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This is a Wheatstone piccolo English concertina (on the right!). Miniature
concertinas were often used by music hall performers (and Craig Hollingsworth)
as a novelty. Despite their diminutive size, they are real instruments.
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A Wheatstone standard concertina with rosewood ends and brass inlay.
This was the mainstay of Wheatstone production for the second half of the
19th century. Note the papered bellows with green leather. Later concertinas
usually had all black bellows. The idea that black bellows were adopted
after Wheatstone's death, though seductive, seems to be unsupported by
the evidence. |
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Another Wheatstone Bass English concertina. The big reeds needed for
the deepest bass notes were very large and heavy. They also were sometimes
rather slow to 'speak'. Some examples of Bass Concertinas only played when
the bellows were compressed, requiring the player to gulp a bellows-full
of air from the air button every few seconds. |