20 Button Anglo Layout

[Pete Dunk]

I have a twenty button Lachenal C/G anglo that's been in the cupboard for some time waiting for me to tune it up, which I started on this afternoon. I started on the left hand end and all was going well until I came to the lowest notes on the G row. This seems standard on all layouts as A on the draw and B on the push but this 'tina has a C instead of the A.

 

The C is pitched the same as the C in the middle of the left hand C row and has C stamped on the reed shoe. So what do I have here? Has someone used the A reed in something else and stuck a reed in that happened to have the right size of shoe or is this a deliberate modification to have a middle C available on both push and pull on the left hand? I don't play anglo so I'm not aware of the popular mods for anglos.

 

I have a scrap 48 key English which could provide the requisite A reed and shoe but I don't want use that if I'm only doing away with something that might be appreciated or even desired by a future owner.

 

Pete.

[John Sylte]

I have had 7 Lachenals and all but one have played a C on the pull on that lowest button. A draw C is of little use to me. I changed all mine to A.

[Pete Dunk]

Thanks for the info John, I'll swap the reed for an A as this seems to be the 'standard layout'. Does anyone out there know why Lachenal did this? I'd always understood that Lachenal and Wheatstone (and indeed Jeffries) home rows were the same and that variations only existed in the accidental row.

 

I have had 7 Lachenals and all but one have played a C on the pull on that lowest button. A draw C is of little use to me. I changed all mine to A.