it was a Wheatstone layout but upon further research after your information found the pattern for the notes and how they should sound.  There are only about three that are just a little bit off like a G# instead of an A.  This makes me very happy because I wasn't sure if it would be worth buying if it was going to need a lot of work.   I don't know much about all of this yet but am learning a lot especially with people here helping me.  I really appreciate you letting me know this.  I'm still going to stick with the Tedrow for now and will learn the English system too eventually.  I do think I would be greatly confused if I tried to do both right now.  I mean, look at what I was thinking about it being a Wheatstone, am I confused already or what?