Left side:

4-choirs with pull register, (4x16'+8'+4' and 15x8'+8'+4')

At the beginning of the 19th century, the focus was still on the performance of chamber music, at the end of the 19th century it was the orchestra. A comparable change can also be observed in the field of harmonicas.

If the first concertinas were all single-choir instruments, later up to 6-choirs instruments were built. This is made possible by the advanced art of manufacturing and demanded by new listening habits.

Right side:

3-choirs with pull register (8'+8°+4')

Instruments with many choirs lack sharpness and assertiveness in chapels, because the wind pressure is distributed over the many chambers of several choirs. This is why the transient response of the individual reeds is slower.

The transient response within a few tenths of a second is decisive for the timbre of an instrument. During this period is formed the typical tone components of an instrument.

The buttons on the top are pull registers, two of which must be pulled at the same time to activate the choirs 8'+8°+4' selectively.

The sound becomes fuller, softer, but also more 'mellow' with an increasing number of choirs (switchable choirs), but also more 'fuzzy', which is not suitable for playing in larger chapels due to the poorer perceptibility of the instrument.

This disadvantage is not to be confused with a lack of volume, but the sound lacks "sharpness".

Multi-choir models are used as solo instruments or in small formations (duo, trio).

In tango music, on the other hand, exclusively 2-choir (8'+4') instruments are used, in order to have a clear, sharp and contrasting sound.

Sale notice

Georg Bässler from Marbach in Flöhatal (by Chemnitz) in Saxony

Sign in the instrument case

Founding of the company in 1865 by Carl Ernst Bässler in Marbach near Flöha

Later in Dresden-Cotta, Klopstockstr. 38, Hölderlinstr. 29