George Case

[d.elliott]

A very nice chap called round to see me with a small problem on his inherited Geo Case instrument, only a broken spring.

 

But what an instrument! nickel silver reeds in superb condition, non damaged or broken

 

It had double chambers! mother of perl inlays and fantastic condition! So, exellent you may say, but now the good bit, serial number around 2399, (I did not write it down)

 

It came in a hexagonal box twice as deep as one would have expected, I thought it might have held two instruments, but no.

 

THERE WERE TREE OTHER SETS OF REED PANS, ALL DOUBLE CHAMBERED, NICKEL SILVER REEDS AND DIFFERENT TEMPREMENTS/ TUNINGS, one reed pan was even still in its original paper wrapping.

 

Double chambered intruments are rare enough, but ones with original exchange reed pans, four pairs in all and all perfect nickel silver reeds??????

 

On one of the belows papers, faintly in copper-plate and faded old ink hand written was the name: H. Birch.

 

Unfortunately the gentlemen wanted to take his inheritance home to play, Ah-Me!!

 

so the old, the rare and untouched are still out there

 

 

Dave

[m3838]

A very nice chap called round to see me with a small problem on his inherited Geo Case instrument, only a broken spring.

 

But what an instrument! nickel silver reeds in superb condition, non damaged or broken

 

It had double chambers! mother of perl inlays and fantastic condition! So, exellent you may say, but now the good bit, serial number around 2399, (I did not write it down)

 

It came in a hexagonal box twice as deep as one would have expected, I thought it might have held two instruments, but no.

 

THERE WERE TREE OTHER SETS OF REED PANS, ALL DOUBLE CHAMBERED, NICKEL SILVER REEDS AND DIFFERENT TEMPREMENTS/ TUNINGS, one reed pan was even still in its original paper wrapping.

 

Double chambered intruments are rare enough, but ones with original exchange reed pans, four pairs in all and all perfect nickel silver reeds??????

 

On one of the belows papers, faintly in copper-plate and faded old ink hand written was the name: H. Birch.

 

Unfortunately the gentlemen wanted to take his inheritance home to play, Ah-Me!!

 

so the old, the rare and untouched are still out there

 

 

Dave

 

Incredible.

I would play a devil's advocate here and urge others not to rush and buy George Case instruments en masse. Not all of them are such gems. I had double chambered Case English with brass reeds.

Very quiet, slow and with compromised dynamics. Brass reeds weren't the best quality brass reeds either. Beautiful to look at, rewarding to hold, but sucks to play and I soon sent it back to where it came from.

$1000 about 7 years ago couldn't buy a good English.

[Greg Jowaisas]

Hello Dave,

What a grand experience! I'm curious if the extra reed pans had any special arrangements for storage?

 

One of the repair mantras that leaped out at me early on was "Do not leave your concertina disassembled for any length of time". The implied consequences were a warped reed pan.

 

So how did the extra reed pans look a century and a half after manufacture?

 

Greg

[malcolm clapp]

Dave, is it possible that this concertina may not have been made by George Case?

 

I have a Case currently for sale here

 

Case was buying quite a few concertinas from Wheatstone around the 1850s according to the Horniman ledgers, and, if mine is anything to go by, rebadging them as his own.

 

See http://www.horniman.info/WNCMARC/C1048/PAGES/C4P0750S.HTM for number 6186 sold to Mr G Case, which is the same number as the concertina I have here with a Case label.

 

That is the second Case labelled concertina I have found with a number corresponding to a Wheatstone sale to a Mr G Case and the same number.

 

If you had the exact number and the time to go through the ledgers, (unfortunately not in numerical order for this period), that number might possibly show up in the Wheatstone ledgers too.

 

As a further point of interest, did you notice if the "spare" reedpans were numbered the same as those in the concertina, and the concertina itself?

 

MC

Edited November 17, 2006 by malcolm clapp

[wes williams]

If you had the exact number and the time to go through the ledgers, (unfortunately not in numerical order for this period), that number might possibly show up in the Wheatstone ledgers too.

I thought it was well known, but ...

 

All the early ledgers are indexed by serial number see here and if you want number search software to run on a Windows system, see my website.

[Stephen Chambers]

On one of the belows papers, faintly in copper-plate and faded old ink hand written was the name: H. Birch.

Could this be William Henry Birch (1824-1893), a well-known concertinist, composer, and arranger of music for concertina and piano? He wrote A New Tutor for Concertina (Leoni, Lee & Coxhead, London 1851) in which he predicted that “The Concertina . . . will ere long become as necessary to the Concert and Drawing Room, as the Piano Forte”. He also produced Birch’s Concertina Journal, 1852-58.

 

It certainly sounds like a professional's instrument of the day.

[d.elliott]

On one of the belows papers, faintly in copper-plate and faded old ink hand written was the name: H. Birch.

Could this be William Henry Birch (1824-1893), a well-known concertinist, composer, and arranger of music for concertina and piano? He wrote A New Tutor for Concertina (Leoni, Lee & Coxhead, London 1851) in which he predicted that “The Concertina . . . will ere long become as necessary to the Concert and Drawing Room, as the Piano Forte”. He also produced Birch’s Concertina Journal, 1852-58.

 

It certainly sounds like a professional's instrument of the day.

 

 

Questions, questions!

 

Stephen, the name is very faded, and yes it could well be the name you quote here, the quality of the instrument, it's stunning, six fold bellows as well, certainly not that common for the period.

 

Malcolm, I think is a case of being a Case, the riveted action had that bell shaped pivot post, the double chambered design, and if you were a manufacturer subbing out work, would you loose all that added value of the extra reed pans, and risk loosing the cudos of making a premier instrument for a leading player?.

 

The papers were classic Case, the label is Case, the action and lever arm design is Case, the serial number, if wheatstone would be I think, just too early for a Case re-badge. Also would not the Wheatstone ledger notate double chambers and multi reed-pans some how? has anyone seen anything that might reflect this?

 

Greg, each reedpan was separated from the next by a sycamore hexagonal pad, similar to the 'swash plate' that closes off the inboard chambers of the double reed pan. When all were mounted together in the long box, and then the instrument added, there is be little rattling room. Equally the double chambered construction adds stability. These reedpans, and reeds are pristene!

 

Dave

[malcolm clapp]

If you had the exact number and the time to go through the ledgers, (unfortunately not in numerical order for this period), that number might possibly show up in the Wheatstone ledgers too.

I thought it was well known, but ...

 

All the early ledgers are indexed by serial number see here and if you want number search software to run on a Windows system, see my website.

 

 

Hmmm! These pages seemed to have slipped past me, Wes. Thank you.

 

MC