Bandoneon tuned square Hayden Duet... How much is it worth?

[Blenchy]

Hi everyone, I wasn't too sure where to post this as its an odd one. I recently agreed to purchase a bandoneon tuned duet concertina from the estate of the late Peter Bearon. The problem is we don't know how much its worth. Peter bought it many years ago from Brian Hayden himself when he commissioned them (30-40 years ago?) so that's the only price we have. Any extra info on it in general would be fantastic too!

Does anyone have any idea what they'd be valued at? I've already committed to buy it as I've paid something towards it already and the lovely thing is currently sat behind me! If anyone's sold or bought one recently that'd be even better, but I am aware that there were only a small batch made. I've attached the picture below but I can take some if that'd help. The one below was the one used when selling it.

 

Thanks in advanced!

[Tiposx]

Looks as if nobody knows. It is quite a niche thing, very pretty. Of course it is worth just what you and the seller agree on.

Good wishes.

Tiposx

[David Barnert]

I have played two of them. Neither in the last 15 or 20 years, and both owned by others (Mike Knudsen and Moshe Braner, whom I’ve lost touch with). They were made by Bastari. I have no idea what they might be worth.

 

Calling them “Bandoneon tuned square Hayden Duet” is a bit misleading. They are not tuned like Bandoneons. The only thing they have in common with Bandoneons is that they’re square (smaller than most Bandoneons). They are 67-key Haydens, differing from most Haydens in that they are tuned in octaves (each key plays two notes simultaneously, an octave apart).

[Blenchy]

Thank you for the replies so far! 

 

Thanks for the naming convention and manufacturer David. I must admit my bandoneon knowledge is limited but I've heard Octave tuning referred to as bandoneon tuned before so went with that. Mistake I'll avoid in future!

 

I was very unsure what best to call the instrument as I'd never seen them before and it's my first Hayden system! Do you think refering to it as an "Octave tuned 67 key Hayden duet" would increase my chance of finding someone who knows? Although I have heard that apparently the small batch was only 10-12 instruments?

 

At this rate we may just agree on the original purchase price. Thanks again!

[Tiposx]

You might like this..

 

 

 

[David Barnert]

3 hours ago, Blenchy said:

I must admit my bandoneon knowledge is limited but I've heard Octave tuning referred to as bandoneon tuned before so went with that. Mistake I'll avoid in future!

 

I also know very little about bandoneons. I know about concertinas, Haydens in particular. You may well be right.

 

3 hours ago, Tiposx said:

You might like this..

 

 

 

 

Yes. “Ragtimer” was Mike Knudsen. You’ll note that his “avatar” image was a picture of the instrument we are discussing.

 

He referred to it as a bandoneon not because of the octave tuning but because of the shape. That always irked me because I thought it was silly to call an instrument a bandoneon just because it was (sort of) shaped like one. That explains my attitude in my post in this thread and many of my posts in that thread.

[Dimble]

3 hours ago, David Barnert said:

Calling them “Bandoneon tuned square Hayden Duet” is a bit misleading. They are not tuned like Bandoneons. The only thing they have in common with Bandoneons is that they’re square (smaller than most Bandoneons). They are 67-key Haydens, differing from most Haydens in that they are tuned in octaves (each key plays two notes simultaneously, an octave apart).

You might also be interested in reading the YouTube channel description for SoloDuet: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCgZQA0NWrSlhziyANH9zzSw

 

He plays a similar instrument from Harry Geuns, which they refer to as a bandotin.

[Blenchy]

 

4 hours ago, Tiposx said:

You might like this..

 

 

 

I like this very much!! Certainly helped fill a lot of gaps in my knowledge of the instrument. I've suggested to the seller that we go for the original purchase price as we're both struggling to find anything more recent. Thanks for fishing this out for me.

 

If I ever get any better with the Hayden system I'll post some videos of it in action but currently my playing is very stop start... If anyone has any guides or general advice on playing the Hayden system I'd greatly appreciate it!!

 

Thank you all!!

[David Barnert]

1 hour ago, Dimble said:

You might also be interested in reading the YouTube channel description for SoloDuet: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCgZQA0NWrSlhziyANH9zzSw

 

He plays a similar instrument from Harry Geuns, which they refer to as a bandotin.

 

Yes. He is a friend and a member of concertina.net (Didie Sendra, soloduet).

 

Here he is, playing the Bandotin.

 

 

Note that, unlike the Bastari instrument, the product of a factory, this a hand-crafted quality instrument.

[David Barnert]

19 minutes ago, Blenchy said:

If anyone has any guides or general advice on playing the Hayden system I'd greatly appreciate it!!

 

Keep the left hand light: As few simultaneous notes as you can get away with, and keep them short, with “daylight” between one note and the next. Being lower in pitch than the right side, the reeds on the left are necessarily longer and therefore louder than the ones on the right and you don’t want the accompaniment to drown out the melody. Try to start practicing with both hands before you get too comfortable with just the right hand. Practice scale runs in parallel tenths (a tenth is an octave plus a 3rd—think Paul McCartney playing Blackbird or Arlo Guthrie playing Alice’s Restaurant—eg. GAB on the left and BCD a tenth higher on the right).