Paul Hardy's 2nd Lachenal Concertina - 30566
Pictures of 2nd Lachenal Concertina
Description of Lachenal Concertina
It is hexagonal with 48 bone keys. The ends are rosewood or mahogany fretwork. The bellows
are black, with a green stars on white coloured patterned transfer on each
segment.
One one end, in an oval aperture in the fretwork can be read "Lachenal & Co,
Patent Concertina Manufacturer, London", as can be seen in
this pictureAt the other end is a serial number,30566, dating from around
1889. The original thin white leather baffles are present.
It has its original box, wood with velvet lining. Unfortunately this holds it
in an 'ends-up' position, which was responsible for the damage to the valves
(see below).
It is an English concertina, which means that it produces the same note when a key is pressed,
regardless of whether the bellows are going in or out. The other main type of concertina is the
Anglo, which gives different notes according to bellows direction, like a mouth organ does.
My time with this concertina
The instrument was bought via the Internet from Alec Martin in Bolton,
Lancashire, UK
for £200.It was in a very bad condition, with all the pads, bushings having
rotted, several springs gone, and one thumbstrap broken. You can see the state of the action in
this picture. The reeds are a strange mixture of brass and steel, with the
steel ones badly rusted, as visible in
this picture. You can also see that the valve leathers were warped,
because it had been stored in its box on end for many years. Two of the brass
end bots were snapped off, and most of the other screws badly rusted.
I have stripped it down and bought £130
worth of spares from Steve Dickinson of C Wheatstone & Co in Stowmarket. I've re-french-polished the ends,
replaced all the pads, valves and bushings, and re-assembled. Currently the bushings are too tight around the keys (felt too thick).
Restoration is in abeyance because I was exiled to California! I'll expand this section in due course.
Do you know anything more about this concertina ?
Use paul at paulhardy dot net to send me an email message if you know anything about this instrument.
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