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[triskel]

I do know that Charlie Harris plays for setdancing on a regular basis on his baldonis.

Maybe he does, but I've never yet seen him play his D/C# outside his workshop. In my experience it's always a grey Paolo Soprani that he takes out to play, though he might take his ex-"Cuz" Teahan single-row Baldoni along for the odd tune too: http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2098258190077595374oMnIdB

I'll ask him next time I see him.

[triskel]

Can you tell anything from these pics ... ?

Not without my own to compare your pics to, but mine's back home and I'm in England for the last few days. 

[triskel]

There was also a 2-voice Paolo Soprani "Model 600, O'Byrne de Witt Professional Model, 4 sets of reeds. New Low Price $129.50".

And to my astonished delight, I was delivered of one of them this evening which unexpectedly walked in my front door - with a little assistance from a banjo dealer of my acquaintance. He said he was looking for a bellows pin for it (and if you'd believe that, you'd believe anything ), but needless to say he left with a good banjo instead...  :)

The new arrival was found recently in the North Shore Boston area, and has probably been dwelling in a damp basement for a long time. It will need some careful nursing to return it to its former glory, but I have great hopes that it will make a full recovery. 

edited photo

[hibbs3]

I guess it is true...the rich get richer,and it is indeed who you know  . But none the less, congrats on the new box, a beauty!

[hibbs3]

Would john Lavelle fall under the D/C# category of players? Seems thats how hes playing, and all the pictures depict his fingers clearly set to the outside row...theres even a picture of him and 2 other chaps playing what look baldonis/walters...

[triskel]

I guess it is true...the rich get richer,and it is indeed who you know  . But none the less, congrats on the new box, a beauty!

Thanks, it's a bit of a dream come true really, to get a grey (even if it is black!) Paolo Soprani that's about the same size as a Hohner, and it was totally unexpected tonight. But the condition of the internal woodwork seems worse than I first thought, though the exterior looks great. That's the effect of damp on the glue joins. 

Mind you, it's not too kind on my joints these days either... 

[triskel]

Would john Lavelle fall under the D/C# category of players?

Maybe, but I never heard of him before tonight.

[hibbs3]

I guess none of any of these lovely boxes would even be considered for sale, would they

[TomB-R]

Not a Paolo but some nice D/C# playing here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hhpc8HHlmWk

and here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0fCuK3k8Fk
(nice clear view of the fingering)
Both are Andre Bouchard, Joe Derrane influenced and inventor of the Bouchard "one-row+2/4" D/C# based box discussed on this forum.

[triskel]

I guess none of any of these lovely boxes would even be considered for sale, would they

No.

[hibbs3]

Stephen, do both your D/C# Paolos have wooden soundboards?

[triskel]

Stephen, do both your D/C# Paolos have wooden soundboards?

No, the 4-voice (which is maybe 1947) is plywood, the 2-voice (more like 1950ish) is aluminium.

[hibbs3]

any idea on the date of this one?

[triskel]

any idea on the date of this one?

That looks nice!

Judging by the grille I'd say around 1953-4. It's the same design as the light-grey ones:
 


edited photo

[hibbs3]

Thats the same box I compared it to when I first saw it, a D/D# like Joe Cooley was playing on the cover of the ``Cooley``album

[triskel]

Thats the same box I compared it to when I first saw it, a D/D# like Joe Cooley was playing on the cover of the ``Cooley``album

Which is the new one he was given when he went off to America in 1954, though that's not the box he's playing on the album, which was a later 3-voice red one!



(And if anybody's got a D/D# one of those, that they don't have a use for, please let me know!)

[hibbs3]

Stephen, any idea of O'Byrne DeWitt were the only people who imported these Paolos? or was there other shops around the states ordering them in as well?

[triskel]

Well, as I already said of my own one:

They were probably designed by Jerry O'Brien (Joe Derrane's teacher at O'Byrne de Witt's, for anybody reading this who doesn't know), and are tuned with two middle reeds on one coupler, adding bassoon and piccolo on the master - so LMMH like a 4-stop melodeon. This is the model (with his name on it) that Jerry is holding in the photo with the young Joe Derrane that was used for the CD cover, and you can tell from listening to his recordings that it is what he played himself.

And Jerry O'Brien seems to have been very involved with O'Byrne de Witt's, but the black one I just bought doesn't have their name on it - so possibly some other shop sold them too, or perhaps it was made for them but without the O'Byrne de Witt name? Certainly it was found very much "on their turf" in North Shore Boston.

Thanks for letting me know the grey one you've found is tuned LMMM, which is what I suspected - and why I asked! I expect that in 1947 they still wanted an old "melodeon" sound, but by 1953-4 that'd changed to wanting a smoother and more "modern" accordion one.

[hibbs3]

gotcha! Perhaps, and I'm willing to bet that someone else sold these boxes too. I know that O'Brien's box (like yours) sounded alot like a globe 4 stop almost when I heard it on those recordings with Derrane. But I asked Doug to keep it as close to it's original tuning as possible, which I'm sure is wet   Lars sent me some Flanagan Bros. recordings the other day. Any idea what kind of box he might be playing? (Figured I'd ask seeing how you know everything )

[triskel]

I asked Doug to keep it as close to it's original tuning as possible, which I'm sure is wet

That sounds like what I told Charlie Harris to do with my 6-voice Baldoni - "keep the flavour of it". 

Lars sent me some Flanagan Bros. recordings the other day. Any idea what kind of box he might be playing?

I don't think anybody actually knows what make it was, but somewhat similar instruments (masquerading as piano accordions) were being made by Guerrini in San Francisco. I've got one that I bought at a guitar show in LA about 10 years ago...

(Figured I'd ask seeing how you know everything )

I'm glad to say that I don't, though I'm always trying to learn more. Hopefully I'll still be learning until the day they screw the lid on my final "box"!