Rare two manual melodeon built in 1869 in Buffalo, New York, by George Prince.

Cabinet: Mostly original finish; parts that have been touched up were not stripped; square piano style with scalloped molding around bottom of case and four carved cabriole legs. Body is rosewood, legs are poplar stained and grained to match. Beautiful museum quality look.

Action: Two manuals, two sets of reeds, 8' pitch on bottom keyboard and 4' pitch on upper keyboard; has 4 stops, three of which control different volume levels by opening or closing swells over the reeds. The fourth is an upper to lower unison coupler. This also has a "Basso Tento" device which when locked on by a hand lever, will sustain any note in the bottom octave as a pedalpoint; both hands can then be used to play music above this sustained bass note. The stops names are: Principal Forte, Diapason Forte, Coupler, and Divided Swell.

Fully restored with special attention given to its extreme rarity. A museum quality restoration. Probably no more than 100 two-manual melodeons are in existence, of which this model was the ultimate. One of the last built because of the gaining popularity of the cabinet (flat top) organs. A great variety of combinations of tonalities can be obtained by the use of the stops. Has replacement cast metal pedal lyre and pedals copied from an 1859 Prince melodeon. This instrument has a full, rich, and powerful sound that would normally not be expected from a melodeon.

G. Prince Two Manual Melodeon - 1869

Date: Ca. 1869

Serial #: 30485

Double Keyboard: 61 notes each

Key covering: All original ivory with rounded overhang in mint condition; boxwood fronts and ebony sharps.