THE IRISH CONCERTINA COMPANY

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Buyer Beware - Revamped Concertinas 2023

 

Beware of certain individuals selling old revamped concertinas made in the last century.

Some of these revamped concertinas are only half reconditioned. 


Please make sure the Concertina you are buying has Riveted Action as ‘Hook Action’ will not deliver any speed for Irish Music.

The Reeds need to be Brass Plated and not Aluminium.

A good reconditioned concertinas will have new springs and action set at a proper level to accommodate the playing of Irish Music rolls etc.

A lot of these Concertinas are coming in from South Africa and Australia where the Wheatstone  Company exported right throughout the middle of the last century.

Please have an expert look at any of these old revamped concertinas before you would think of paying out big money.

Some of these reconditioned instruments have aluminium reeds as this is what was used in the Wheatstone right through from the 1930’s, see attached charts.

They have aluminium reeds rather than concertina brass reeds. Riveted levers allow for much better action and are recommended for the playing of Irish Music. Brass Plated Reeds is where the sound is made and this is why you are going for vintage. Revamped concertinas have that appeal, but we need to urge customers that what you may be buying is not worth your money.

Although the idea of an “export model” seems to be wrong, it does appear that many–but definitely not all–of the #50000+ Anglos were exported to South Africa.

All of this information is copied from the Concertina.net

“By the late 1960s and early 1970s, the period when he has first-hand knowledge–virtually all of Wheatstone’s Anglo production went to South Africa. Specifically, he remembers that the instruments were sold to a company called “Goode, Durrant & Murray” who had offices in London as well as in Johannesburg. There apparently was a large imperial trading company of that name, with interests in Australia and in South Africa, and they would have had a London office. But they might have been only an intermediary, with distribution in South Africa handled by another firm.”

“The recent thread on the forum at concertina.net started as a discussion of “South African Wheatstones”, and it turned out that they all had #50000+ serial numbers: /”

#56215 40B anglo, C/G, hex. flat EE, MB, 8-fold bellows, hook action, steel reeds in alum. frames. [c. 1953]
#56409 36B anglo, CG flat ME, ebony frames, MB, new 6-fold bellows, steel reeds in alum. frames dovetailed into reed pan [c. 1953]
#57414 30B model 2A (?) anglo, C/G, hex. flat ME, MB, ebony frames, 6 fold rexine bellows, hook action, steel reeds clinched into alum. frames. Very coarse fretwork. [c. 1955]
#57575 30B anglo, C/G, hex. flat ME, MB, ebony frames, 6 fold rexine bellows, hook action, steel reeds clinched into alum. frames. Very coarse fretwork. [c. 1955]
#57668 30B anglo, C/G, hex. flat ME, MB, ebony frames, 6 fold rexine bellows, hook action, steel reeds clinched into alum. frames. Coarse fretwork. [c. 1956]
#57694 30B anglo, C/G, hex. flat ME, MB, ebony frames, 6 fold rexine bellows, hook action, steel reeds clinched into alum. frames. Coarse fretwork. [c. 1956]
#58066 30B anglo, C/G, hex. flat ME, PB, mahogany frames, 6-fold brown bellows, hook action, steel reeds clinched into alum. frames and screwed into reedpan [c. 1957]
#58286 30B anglo, C/G, hex. flat EE, MB, 6-fold bellows, hook action, steel reeds in alum. frames. [c. 1958]
#58373 40B anglo, C/G, hex. flat ME, MB, ebony frames, 8-fold rexine bellows, hook action, steel reeds in alum. frames. [c. 1959]
#59416 40B anglo AEola, C/G, ME, MB, steel reeds in alum. frames, 8-fold bellows, hook action [c. 1972]

 

#34294 30B anglo, C/G, mahogany ends, PB, 5-fold bellows (not original), steel reeds in brass frames dovetailed into reed pan, hook action. Coarse fretwork [c. 1936–for comparison]
#50238 30B anglo, C/G, hex. flat ME, MB, ebony frames, 6 fold new bellows, hook action, steel reeds in a mixture of alum. and brass frames. Fretwork more closely resembles older models. [c. 1938]
#52975 30B anglo, C/G, hex. flat WE, MB, 6 fold rexine bellows, hook action, steel reeds clinched into alum. frames and screwed into reed pan. Coarse fretwork. [c. 1949]
#54176 20B anglo, flat mahogany ends, plastic buttons, 5-fold brown bellows [c. 1951]
#54206 40B anglo, C/G, hex. flat EE, MB, 6-fold rexine bellows, hook action, steel reeds in alum. frames. [c. 1951]
#54624 30B anglo, CG, mahogany ends, PB, 5F, hook action [c. 1952]
#54648 30B anglo, C/G, metal ends (replacement), metal buttons, steel reeds, 8-fold bellows, hook-style action [c. 1952]
#54846 40B anglo, D/A piccolo, AEola, EE, MB [c. 1952]
#55691 30B anglo, C/G, hex. flat ME, PB, mahogany frames, 6-fold brown bellows, hook action, steel reeds clinched into alum. frames and screwed into reedpan [c. 1953]
#55983 30B anglo, C/G, hex. flat ME, MB, ebony frames, 8 fold bellows (replacement), hook action, steel reeds clinched into alum.
#56206 40B anglo, C/G, hex. flat EE, MB, 6-fold rexine bellows, hook action, steel reeds in alum. frames. [c. 1953]

 

#55983 30B anglo, C/G, hex. flat ME, MB, ebony frames, 8 fold bellows (replacement), hook action, steel reeds clinched into alum.
#56206 40B anglo, C/G, hex. flat EE, MB, 6-fold rexine bellows, hook action, steel reeds in alum. frames. [c. 1953]
#56215 40B anglo, C/G, hex. flat EE, MB, 8-fold bellows, hook action, steel reeds in alum. frames. [c. 1953]
#56409 36B anglo, CG flat ME, ebony frames, MB, new 6-fold bellows, steel reeds in alum. frames dovetailed into reed pan [c. 1953]
#57414 30B model 2A (?) anglo, C/G, hex. flat ME, MB, ebony frames, 6 fold rexine bellows, hook action, steel reeds clinched into alum. frames. Very coarse fretwork. [c. 1955]
#57575 30B anglo, C/G, hex. flat ME, MB, ebony frames, 6 fold rexine bellows, hook action, steel reeds clinched into alum. frames. Very coarse fretwork. [c. 1955]
#57668 30B anglo, C/G, hex. flat ME, MB, ebony frames, 6 fold rexine bellows, hook action, steel reeds clinched into alum. frames. Coarse fretwork. [c. 1956]
#57694 30B anglo, C/G, hex. flat ME, MB, ebony frames, 6 fold rexine bellows, hook action, steel reeds clinched into alum. frames. Coarse fretwork. [c. 1956]
#58066 30B anglo, C/G, hex. flat ME, PB, mahogany frames, 6-fold brown bellows, hook action, steel reeds clinched into alum. frames and screwed into reedpan [c. 1957]
#58286 30B anglo, C/G, hex. flat EE, MB, 6-fold bellows, hook action, steel reeds in alum. frames. [c. 1958]
#58373 40B anglo, C/G, hex. flat ME, MB, ebony frames, 8-fold rexine bellows, hook action, steel reeds in alum. frames. [c. 1959]
#59416 40B anglo AEola, C/G, ME, MB, steel reeds in alum. frames, 8-fold bellows, hook action [c. 1972]
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