Grades Of Lachenal Reeds?

[richard]

Hello

 

Recently I had my Lachenal worked on by a very experienced concertina maker and repairer. I think of my Ab/Eb Lachenal (Metal ended "Jeffries" like ends) as a wonderful instrument (to play and hear). I was a bit surprised(and perhaps deflated half a notch) when he told my that the reeds were "standard" Lachenal reeds.

 

Now I wonder....How many grades of Lachenal reeds were there? For Anglos I know there was the mahagony ended and the rosewood ended, with the rosewood listed as the "better" quality. I understand the Edeophones were the top of the English models so I assume their reeds were the best Lachenal could make. and so on.

 

Some questions I'd like to toss out there for any generous and knowledgable members are:

 

How many grades of reeds are Lachenal known to have made? What are the differences between them? Some differences I guess would be measurable such as tolerances, some would be audible and apparent to the ear. Is it obvious and easy to discern the differences between the standard and the top?

 

Thanks,

 

Richard

[Pete Dunk]

Hello

 

Recently I had my Lachenal worked on by a very experienced concertina maker and repairer. I think of my Ab/Eb Lachenal (Metal ended "Jeffries" like ends) as a wonderful instrument (to play and hear). I was a bit surprised(and perhaps deflated half a notch) when he told my that the reeds were "standard" Lachenal reeds.

 

Now I wonder....How many grades of Lachenal reeds were there? For Anglos I know there was the mahagony ended and the rosewood ended, with the rosewood listed as the "better" quality. I understand the Edeophones were the top of the English models so I assume their reeds were the best Lachenal could make. and so on.

 

Some questions I'd like to toss out there for any generous and knowledgable members are:

 

How many grades of reeds are Lachenal known to have made? What are the differences between them? Some differences I guess would be measurable such as tolerances, some would be audible and apparent to the ear. Is it obvious and easy to discern the differences between the standard and the top?

 

Thanks,

 

Richard

 

Richard, don't be deflated mate! Beauty in this case is very much in the ear of the listener, which is you. You've always been happy with the sound of your concertina so why should the news that your reeds aren't the very best influence you at all? Many instrument makers produce 'basic' 'standard' and 'best' models but happy accidents happen and the odd basic or standard model creeps out that is a cut above the rest; by the same token some of the 'best' quality instruments from a manufacturers' range are indifferent to say the least.

 

So take delight in the fact that you have an exceptional 'standard' model and smile quietly to yourself when other brag about owning 'top flight' models. At the end of the day the only critic that really matters is you.

[toshea]

Its all right, Richard. You still have the best concetinas money can buy!

[richard]

Hello

 

Thank for the emotional support. I really love this concertina and am not terribly bent out of shape by being told the reeds are "standard". It plays great with it's new riveted action and has a very rich tone. It has real personality.

 

I started the thread because I truly am curious about the different grades of Lachenal reeds and what differentiates them from each other.

 

Thanks

 

Richard

[Greg Jowaisas]

I have been waiting for the reed makers and historical authorities to wade in. As a concertina repairman I'll offer some comments and observations.

 

Lachenal could make a good reed when they had a mind to. There are proponants of the Edeophone that will put those reeds head to head with the response and sound of Wheatstone's Aeola reeds.

 

Both Aeola and Edeophone reeds were based on a longer scale. This is supposed to give them better response.

 

My experience with regular Lachenal reeds is mixed. Some are superbly made with tight tolerances between reed and frame. These might be found in upper tier instruments but I've found great reeds in 20b mahogany anglos (I can't tell you for sure if they were original or not but I will say they were a pleasant surprise!)

 

Lachenal brass reeds could also be good. I've refurbished a few english concertinas that had good brass reeds, again with tight reed to frame tolerance. On occasion I've had a brass reeded anglo where from sound and response I thought the reeds were steel.

 

Unfortunately a lot of lower end Lachenal instruments had brass reeds that were stamped by machine and assembled to the reed frames quickly with little regard for a tight fit. It made for an inexpensive instrument and in these cases you often got what you paid for.

 

Material can make a difference. In tuning dozens of concertinas the hardness of steel in the reeds is very noticable between Wheatstone and Lachenal. Jeffries reputadely used very hard steel. I have not noticed a big difference in the hardness of the Jeffries reeds I have tuned but they seem to possess an amazing elasticity that allows them to bend without deforming.

 

There seem to be several other factors involved in what makes a good reed. Scale, tolerance, and material play apart. Profile does to. I think how thick a reed is toward the clamp and how it graduates towards the tip makess a difference in overtones and response.

 

And then there is the interplay of all these factors. I've heard concertina maker Chris Ghent say that whoever made reeds for Jeffries was a genius to get so many good notes out of just 8 sizes of reed shoes!

 

I hope some of this helps and I'll look forward to additional comments.

 

Greg

[Chris Timson]

We say Lachenal did this and Jeffries did that, but it's worth remembering that the Victorian concertina industry lived on out-work. They would have had a number of people making reeds. Is it too much to suggest that some were better at their job than others and one person's standard reeds were as good as another person's best reeds? I think it is issues like that that make every concertina different in character and sound from every other.

 

Chris

[Stephen Chambers]

They would have had a number of people making reeds. Is it too much to suggest that some were better at their job than others and one person's standard reeds were as good as another person's best reeds? I think it is issues like that that make every concertina different in character and sound from every other.

 

I'd say you've hit the nail squarely on the head there Chris. You only have to read what Tommy Williams (himself a Lachenal reed maker) had to say on the subject to realise that the brass reeds were machine-profiled (it could be done much more easily with brass) and the steel ones were hand-profiled, so you're going to get consistency between the brass reed tongues, but not between the steel ones. Tommy also mentioned that Wheatstone's badly wanted Lachenal's best reedmaker, a Mr. Green (who made fabulous reeds that are to be found in some Edeophones).

 

But I've had quite a few of those Jeffries/Crabb-style "Special Anglo Model" Lachenals and always found the reeds in them both distinctive and very good.

[d.elliott]

We say Lachenal did this and Jeffries did that, but it's worth remembering that the Victorian concertina industry lived on out-work. They would have had a number of people making reeds. Is it too much to suggest that some were better at their job than others and one person's standard reeds were as good as another person's best reeds? I think it is issues like that that make every concertina different in character and sound from every other.

 

Chris

 

These days we tend to think in grade v cost terms, but when items were hand made, or manually process controlled, and the production rates were 'in volume' (sorry about the pun) grading resulted not only from the processes and equipment used, but from inspection and test based sorting.

 

I suspect that reeds were finally classified in some form of sort and selection process with the best going to the best instruments

 

Dave