Taylor-label English concertina

English concertina with "S. C. Taylor" label

Photos by Jim Lucas
Note: full-size photos are 100-650 Kb each.

The instrument was disassembled so that the various component parts could be shown clearly, including closeups of some details.

Click on any photo to view a higher-resolution version of the same,
but be aware that they are not small files.

Further general notes can be found below the array of small photos.
Or click here.

A sound file:: This sound snippet is provided in both moderately compressed MP3 format (for those without a broadband connection) and uncompressed WAV format. It's not much, but I hope will give at least some idea of the general tone, response, and dynamic range.
snippet.mp3 (624 Kb)
snippet.wav (5493 Kb)

laid_out.jpg All the component parts.	RH end full.jpg Right end complete, but removed from bellows. Thumb strap not original.	maybe initial.jpg Is this the maker's monogram, or just a scribble?	RH bellows frame with scribble.jpg It's the only such scribble in the instrument.
RH bellows frame.jpg Note the serial #181. Also the reversed "R" for "right".	RH pan bot.jpg Underside of reed pan, with reeds.	RH pan top.jpg Reed pan from above, showing partitions.	RH board bot.jpg Underside of pad board.
RH board top.jpg Pad board/action board from above, showing action.	RH baffle bot.jpg Plain underside of baffle.	RH baffle top.jpg Top side of baffle, w/ seller's label.	RH end in.jpg Unfinished underside of end. Bushings visible.
RH end out.jpg Finished exterior of end.	LH bellows frame.jpg	LH pan bot.jpg Underside of reed pan, with reeds. Why the staple?	LH pan top.jpg Reed pan from above, showing partitions.
LH board bot.jpg Underside of pad board.	LH board top.jpg Pad board/action board from above, showing action.	LH baffle bot.jpg Plain underside of baffle.	LH baffle top.jpg Top side of baffle, w/ serial no.
LH end in.jpg Unfinished underside of end. Bushings visible.	LH end out.jpg Finished exterior of end.	RH detail bolt+washer.jpg Washers are unusual.	RH detail label.jpg But pasted over another label.
LH detail 179.jpg Serial no. 179 stamped into baffle.	mechanism1.jpg Note the post construction.	mechanism2.jpg Sorry for the blurring.	mechanism3.jpg From pads to buttons.
mechanism4.jpg The whole layout.	mechanism5.jpg From the top.	mechanism6.jpg Concentrate on the pads.	mechanism7.jpg The posts.
mechanism8.jpg And the buttons.	mechanism9.jpg Another long view. Note the stamps.	mechanism10.jpg One more angle.	reed backs.jpg Squared off. The replacement sticks out.
reeds1.jpg Note the note stamps.	reeds2.jpg Is replacement reed a different metal?	reeds3.jpg What are those dots with the note names?	reeds4.jpg Note the thin leather of the valves.
bellows inner1.jpg In beautiful condition.	bellows inner2.jpg A closer look.	bellows outer1.jpg It looks hardly used.	bellows outer2.jpg Same bellows, different light.

General Notes

Wes Williams [thanks for the help] reports a listing in the 1851 PO London Directory for "Taylor Stephen C. pianofrt. & musicwa [ie warehouse]" at 512 Oxford St. (No listing for him in the area in either 1839 or 1865 directories.) Also, I believe the label says "Music Seller", so Taylor is probably not the maker of this instrument. I hope to find a way to lift the Taylor label without doing damage, in hopes that the label that appears to be underneath it will be that of the maker.

Stephen Chambers has suggested that certain features of this concertina are reminiscent of instruments by Joseph Scates, but that the early concertina makers often made parts for each other, so it can be difficult [maybe even misleading?] to assign responsibility for a given instrument. This, combined with the fact that the reed pans bear no serial no. no right-left markings but all "R"'s (for "right") on various parts are reversed, leads me to speculate that in this particular instrument the bellows, action and ends were made in one shop, but the reed pans (and reeds?) in another.

The fretted ends are solid rosewood, not veneer.

The thumbstraps are crude replacements. The thumb screws are possibly also replacements, as I would expect the originals to have been brass.

Serial no. 179 is stamped into the left baffle and both sides of the pad/action boards, but the bellows frames are stamped 181, and the reed pans have no designation. Because the numbers are so close together, I speculate that the "mismatch" occurred in the shop where the instrument was made, and before it was first sold.

The design of the fulcrum posts and levers is interesting, and apparently unusual. Perhaps it's an experimental transitional design, as it blends features of other different, designs.

Two note names are written on one reed pan, but only those two. Why?

In reeds3.jpg the one replacement reed is obvious because it sticks out. But it's also a different color "silver". Are the originals a different kind of steel... or possibly nickel? Is the replacement only a reed, or a replacement frame, too? Its shape seems subtly different.