Dear visitors: Please note, l'm not in a great hurry to sell, so please: no low-ball offers, refusal always upsets the bidder !
Beautiful Eduard Haustein (from Zwickau, near Chemnitz, so not actually a Chemnitzer, but much rarer) Concertina Accordion
- from the 1910-1940s, name grille & decoration indicates maker to be Eduard Haustein, probably 1920s
~ approx. 35cm (compressed width) x 25cm x 25cm
~ with 23 Bass Buttons on one side & 28 Treble Buttons on the other side = 51 Buttons Total. The layout (not maker) is ostensibly Scheffler (Scheffler was a maker from Chemnitz),
the Scheffler keymap at the end of the picture carousel above can be
found if you Google for the "Bandochords" site (but that site hosts lots
of ads, just so you know). It seems Eduard Haustein made Bandoneons and
concertinas of various layouts.
~ and Original Carry Case (made of tin, with faux-leather coating, lined with velvety material)
~ Still sounds great, every note seems to play as it should with good pitch, though l cannot guarantee they are pitch-perfect; you're
welcome to view the video to hear it played button by button.
Please scroll down for the full picture sequence
Condition Note: Classsed as "Vintage / Antique" (in working order with age-related wear)
This
is a beautifully ornate German Scheffler-layout (Scheffler was from
Chemnitz) concertina accordion with a burr birch- or birds eye
maple-veneered body (l initially thought it to be an early type of
plastic, but apparently it's not, though l still feel doubt on the
matter - caveat emptor) with ornamental inlays of precious wood
and mother-of pearl, nickel mounts and leather hand straps (which are
still viable for the hands). The bellows are working just fine, not
damaged. As you may already know, there are loops in the bellows for the
attachment of a neck strap / shoulder straps.
It
is inlaid with beautiful mother-of-pearl designs plus there are etched
patterns on the nickel fittings. It seems no space has been refused its
maker's adoration! The buttons are also coated in mother-of-pearl
surfacing.
Time-honoured
wear consists in: a slight rasp to a few buttons (dust or ageing,
curling valve leatherette strips methinks, it doesn't help that l have
to play very quietly where l live, l think at full blast i.e. full
airflow, the sound would be bolder with the buttons in question) and one
or two buttons are slightly quieter than the rest but this is not a
major issue (in fact l didn't notice it during a later sound test). I
can certainly say the sound is the cleanest l've heard in a vintage /
antique accordion (l've played around with about 8 accordions but this
one stands out, l think Chemnitzers, and the like, tend to be
well-made.
It's
actually quite a rare piece in working order and l've seen equivalent
instruments go for about £2,000 even! If l cannot sell it, then it's
going to be my forever accordion and l'll just learn the keymap, though
l'm holding out for a 1kg chromatic one, so would rather sell this one.
Please note:
Button #14 on the treble side is unisonoric, not bisonoric.This is
actually part of the Scheffler & Chemnitzer layout, though that
would mean it's technically more correct to call this a 101 key
concertina rather than a 102 key layout.
Please note:
The carry case (41 x 31 x 30cm) has no key, but the latching mechanism
still works - nudge the left lock left and the right lock right, to free
the latches - and same again to secure them. Personally l wouldn't
carry the case via the handle too much, l feel the case handle is
getting a bit fragile, but it's still viable.
FULL PICTURE SEQUENCE (inc. images of the reeds on both sides - scroll right to the end):
HERE ARE SOME IMAGES OF THE REEDS ON BOTH SIDES (if you want fairly priced reed valves i.e. those leatherette strips, try "OG Accordions" online in the UK):
