One-off Or What?

[david robertson]

About 3 weeks ago, I mentioned a 38k Lachenal Anglo that I had just acquired, which had a spare (blocked) hole in the action board, corresponding to two empty reed chambers. (I believe I said this was on the left hand - it's actually on the right.)

 

Having examined it more carefully, another curiosity has come to light. On the right-hand accidentals row, at the little finger end where you would normally find A/F, there is actually F#/G. The A/F has been shifted to the opposite end of the row, using the extra button that you don't get on a 30k. To achieve this, the oversize reed chambers seem to have been blocked with new wood, and routed out to accept the smaller reeds (see picture). I can't be sure, but I'd say that this is exactly how the instrument emerged from the factory.

 

Not only that, but the middle three buttons of the accidental row have had their 'press' reeds shuffled, so that instead of running A, G#, C#, they run G#, C#, A. Once again, I suspect that this is how they left the factory, because I've had to do a bit of filing to fit them in their conventional locations.

 

So, was either of these modifications common on a 38k? Was it perhaps just a one-off to accommodate personal preferences? All facts, opinions and idle speculations welcome.

[Bill Crossland]

David Leese was repairing a similar instrument last time I visited, a month or so back. May be he could comment on his Far Eastern peregrinations.

[david robertson]

Curiouser and curiouser! Now I find that on the left hand middle row, index finger end, I've got Bb/C# instead of the normal F/C#. The F has popped up on the extra button on the inner row, along with a G# on the draw.

What is interesting, if you're feeling particularly nerdy, is that the variations from the normal layout are nearly all marked in faint pencil on the reed pans, which leads me to speculate that the buyer, or perhaps a later owner, specified them.

And finally, why the hell is the whole shooting match tuned very consistently and fairly accurately (allowing for the ravages of time) a semitone flat? (The box effectively plays in B/F# - which is why, when I first tried it, I assumed it was a Bb/F instrument.)

[m3838]

Curiouser and curiouser! Now I find that on the left hand middle row, index finger end, I've got Bb/C# instead of the normal F/C#. The F has popped up on the extra button on the inner row, along with a G# on the draw.

What is interesting, if you're feeling particularly nerdy, is that the variations from the normal layout are nearly all marked in faint pencil on the reed pans, which leads me to speculate that the buyer, or perhaps a later owner, specified them.

And finally, why the hell is the whole shooting match tuned very consistently and fairly accurately (allowing for the ravages of time) a semitone flat? (The box effectively plays in B/F# - which is why, when I first tried it, I assumed it was a Bb/F instrument.)

 

Excuse the question, but why all of the above is a curiousity? After all, Bandoneons and Chemnitzers are developments of Anglo-German system. Nothing prevents us from assuming that 40 button Anglo Concertina is strangely shaped single voice Bandoneon with rather arbitrary positions of notes. Esp. when we recall 6-sided Bandoneons that were produced.

What makes the instrument that is subject of this discussion special?