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Copper Bushes?


david robertson

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Oops! Forgot to add the link!

Belatedly spotted this one on eBay. The seller's grasp of metallurgy seems a bit shaky, given the suggestion that the buttons are of aluminium or pewter, but are those bushes really copper? Have any of you old hands seen anything like it before? And can anyone put a maker's name to it?

Edited by david robertson
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... are those bushes really copper? Have any of you old hands seen anything like it before? And can anyone put a maker's name to it?
It appears to be a cheap model of Lachenal that has been "blackened up" and modified, but I never heard of "copper bushes" before... :unsure:

The bushings look orange to me.

Could it be that "copper-colored" was meant?

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Could they be a copper grommets that were commandeered to serve as bushings?

Quelle Horreur!!

Looking at the photos, no.

They look to me like standard felt bushings.

Apart from the question of the bushings, the seller says,

Since listing this concertina I received the following to its origins:
I'm a concertina collector, restorer and musician.

This is a Lachenal, 48-button English, concertina! The reeds being held, to the reed bed, by screws, rather than rivets and the distinctive fretwork were the "tip-off". Louis Lachenal was a master craftsman for the Charles Wheatstone factory. Charles Wheatstone invented the English concertina in 1824. While not all that rare, this concertina is of the utmost in quality. While I cannot tell you the age of this wonderful instrument, I can say that the leather case is an early version of Lachenal or Wheatstone design.

I hope this info was of interest and I wish you the best in your auction!

Cordially, KerryF (namfrank)

That "helpful" information is faulty on several points, both explicit and implicit.

 

Explicit:

  • "Charles Wheatstone invented the English concertina in 1824." -- NOT SO. The patent describing all the crucial features of the English concertina was 1829, and the first evidence that he actually built one comes a couple of years later.
  • "...this concertina is of the utmost in quality." -- NO. When it was made, it was almost certainly one of Lachenal's lesser quality instruments. And its current condition looks to be rather less than "like new".
  • "I can say that the leather case is an early version of Lachenal or Wheatstone design." -- HUH? The one photo with the case doesn't really show it very well, but I don't think it even resembles "early" Wheatstone or Lachenal cases. In fact, it looks to me as if it's not an original Lchenal case, but a later homemade job.

Implicit:

  • Reeds held on with screws rather than rivets means that Lachenal is the maker. -- NOT TRUE. All the major English concertina makers used non-riveted reeds held the same way as in this instrument.
  • The instrument was made by Louis Lachenal personally. -- Almost certainly NOT TRUE. But I feel this was implied by the mention that Lachenal worked for Wheatstone, but omission of the fact that he later had his own factory, where concertinas with his name on them were "mass"-produced by teams of workers.

It's bad enough when a seller provides such misleading information, but when an unsolicited "informed" opinion does so, I feel it's cause for even greater concern.

 

Anyone else with an opinion on this?

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Anyone else with an opinion on this?

For what it's worth 'KerryF' has commented on several UK ebay instruments for sale, always enthusiastic and always claiming to be a repairer and restorer of concertinas whilst exhibiting an extremely shallow, inaccurate and often misleading 'knowledge' of the worth, lineage and provenance of the concertina in question.

 

I'd suspect a scam but I can't figure out how it works unless the sellers are managing to re-register from a different IP and if so why have some of them posted my replies which shot down 'KerryF's' ridiculous comments?

 

It's an opinion Jim, but I'm not sure it gets anyone anywhere. <_<

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Anyone else with an opinion on this?

For what it's worth 'KerryF' has commented on several UK ebay instruments for sale, always enthusiastic and always claiming to be a repairer and restorer of concertinas whilst exhibiting an extremely shallow, inaccurate and often misleading 'knowledge' of the worth, lineage and provenance of the concertina in question.

 

I'd suspect a scam but I can't figure out how it works unless the sellers are managing to re-register from a different IP and if so why have some of them posted my replies which shot down 'KerryF's' ridiculous comments?

 

It's an opinion Jim, but I'm not sure it gets anyone anywhere. <_<

I see there is a Kerryfrank on c.net. Same person?

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It's caviat emptor on Ebay so he's not worth more than passing contempt. The generous exclamation marks are more than enough to sound a warning.

 

Technically, would we call this trolling?

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I believe that it is the same person, based on the comments that KerryFrank has posted here.

 

Anyone else with an opinion on this?
For what it's worth 'KerryF' has commented on several UK ebay instruments for sale, always enthusiastic and always claiming to be a repairer and restorer of concertinas whilst exhibiting an extremely shallow, inaccurate and often misleading 'knowledge' of the worth, lineage and provenance of the concertina in question.

 

I'd suspect a scam but I can't figure out how it works unless the sellers are managing to re-register from a different IP and if so why have some of them posted my replies which shot down 'KerryF's' ridiculous comments?

 

It's an opinion Jim, but I'm not sure it gets anyone anywhere. <_<

I see there is a Kerryfrank on c.net. Same person?

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I believe that it is the same person, based on the comments that KerryFrank has posted here.

 

Anyone else with an opinion on this?
For what it's worth 'KerryF' has commented on several UK ebay instruments for sale, always enthusiastic and always claiming to be a repairer and restorer of concertinas whilst exhibiting an extremely shallow, inaccurate and often misleading 'knowledge' of the worth, lineage and provenance of the concertina in question.

 

I'd suspect a scam but I can't figure out how it works unless the sellers are managing to re-register from a different IP and if so why have some of them posted my replies which shot down 'KerryF's' ridiculous comments?

 

It's an opinion Jim, but I'm not sure it gets anyone anywhere. <_<

I see there is a Kerryfrank on c.net. Same person?

 

I did spot Kerry F's contribution, and like Paul, I have been amused by some of his (or her?) previous efforts. For what it's worth, take a look at the second question about this one. I can't guarantee that it's the same Kerry, but if it is, it's a fine illustration of the level of expertise!

Edited by david robertson
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