HAVE you ever taken a look at the things that lurk inside your loft space at home? For most people, there will be random collections of items that were put away for another time—probably the odd Christmas tree, a spare box of floor tiles and old kids toys that were put up there out of the way ‘just in case.’
In many attics, though, there lies hidden treasures in varying degrees of condition and value and some that come with quite a sizeable monetary value also. And what am I talking about specifically? Musical instruments!
For decades I’ve had people come to me saying something along the lines of ‘I’ve got this old accordion—or other instrument—that we found up in the loft, it was in a case, looks pretty battered, but it might be of use to someone, can you take a look?’ When I hear those words, I tend to get quite excited, because of the intrigue as to what might be in that box—almost like a time capsule to a different time is always a fun experience to unearth. Once the box is opened up, you tend to get an immediate idea as to the ‘quality’ of the instrument. Is it by one of the good makers, or is it more of a learner instrument? Then after a quick dust off and try to play it, what sort of condition is it in?
Whilst my own domain in this attic hunting world revolves around accordions and concertinas, there are often fiddles (violins) and flutes amongst others unearthed in homes too. Depending on the lineage of homes, maybe they were placed there by relatives of the current incumbents, but there are also instances of people moving into homes and there just happened to be items left over by the previous owners—with instruments being amongst the left behind items.
For me, I find it all a little sad in a way that there are these instruments lying around and not being used for their intended purpose whilst keen learners are in the local area often on years long waiting lists to purchase instruments that they don’t have.
If you do happen to have an old instrument up in your loft that you saw during a rummage at some point, do get in touch either with myself or even a local Comhaltas branch or other community group that teach music. I would be confident that any such group would be delighted to accept any donations and would look to see if any instruments can be put to good use.
It may well be those years of exposure to extremely unsuitable conditions—possibly even leaking roofs—mean that some instruments are too damaged beyond being salvageable to play, but every so often one crops up in near-perfect condition.
I once got a call about an accordion that was known to be in a loft for more than 30 years. My initial thoughts were that if the timeline is correct, it won’t be anywhere near playable, but I was wrong!
I’ve talked a lot about the value of these instruments to musicians and what they can achieve by playing them. However there may well be a hidden gem of an instrument too that has significant monetary value too.
Upon one such appraisal of an ‘old accordion that’s been in our loft since we moved in,’ I was presented with an old leather-bound battered case, which instantly looked as if it was from the middle of the last century. After fighting through a fair few layers of dust and several creepie crawlies, which had made the case their home, inside was the ‘holy grail’ of accordions—a 1940s grey Paolo Soprani accordion.
Now make no mistake, in the condition it was found in—which included significant water damage—it would have been nowhere near the £10,000+ value of one in good condition, a trip to a repair specialist and a little investment has meant that a young musician has been able to give this extremely rare instrument a new lease of life.
Paddy Callaghan is the Operations Manager of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann in Britain. You can follow him on Twitter: @paddy_box and Instagram: paddy_box and contact him via e-mail at: paddy@comhaltas.co.uk
PIC: KARIM MANJRA
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