A C Norman & Co, Concertina Maker and Free Reed Restorer

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A C Norman & Co, Concertina Maker and Free Reed Restorer

Maker of concertinas and restorer of free reed instruments - "concertinas made by players, for players". Established 1976.

Email: [email protected] Phone: 01743 884583 Since 1976 A C Norman & Co has been restoring, repairing and tuning concertinas and other free reed instruments, starting to make new concertinas in 1980. Now based in Shropshire (after relocating from Sussex) the business has customers all over the world. New instruments offered include both Anglo and English systems, miniatures and special orders

, all of which are made to order. Full restorations (antique instruments a speciality), all repairs, spares, tuning, improvements and corrections to suit individual players are undertaken. We can even tune to different temperaments and historical pitches, if required. We offer free advice and give fixed price quotes in advance. There is a constantly changing selection of fully restored instruments in stock and demonstration instruments of our own range of concertinas. Visitors are very welcome, but please get in touch beforehand. Andrew Norman, founder of the business, has been a regularly performing musician for over 40 years. He says, "Our concertinas are made for players, by players. A well set up concertina should be a joy to play - you don't want to put it down. Our service enables the best response possible from an instrument."

26/03/2026

What's New? (or nearly new)

As well as working in many antique concertinas (and a harmonina!), this year, we have been busy making concertinas, and repairing several modern instruments. At the end of last year we completely re-worked all the reeds in a David Leggett concertina (Facebook post 30/12/25) to get it to play well, this year we have worked on:

A 'Clare' Anglo made by The Irish Concertina Company. Everyone agreed this sounded awful! Loud and harsh! The way the (Czech made) reed-plates are semingly randomly located, made for a very uneven volume, tone, and response. We added various leather seals and end baffles, reset and tuned all the reeds, and adjusted the heavy springs to make it play much better.

We had another offering from The Irish Concertina Company, this time an 'Eiru'. Individual concertina style reeds, Czech made and almost as harsh as the 'Clare'! The top notes did not sound at all! The buttons were heavily sprung, with a number of levers having two springs each! We removed 8 unnecessary springs, and altered the rest to make it feel lighter, quicker and better. The bushed holes in the ends were so large, that the buttons moved in every direction. The levers are held with a fulcrum pin, rather than being rivetted, allowing the levers to move sideways. Replacing the bushing with a thicker felt kept the buttons upright, but they then jammed, so it was necessary to alter the action to get the levers working as they should, clearly a design fault! (not to mention the 'sea of glue' over the pads, prohibiting any flexibility). The reedpan, reed-fit, and reed-setting was altered and improved, so now all the high reeds sound, and the low reeds no longer rattle (I am told by another repairer this was a problem experienced from new). It now plays smoothly, positively, and it is possible to play quietly too! [Whilst very precisely made, these Harmonikas concertina reeds, are not as good as typical vintage Lachenal reeds, the way they have been profiled means the higher notes are too thick and slow to respond, and the lower notes distort, being too thin].

There's clearly a lack of knowledge in the design and construction of these instruments, frequently seen in Chinese made instruments, but I would have expected considerably more from an instrument advertised new at Euro 4,000. ! [ plus repair costs! ]

Two Wolverton concertinas; a C/G and a G/D. Nicely made, but the (Italian) reed-plates were fitted with plastic valves, lacking the softness and warmth that most players prefer, with quite a noticeable clicky sound. We made up and fitted leather valves and added gaskets on the reedpans. Re-setting and tuning the reeds made both much more responsive instruments.

We also had an enquiry regarding a Sherwood 'Marion' that the owner wanted reeds moved. These have reeds held on with wax (like the Morse, also Rochelle, Blackthorn, Wren, Swan, Scarlatti, and all the other Chinese made instruments) making it difficult, time consuming and very messy to work on. Fine tuning of the pull notes is very difficult, so they are usually not in perfect tune, worth considering if you are looking for a cheaper modern concertina.

Finally, the concertinas that we have finished this year are:

2 x 'Standard' 30 key Anglos (Jeffries pattern metal ends) for Ireland.

20 key English (4 7/8" across) for USA.

13 key mini Anglo (4 1/8" across) for Australia.

As usual it is worth saying that we are always happy to consider an offer on any concertinas you might have for sale, playing, for restoration, or just for spares, especially really early or unusual instruments.

(Photo's)

'eiru' problem C/G Anglo.

Wolverton G/D Anglo.

A. C. Norman & Co. 30 key Anglos.

A. C. Norman & Co. 20 key English.

A. C. Norman & Co., 13 key Anglo.

02/02/2026

So here it is: "The World's Worst Wheatstone"!

Following on from our last post about a typical repair, we mentioned the 'World's Worst Wheatstone"! A 32 key English from 1856.

We may have done more involved repairs with new bellows, refinishing, re-plating, and repairs to badly damaged instruments, but this was a seemingly complete concertina, in neglected state. It had obviously been kept in a damp area for a long time, every glued wood joint had failed, almost every steel screw had disintergrated, the card had delaminated and leather come apart in a soggy mess!

Here is a list of the work required:

Dismantle, clean, remove mould!

Re-glue all sides, ends, corner blocks, bellows-frames, reed-pan support blocks, reed-pan partitions and seals.

Re-glue delaminated bellows card and papers (about four separate layers).

Re-glue and refinish cardboard baffles (six layers!).

Remove (drill or prise out) remains of broken steel end-screws, finger-rest fixing screws and strap fixing screws, repair woodwork.

Remove bellows inserts where end-bolts had snapped off (again by cutting the woodwork, or drilling out the steel screws. Remove broken end-bolts, re-tap inserts, repair bellows frames and re-fit inserts.

Remove old valves and replace with new.

Replace broken reeds (several had been replaced in the past so there was already a mixture). Sometimes we decide to leave an historic instrument in it's original pitch but they were so badly out of tune due to corrosion, that they are now tuned to modern Concert Pitch (A=440hz). Re-set reeds, and fit into reed-pans.

Remove buttons, clean, and fit new dampers.

Replace springs where necessary.

Replace pads with new (all the old ones were destroyed by moths or damp).

Repair the broken action where the rusty end-screws were removed, refit end supports and spacers, and fit repaired cardboard baffles.

Clean finger-rests and re-cover.

Clean thumb-strap brackets and make new thumb-straps as original.

Re-fit finger rests and thumb-straps.

Clean remaining end-bolts, and replace missing end-bolts.

Re-glue bellows leather, repair splits, holes and worn corners.

Replace bellows seals, fit reed-pans.

Re-assemble.

Further tuning (several times).

Parts Required:

20 steel c/s screws, 4 end-bolts, 1 thumb-strap loop, 1 thumb-strap screw and leather washer, valves, pads, pad-mounts, dampers, springs, card and leather packing washers, leather for bellows repairs and reed-pan seals. Probably around 50 hours work over a couple of years! It plays well, with a light touch and quick response, although naturally quieter than later instruments.

WHY?

Well, when I came across the remains of this concertina, I noticed it had solid rather than divided sides, so I thought it might be a very early Louis Lachenal. Wheatstone serial number 8598 (one of several supplied to Mr J Moutrie in 1856) not the earliest Wheatstone, but early for Louis Lachenal, whose early instruments appear to use the same serial numbers as those shown in the Wheatstone ledgers. If that is correct, how many had Louis Lachenal made by the time that this one appeared with a Wheatstone number? By then Louis Lachenal was putting his name on instruments, but had been working for and supplying parts and instruments to Wheatstone for many years. Wheatstone were buying in and seling instruments from other makers.

I noticed there was a label beneath the Wheatstone label, so I carefully removed the top label, to find..... another identical Whatstone label!

I think Louis Lachenal (his workers) made the woodwork, fitted the action, and possibly made the complete instrument, but there's no way of knowing for sure. It is possible that those large rivets used for the reeds were of Lachenal manufacture, as were the stamped rounded-end reed-frames [early Wheatstone concertinas typically used 'square' ended reeds, in hand-made reedpans]. Inside there is a Wheatstone paper ring to identify the reeds. [Wheatstone used rivetted reeds again, later, at the time Edward Chidley was in charge, but reverted to the usual screwed, clamped reeds, although there are variations post WW2].

WHY?

Well I don't know who else would have rebuilt this interesting (early Louis Lachenal?) concertina, if I hadn't! Surely that's reason enough, to save this little instrument?

Photo's

Wheatstone 32 key English.

Restoration work.

19/01/2026

Repair, restore: What to expect.

What do we mean by repairing or restoring an instrument, and what can you expect?

Well, we are just making a video showing several instruments, that arrived at the same time, showing how we assessed them, and necessary repairs.

When someone brings an instrument to us, we assess it, usually from the position of "what would I do if this were mine, and being prepared for sale on our website", and nearly always work out a quote. That is a fixed price for the work, any experienced repairer should be able to do that, as long as the instrument can be dismantled.

Frequently we have to re-do poor quality repairs, sometimes wrong materials used, or work not done correctly. Sometimes we even have to correct manufacturing faults. In an ideal world we would always do everything that we considered necessary, but there is inevitably a compromise between what is ideal, the economics of the repair, and what the customer wants. Frequently the customer has just bought the concertina, perhaps from a dealer, and supposedly restored, but has already found it is not as good as it should be!

Shown here is a Lachenal & Co. 32 key C/G Anglo, this has been repaired for our own stock, and is currently available for sale on our website.

This is a typical repair. When this came to us it was scruffy and neglected, but thankfully had not suffered from any previous poor repairs, as so many have. It was not particularly well assembled when made, so it was necessary to also make several changes to the action. Thankfully the reeds are very good. This is what we have done, and this is what you can expect if you bring us a concertina for repair: Replacing defective parts, repairing faults, and making it play better than when new!

Following an assessment this is what we have done:

Dismantle, clean throughout, reglue unstable woodwork (and previous historic action crack) remove old valves. Remove moth-eaten pads. The action has been overhauled, there were several levers that had been assembled wrongly, and several loose pivots. The end supports were wrong, and the angle of some of the levers meant that the ends were pushing down on those levers, causing sticking buttons and some air loss, probably from new. Buttons cleaned and bushed, extra chamois dampers (as original) were added, pads and mounts were replaced, lever-washers as necessary, end supports adjusted, some springs replaced (some were altered to improve the feel of the action as many of the buttons were very heavily sprung or pulled to one side). All the buttons were then levelled. New straps were fitted, and a missing strap-screw was replaced with a matching original Lachenal part (we have large stocks of original parts for use in the repairs we do). End-bolts cleaned, slots re-cut and metal fittings cleaned and polished as necessary. The original bellows were repaired and will be good for many years to come. The reed-pan support blocks were re-glued where necessary, reed-pan seals adjusted, and the reed-pan fit into the bellows frames corrected. The reedpans were cleaned to remove previous valve glue (thankfully original animal glue, not the Evostik that we come across all to frequently!) and the reeds were cleaned, reset, and tuned (in this case to A=440hz equal temperament, but other tunings are possible). New valves added, and any missing valve-stop pins replaced.The reeds were tuned again, and again, and again, and again....etc. until we can be sure they will remaiin in tune for a long while to come. The tuning process takes several weeks, there are no short-cuts! We play the concertinas we repair, so if there are any problems they can be found and remedied. We have improved the external finish locally where necessary, but we would not refinish an instrument (French polish) unless the finish was very bad. (likewise with the end-plating) unless it is really bad, we would always aim for a more subtle, sympathetic repair, retaining it's originality where possible. Finally, after many hours work (and remember this is a typical repair, with all the same attention applied to all the repairs we do) we put on our label, sign the repair, and date it. If a repairer has any pride in his work that work will be clearly marked, and it's history will be known, if there's not a label and date, it has not been repaired by a professional - it's as simple as that!

If that sounds a lot, it is! However it is all necessary to get the concertina playing as it should, usually better than new!

Next time: More of the same! "The world's worst Wheatstone"? (or what happens when curiosity gets the better of your judgement!)

Photo's: Lachenal 32 key C/G (extra buttons have useful notes). showing repairs done using correct pattern parts, looking almost as it would have when first made, but playing much better!

30/12/2025

Unique David Leggett 33 key Anglo.

David Leggett was a craftsman and amateur concertina maker. I met him down at The Cadgwith Cove Inn a couple of years before he died, and I found him a very amiable and interesting man, so when I was offered one of his concertinas recently, I decided to buy it. Dave Leggett made some attractive instruments, but the ones I had previously played lacked the response that a professionally made concertina should have had. This one was made in Bb/F but the reeds (made by Dave, supposedly from saw blades!) were not well shaped nor well fitted and required a lot of effort to play, slow to repsond with a breathy sound... and there isn't much demand for an Anglo in Bb/F (we do have several in stock). In order to get the best response, nearly all the reed-tongues were removed, re-fitted more accurately, and profiled for a better response and tone. That process actually raised the pitch a tone, so now it is in a more useful C/G and playing much better. Not as loud as a Lachenal, but with rivetted brass levers, it feels nice to play. All the parts of this
concertina were new except for the reed-frames that he re-cycled.

The ends have a very 'Arts and Crafts' look to them, but I was
wondering if there was any local influence to the design like a celtic
knot (kolm keltek in Cornish) or Troika Pottery (from St. Ives). Any ideas?

As this was virtually unplayable (and in Bb/F) it had little or no
use over the last few years, but it is now playing so much better, a lot of overtime work, but worth it.

The leagacy of Dave Leggett: An 'as new' C/G concertina, with
traditional concertina reeds, playing so much better than new. There are two extra note buttons, and also a unique Dave Leggett feature: a 'duck call'!

Check our web-site 'For Sale' for this and other instruments restored
for sale, or waiting for restoration.

Wishing you all a very happy 2026

(photo' Dave Leggett 33 key Anglo in C/G)

06/12/2025

A Christmas Conversation.... (between middle-class father and daughter, theoretical)

Father: "Ah, my dearest daughter, perhaps I might buy you a gift
for Christmas? Something musical Perhaps?..."

Daughter: "I want a concertina!"

Father: "Oh, well that will cost rather a lot, perhaps a whistle?..." (cost; a few pence)

Daugher: "I want a concertina!!"

Father: "Very Well, I see Messrs Lachenal & Co. have a delightful
instrument, with mahogany ends". (cost two Guineas! or two times £1.1s. 0d)

Daughter: "I want shiny metal ends!"

Father: "Oh! ... I see there is one with metal ends... and ebonised sides..."

Daughter: "I want Rosewood!"

Father: "Brazilian Rosewood is very nice (but rather expensive) with those metal ends." (£1.0.0. extra)

Daughter: "I want more leaves, and shoots, and flowers!"

Father: "Oh, well perhaps Messrs Lachenal & Co., would be able to make one specially for you? That would look very nice indeed, will there be anything else you want?" (cost now over ten Guineas)

Daughter: "I want pink!"

[ Ten Guineas (ten pounds, ten shillings) in the 1800s might be worth over £6,600 today, based on the cost of a pint of beer then and now! ]

Pictured below: Lachenal & Co. catalogue. Lachenal English treble (in stock E48L!). Lachenal English treble 'Pink' (available shortly)

Wishing you all a Very Merry Christmas from A C Norman & Co.

02/11/2025

Day Off

Sometimes we have customers visit on a Saturday, but last Saturday we had a day off! A visit to Siddington All Saints Church near Congleton. The church is timber-framed, although part is enclosed within brick to strengthen it after the timber framed bowed due to too heavy stone roof slabs being used to replace thatch. The church received publicity some time ago when it held services for pets and animals! However, we were there to see the display of corn-dollies... hundreds of them...throughout the church, displayed annually following their harvest festival.

So what has this got to do with concertinas? Well, all the corn-dollies were made by Raymond Rush, former engineer, farmer, and lay-reader, who in his later life lived next door to the church. He had a passion for country crafts and collected old tools and bygones, including musical instruments, collected when living in Shropshire.

Here we have one of those, a German made 20 key Mayenburg in C/G, that I bought from his estate dispersal sale a few years ago. I have reworked the reeds, tuned it and improved the action, so it now plays very nicely, a copy of a Lachenal. We currently have several of this make available, see our website 'For Sale' page.

We are always looking to buy unusual and early concertinas, and also any that need a lot of work to repair, however if you have anything to sell, let us know.

Pictures: All Saints Church, Siddington.
Corn dollies on display in the church.
Mayenburg Anglo from the Raymond Rush collection, with guide book written and illustrated by Raymond Rush.

06/05/2025

A Duo of Duetts:

These were the first Wheatstone concertinas with the 'duett' system of 1854, later developed by Prof' J. Maccann in 1884.These simple duett models have five rather than Maccann's six rows, with just one sharp (F #). There was music published for this type of concertina, but really they were under-developed, delicate, and quite poorly made, perhaps bought in by Wheatstone, but with Wheatstone type reeds (different in both of these)? Oddly they are tuned flat, a whole tone down from contemporary 'high pitch' (3/4 of a tone down from A=440hz). Both have taken a lot of work to get them to this stage, the rosewood ended one will be tuned as necessary but left in it's original pitch and temperament. The mahogany ended one requires quite a few reeds replaced so it could be reeded for a modern C (rather than transposed to Bb) perhaps even with steel reeds? Anyone interested in one?

Following on from our post of 21/10/24, about similar looking but different quality concertinas:

This German 20 key looks attractive, with the same fretwork design as the other three (all probably looking much the same as each other in contemporary hand-drawn catalogues!) but if this were chosen in comparison to the others, the owner might have been a bit dissapointed.

Although the woodwork is made much like the others, and the bellows are six fold (copper tooled!) the reeds are typical of early German type, ten reeds per plate. However the reedplates are heavy brass, with brass reeds on the left, and slightly brighter nickel reeds on the right. The levers and buttons are typical German design too. Lots of work done on this: New valves, one replacement reed, tuning, straps, one new button, new matching green fabric, and every corner of the bellows repaired (bettter and neater than running wide strips of the wrong coloured leather over every fold, and over the papers too - conservation rather than the crude repairs so often seen).

I have a psssion for early Anglos, English, and unusual concertinas, please let me know if you have anything like this for sale, regardless of condition, that needs saving!

Photo's

A Duo of Duetts.

Not so much "Basic, Better, Best" more like "very basic, basic, not quite as basic, still basic"!

The rather pretty "very basic" German Anglo after restoration.

17/03/2025

Spring update!

Here is some of what we have been doing this year:

Firstly a mention of an R Tedrow (Homewood Music, Alabama.) G/D Anglo that we are selling on commission (see 'For Sale' page on our web-site). This has been improved, serviced, and tuned, and is in 'like new' condition. There are three extra buttons (33 in total), that could be altered to suit a players preference.

Video link
https://youtu.be/k4gAg2Ms35A
We have also been working on the the second of the baritones on order for this year.

Then there is the G Jones 31 key C/G. A bargain at £50 (plus auction fees)! ........Or not!

This was in very poor condition with lots of damage to the ends, buttons, bellows and reeds etc. However, I decided it was worth saving, so the reeds have been repaired and tuned, new valves fitted, ends repaired, several levers and buttons replaced, new straps and pads. The bellows have been extensively repaired too. What is strange about this instrument though, is that it appears to have been altered, with the button positions moved up (as original guide holes and handbar screws are lower) but they are so close to the top now, that several of the levers have to cross as there is not enough room. It is possible that it was going to be a 26 key with squeakers, but was altered whilst still under construction. Why? There are areas in the ends that were never cut out. Why? A changed or cancelled order? An apprentice job that didn't go to plan? I guess I will never know for sure. Was it all worth it? Although cheap to buy, it took many, many, hours to repair!

Yes it is nice now, plays nicely, and looks good, but perhaps I should have known better, or been less optimistic! I guess I will end up keep this!

This isn't the only concertina we have, that repairs are going to be uneconomical, but some old and battered instruments really are worth repairing, historically important concertinas that otherwise could well be lost forever! Let us know if you have something ancient, unusual, or just odd! We will be happy to quote for repairs, or make an offer if you want to sell something. We always like a challenge!

Coming soon...... more progress on the Wheatstone Duetts!

26/01/2025

This post is a selecion of some of the more unusual repairs we have
recently undertaken, and a couple of new ones.

From the large Italian piano concertina with handmade nickel accordion type reeds, to the Wheatstone F English, now converted to a very useful 43 key tenor, and a Lachenal Anglo tuned to A=432hz ("the frequency of the universe").

We have recently made a 32 key treble English (with low F) tuned to 1/4 comma meantone. That means the major thirds should be perfect. A preferred method of tuning in the 18th century, but of course the G # and Ab only work in their respective scales and are not interchangeable as in Equal Temperament (the same with all the other sharps and flats). Meantone was used on Anglos, but with a diatonic scale, making chords across the rows may not always sound right, also if your concertina was not in C, for instance a B/F # concertina, then a sharpened sharp, becomes a double sharp. So the most useful C #/D # button on the top row of a C/G Anglo should (in a B/F # box) become B #/C # #. [Jeffries made quite a number of Anglos with 'Artistic' tuning, having G # and Ab, as
well as the D # and Eb etc.].

We have also recently made a 36 key concertina, derived from the English system, but with a number of the sharps and flats replaced with duplicate natural nates, to enable quick repeats of the same note, to be played, particularly for Scottish music. The customer also decided on the use of Muller handstraps (instead of the usual thumb-straps, and wrist-straps) and also specified increased distances between the buttons. This is now known as "The Caledonian Concertina".

We are always happy to consider unique one-off instruments, or
variations not available elsewhere. We have a busy year ahead, with five baritones on order before we can start on the miniatures!

21/12/2024

Christmas 2024

With Christmas fast approaching, we would like to wish all our customers (and friends) a VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR.

As usual, we are still hard at work, on a viariety of instruments:
Currently a new English (playing down to F rather than the usual G), and just finished a Wheatstone Tenor, and a Wheatstone 48 key treble originally ordered as a single action, but with ebony ends and gilt buttons and fittings (I wonder why?) with monogrammed thumb-strap screws (for sale).

On-going are a MayFair English, and two early Wheatstone 24 key Duett concertinas, one in very bad condition, the other much worse! Finally a Jones Anglo with badly broken ends, missing and broken buttons, an assortment of reeds, and crudely patched bellows. Everything black with dirt! However I am optimistic it will be a good player when repaired.

Have a look at out web-site 'For sale' page, to see the instruments we have for sale, all properly restored, and ready to play your favourite Christmas music!

Photo's: Wheatstone 48 treble.

Mayenburg 48 treble

28/11/2024

When a concertina arrives with an end like this, where do you start?

At first it would be easy to think there is nothing to work from, the
left and right ends have a different design, so where to start?

First the 'blank' is made up from black veneer and ply (the same as the right side). As for the design, it happens that I replaced the right side (that was in this sort of state) quite some years back, and kept a copy of the left and right end designs. So all I had to do was to redraw the left side, glue the pattern onto the blank, drill and cut the design, drill the buttons holes, glue and trim the woodwork, profile the edges, sand and stain it, polish it, bush the button holes, fit the handbars, and refit it. Easy? Nothing about concertinas repairs is easy, but this was a logical repair. The buttons and fittings were polished, new pads and valves, and tuned as necessary. One fabulous Wheatstone playing like new again. We do like a challenge!

Slightly more straightforward, are the ends shown, destined for a new 32 key English (to order) in 6mm marine ply, should last a long time!

Photo's: Wheatstone 40 key Anglo end, 'before and after'.

A C Norman & Co. Custom 32 key English .

Address

"Paddock", Rowton, Halfway House
Shrewsbury
SY59EL

Telephone

+441743884583

Website

http://www.acnorman.co.uk/

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