Old Concertina Thread Resurrected

[avanutria]

Tinker just told me to buy it. Does that make him an enabler?

[Chuck_Clark]

Okay folks, I scanned the Concertina.net stuff. Here's what I think. Remember, I examined it for a whole two minutes and was more interested in the instrument I was buying than the concertina I (w/c)ouldn't afford.

First of all, it is probably an "Anglo" type from the button arrangement. I squeezed and drew it once or twice to see what happened and to see if I could detect any air leaks in the bellows (I couldn't) but don't recall anything at all about what the notes might have been.

Second, it's OLD. There is no metal on it's face. The ends are wood, a softwood type with a thin wood veneer. The holes through which the buttons (which resemble rounded ends of 1/4" dowel) are unornamented and larger than the buttons. The veneer is missing two small chips about 1/4 -1/3 inch across. The ends are perhaps an inch thick. Around the edges of the wood ends is a wallpaper-like trim band, which is worn in spots but mostly intact. Its pattern is unspectacular, merely dark lines forming diamond shapes on a lighter background.

The bellows is black leather. It remains flexible, looking on the surface sort of like a worn leather jacket. The hand straps, presumably originally of leather, are now black fabric of some sort. A couple of the buttons have broken ends but still protrude far enough to allow easy finger contact.

I was unable to find any serial numbers or other identifying marks on either the ends or bellows. There os also no fancy engraving or scrollwork. It looks like a nice, workaday instrument - a musician's tool, if you will.

Beth

Quote: "Tinker just told me to buy it. Does that make him an enabler?"

Depends. if he's providing the money, he's an enabler. Given your stated impoverishment, if he's not providing the cash it makes him a tease.

[Wombat]

Wombat

Perhaps I'm just overtired, but I'd swear the text above is in either Early English or perhaps Swahili.

Chuck, when I wrote that out I thought I was making a difficult issue simple. Honest.

Now, rereading it, I've got to admit that I can see your point. I guess we free reed enthusiasts are doomed never to be understood. And they say pipers are strange.

Well, I'm off to practice concertina. Back to the dark side.

[mat]

Is it English (same note on push or pull) or Anglo (different notes on push and pull)? How many buttons does it have?

...or a duet? if it is a duet is it a McCann or a Jefferies or another system?

How many keys is a big help.

Just be aware that not all old free reed instruments are necessarily any good. I have an old melodeon that is really just an ornament; its not that it has deteriorated it was just rubbish from day one! On the other hans I picked up an old Wheatstone Duet (46key McCann) from an antique shop in yorkshire a few years ago for £200 which I have just recently traded for a rather fine Wheatstone (made by the father of the Concertina chap) 8 Key flute.

Just beware of rubbish! Although if you can beat the price down it is well worth a gamble; they are great fun to play with if you are into restoring, their 'guts' are fascinating.

If anyone gets it then let us know what its like.

Mat

Update:
Oh....the button description does indeed sound like an Anglo.

[Caj]

How many keys is a big help.

From the description, it sounds like a 20-button anglo. The leather bellows took me by surprise: for 120 beans, you can often get a big fat swarthy German concertina, with 20 buttons and paper bellows and accordion reeds. Usually covered with perloid.

But if the wood has a veneer on it, that might indicate it's a cheap old Stagi or some such.

My usual advice for concertinas in this price range (e.g., less than $1000) is to try it out before buying. Even if you're buying a new box for under a grand, those things have quite a bit of variation in playability and quality control. That's the advantage of stores like House of Musical Traditions: you can try a bunch of Stagis before buying one.

Caj

[Chuck_Clark]

Sorry to bring this thread back, but I took another look at the instrument today and want to correct some earlier mistakes.

First, it is presumably not an Anglo. When I held a button and operated the bellows, it made different notes depending on whether the bellows were squeezed or drawn.

Second, the 'leather' I thought I saw on the bellows now appears to me to be heavy paper with a leatherlike finish.

Third, each end has only ten buttons, arranged in two curved rows.

[Steven]

Actually, what you're describing is exactly a 20-button Anglo concertina. Anglos play different notes on the push and pull, and the button layout is just how a 20-button Anglo would be. (Anglo is, of course, a type of concertina, not a brand name.)


Steven