Wakker Hayden Duet
concertinas
 

  W- H1  with padouk ends    

Made by hand, by Wim and Karen Wakker, the Wakker Hayden duet concertina is a marriage of  traditional techniques, materials and designs, combined with the latest CNC technology, guaranteeing the highest standard of precision.  
The entire instrument, including the reed tongues and frames and all fittings, is made at our workshop. Each instrument is a hand-crafted "one off"  and only a limited number of these instruments are made each year.

             W- H1  with quilted maple ends

Model W-H1
Standard configuration: 46 flat top keys, raised ebonized  or black wahsed hardwood ends, 7 fold black bellows, steel reeds (short scaled) in individual brass frames.

Standard configuration:
 - Octagonal (8 sided)  6 1/3"
 - 46 keys
 - 7 fold bellows
 - Raised hardwood ends
 - steel tongues in individual brass frames
 - flat metal keys/delrin® cores.

  Hayden pricelist   options   

Right hand

  Left hand 

Model W-H2
Standard configuration: 65 flat top keys, raised ebonized or black washed hardwood ends, 7 fold black bellows, steel reeds (custom scaled) in individual brass frames.

Standard configuration:
- Octagonal (8 sided) 7 1/2"
- 65 keys
- 7 fold bellows
- Raised hardwood ends
- steel tongues in individual brass
  frames
- flat metal keys/delrin® cores.
 

   Hayden pricelist   options

                                                                                                            W- H2  with ebonized ends

Right hand:

Left hand:

Construction and Materials
We take great effort in the selection and preparation of the materials we use.  Depending on the model, the woods we use include European and American maple, sycamore, mahogany, spruce, ayous and ebony. 
We are one of only a few makers that offer raised ends on all our models.  For this we use solid tone woods, either  ebonized, black washed or natural.  Our metal ended instruments can either be nickel, silver or gold  plated.

Finish
All our instruments are french polished. French polishing is considered to be the most exclusive of finishes. It is a combination of shellac, ethanol and skill.  Unlike other finishes, it is invisible but at the same time enhances even the smallest details of the grain.  It takes about 9 hours to french polish a concertina. 

Reeds
The reeds are the most important part of the concertina. Our instruments have traditional concertina reeds, not accordion type reeds. 
A reed consist of a  single steel tongue mounted in individual brass or aluminum frames. Our Hayden models have "short scaled" reeds.

We make our own reeds, using custom made machines. This enables us to optimize the design and fit of our frames and tongues, allowing extreme small tolerances with a maximum deviation of 0.01mm/0.003 inch. 

to learn more about concertina reeds click here.  

Bellows
We offer two different types of  bellows on our Hayden concertinas: 
1) traditional, Wheatstone style, with leather gussets and bindings and black papers.
2) All leather. 

We use the finest quality goat skin, tested for impurities and air tightness.

Action
The action is riveted. The levers and post are cut out of brass. The key travel on our  actions is 'fine tuned'  to ca.60 grams of pressure.
The buttons  are 'Wheatstone type': delrin® or wooden core, with a metal sleeve. Our Hayden models have flat top keys. Domed keys are optional.
 

Customizing
Several aspects are subject to personal preference. The following subjects can be personalized:

• Bellows: traditional or all leather. 7 folds are standard, extra  folds are optional.  The standard color is black, but other colors are available.

• tongues/reed frames. Standard are steel tongues in individual brass frames. Optional: steel tongues in aluminum frames (model W-H2 only). 
   

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