Lachenal's Mr.green

[scoopet]

have read somewhere on this forum about a Mr. Green , who made exceptionally good reeds.

Can anyone help by being specific about the time period he was at lachenal , what concertinas he would have done the reeds for (would it have just been edeophones? or could it have been any concertina) and how do you recognise the sound of a Mr.Green reed? Are they super loud , are they super reponsive etc

Any help or thoughts greatly received!! thank you

[scoopet]

please can somebody shed some light on this for me .................

[Daniel Hersh]

I think that you may be asking questions to which the answers are not known. It's my impression that all of the information we have about Mr. Green comes from a brief statement from a now-deceased former Lachenal employee.

 

please can somebody shed some light on this for me .................

[Alan Day]

I also understand that Lachenal used to farm out tuning to people working at home, Tommy Williams used to do this and repair work from his home in Battersea.

Mr Green may have been one of these sub contract workers.

Al

[michael sam wild]

I also understand that Lachenal used to farm out tuning to people working at home, Tommy Williams used to do this and repair work from his home in Battersea.

Mr Green may have been one of these sub contract workers.

Al

 

I don't know if this is relevant but in Sheffield the cutlery trade was run by 'Little Mesters' who all had specialist skills making bits and bobs and the knives were then put together by other workers. Near our old pub we had a respected maker Stan Shaw one of the few survivors who told me he had to learn all the tricks as the old boys had died off. Stan's spring making was a bit like reed making but he would buy them in in the old days in quantity.

 

Maybe there were lots of little Mr Green's who dipped in and out as trade fluctuated..I assume it was all about putting bread on the table rather than being an all round crafstman.

[rmerris]

George Henry Green (b. 1850) was the husband of the Caroline Sarah Jones (b. 18520, the eldest daughter of George Jones (b. 1832). George and caroline were married in 1872 in Stepney. George is listed in censuses as a musical instrument maker. At least three of their sons--George H. Jr, Ernest, and Bertram--also were makers.

I've associated them with employment at Jones, rather that at Lachenal & Co. However, one or more of them could have worked at Lachenal, particularly after the Jones firm closed in 1909. Alternativelly, there could have been a Mr. Green at Lachenal, who came from an entirely different family--but that doesn't seem particularly likely to me.

[scoopet]

thanks very much randy.

if this is the mr.green who was an exceptional reed maker it would indeed make sense and if he was still at lachenal in the 20s? he would have been in his 70s and probably very , very good at what he was doing?

how do we recognise his reeds though? I've read else where on this forum that top end lachenal concertinas vary massively in their reed quality.I'd like to know if my reeds in my lachenal were made by him!!!!????is this an impossible question??!!!!! :blink:

[Leonard]

if this is the mr.green who was an exceptional reed maker it would indeed make sense and if he was still at lachenal in the 20s? he would have been in his 70s and probably very , very good at what he was doing?

If THE Mr. Green was from this family, it's more likely one of the sons.

 

how do we recognise his reeds though? I've read else where on this forum that top end lachenal concertinas vary massively in their reed quality.I'd like to know if my reeds in my lachenal were made by him!!!!????is this an impossible question??!!!!! :blink:

I'd suggest: compare the qualities of your reeds with other top end Lachenals from the 20s.

If yours are playing and sounding better than the others, who knows Mr. Green made them. Or not.

But what's the difference if you have top quality?

[Daniel Hersh]

I believe that everything we know about Mr. Green may be contained in this post by Stephen from a couple of years ago. It's not much. But I think that Leonard's point is a good one too.

 

Daniel

 

if this is the mr.green who was an exceptional reed maker it would indeed make sense and if he was still at lachenal in the 20s? he would have been in his 70s and probably very , very good at what he was doing?

If THE Mr. Green was from this family, it's more likely one of the sons.

how do we recognise his reeds though? I've read else where on this forum that top end lachenal concertinas vary massively in their reed quality.I'd like to know if my reeds in my lachenal were made by him!!!!????is this an impossible question??!!!!! :blink:

I'd suggest: compare the qualities of your reeds with other top end Lachenals from the 20s.

If yours are playing and sounding better than the others, who knows Mr. Green made them. Or not.

But what's the difference if you have top quality?