This is a Wheatstone Tortoiseshell Aeola 56-Key Extended-Treble with steel reeds (serial number 35666). It has been fitted with pads and valves in recent years, and has been tuned to concert pitch (A=440hz).

It’s important to say that Wheatstone used both genuine tortoiseshell and faux shell in the construction of instruments over the years. We believe this to be the latter but aren’t experts and, as a precaution, this instrument cannot be sold outside the UK. This is a concertina that is a little rougher- it’s clearly taken a few knocks on the side-rails, but the ‘shell’ itself is in pretty good condition. It’s a good player- responsive with a balanced, rounded tone and plenty of dynamic range. It comes from the period where Wheatstone’s instruments had started to tail off in terms of quality, but it’s still a nice playing box that is a little bit special.

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