This is a concertina that I have had in my own collection for about 25 years. It is probably the first Edeophone ever made by Lachenal -and almost certainly the first tenor-treble ever made.
It is number 28821 which we take to be around 1889 as that is believed to be the date of Lachenal’s patent for the Edeophone and -as yet-no Edeophone has turned up with a number anywhere near it. The next Edeophone number in my books-after 40 odd years of collecting these things -is 32898 which is quite a few years after this one -and that was a treble. I have never seen a tenor-treble anywhere near this number- the first one would be in the 40000 period.
It has a unique fret design-also never seen again-and is stamped all over inside with both the serial number and the Patent number.
It has raised ebony ends, metal buttons, steel reeds and 5 fold bellows. It comes in a Salvation Army hard case and is restored with new pads, valves, straps and tuned to concert pitch.
Make no mistake-this is an extremely rare and unique instrument-which has been illustrated in historical articles about Lachenal and Co-but it is also a playing instrument. It plays well and could certainly be used ,although such fretwork is old and care would be needed to be taken in handling it.
Find another one! If you do then let me know!
