What Is A Baritone English Concertina?

[Theo]

I'm trying to identify a Gremlin English concertina. It is much lower in pitch than a treble, not simply the same layout an octave lower. Comparing button for button it is an octave and a tone lower, so where a treble would have G near the thumbstrap on the left it does not have G on octave lower but the F below that.

 

The result is that if you want to play in G you start on the right. I'm really just trying to find out the correct description of this version of EC so that when I put it up for sale in the near future I can describe it correctly.

 

Thanks

[Cream-T]

The result is that if you want to play in G you start on the right.

 

And if you turn the instrument around?

 

[JimLucas]

I'm trying to identify a Gremlin English concertina. It is much lower in pitch than a treble, not simply the same layout an octave lower. Comparing button for button it is an octave and a tone lower, so where a treble would have G near the thumbstrap on the left it does not have G on octave lower but the F below that.

 

The result is that if you want to play in G you start on the right. I'm really just trying to find out the correct description of this version of EC so that when I put it up for sale in the near future I can describe it correctly.

Do the center two "columns" still play the C scale? (I use the word "column" for the long "rows", to distinguish them from the 4-button "rows" that run crosswise to them.) If so, I think it should be considered a "baritone-treble", a term used by the Wheatstone company. I.e., instead of the same layout as a treble sounding an octave lower (standard "baritone"), it takes the treble arrangement and continues it downward. Thus, middle-C is in the same column of the left hand as on the treble, but it's not the "bottom" button of that column. Instead, there are two more rows of buttons below it, and those two extra buttons in its column are an F and a B.

 

But how many buttons does it have? In my experience, baritione-trebles usually have 64 buttons, so that they still go as high as a treble, while a 48-button baritone tops out an octave lower.

[Theo]

But how many buttons does it have? In my experience, baritione-trebles usually have 64 buttons, so that they still go as high as a treble, while a 48-button baritone tops out an octave lower.

 

Thank you Jim, it has 48 buttons, with two extra rows below the normal treble range, and the top two rows missing.

[JimLucas]

But how many buttons does it have? In my experience, baritione-trebles usually have 64 buttons, so that they still go as high as a treble, while a 48-button baritone tops out an octave lower.

Thank you Jim, it has 48 buttons, with two extra rows below the normal treble range, and the top two rows missing.

I would guess it was made that way on special order for someone who wanted the treble range notes "in the same positions", but also wanted the baritione range. Maybe they had previously played a Wheatstone b-t, or maybe it was just the concept. And I would guess only 48 buttons in part because of the difficulty of fitting in more reeds. Gremlins use accordion-style reeds, yes?

[Dirge]

But how many buttons does it have? In my experience, baritione-trebles usually have 64 buttons, so that they still go as high as a treble, while a 48-button baritone tops out an octave lower.

Thank you Jim, it has 48 buttons, with two extra rows below the normal treble range, and the top two rows missing.

I would guess it was made that way on special order for someone who wanted the treble range notes "in the same positions", but also wanted the baritione range. Maybe they had previously played a Wheatstone b-t, or maybe it was just the concept. And I would guess only 48 buttons in part because of the difficulty of fitting in more reeds. Gremlins use accordion-style reeds, yes?

Not in B flat is it? Surely Gremlins are mass produced and wouldn't have made specials?

[Theo]

And I would guess only 48 buttons in part because of the difficulty of fitting in more reeds. Gremlins use accordion-style reeds, yes?

 

Yes, and the reeds are really packed in, with some on a second layer. Quite nicely made, certainly a cut above the current Stagis I've had the misfortune to repair. Accordion type reeds, mounted on soft leather gaskets and held in place by screws, not wax.