A Tale of Two Jeffries

Jeffries #1

She thought it was a C/G although some pads had clearly fallen off and so it was not playable and so it was basically impossible to determine the pitch since many reeds were sounding when the bellows were pressed. From the scans she sent me (the old "concertina plopped on the scanner" trick), I could tell that it was an early one with only "C. Jeffries Maker" indicated on the end. The usual date associated with these "C. Jeffries Maker" units is around 1890, although I suspect this could be off by a good 10 years or more in either direction. From what I've heard, these early ones were generally better (or could be better) than the later "Praed street" (spelling?) models, so I wasn't worried about the age.

She described it as being in good condition. So with the description and the photos (mostly of the metal ends), we sealed the deal and less than a week after our initial contact, the concertina was on its way across Canada. In case you're wondering, we did the deal by COD. Not the ideal way (using a trusted middleman/escrow would have been the safest for both), but she was pretty sure I wanted it, and I was pretty sure I'd keep it (it WAS a Jeffries after all!) Since a pretty large sum of money was involved, I arranged to have a couple of days after delivery to inspect the concertina and return it for a full refund (minus postage) should I find it really damaged and worthless. This was needed, as I had no way of knowing if it had been properly stored all these years or if the reeds were rusted away.

It finally arrived on December 11 (Canada Post isn't the world's finest). What an exciting day! I opened it up and sure enough, it was a real Jeffries with original bellows with beautiful gold tooling and bellows paper with greenish ink. As I suspected though, the pads were all falling off and it was not playable. She also described the bellows as not leaky, but they were really completely shot with the leather all old and cracked and leaky as hell, especially around every edge (see photo below). Still, I had a few days to check it out and return it, so I glued all the pads back together (the sandwiches were coming apart) and back in place (with a tiny drop of white glue) and got it playable. Luckily, the pads were all still there floating around inside the action.

Wow, what a sound! Many reeds were not sounding, and there was a lot of leakage between notes (so pressing a key resulted in several reeds sounding), but I was able to play a number of tunes and it didn't take long for me to fall in love with it. The action was light and consistent. The reeds spoke quickly and with authority. I could play quietly or blast away at full volume, and all at speeds and with ornamentation where my Lachenal would have started to drop notes and sound a bit muddy and clickety-clackety (due to the different action and reeds). The tone was definitely brighter and brasher than the Lachenal, but beautiful in its own way. Still, to the untrained ear (and I'm sure to many trained ears!), the warm, round and mellow tone of the Lachenal would probably sound better. I later realized that this partly because I was of course playing the Jeffries like I played my Lachenal, but nonetheless, the Jeffries is still brighter and brasher.

Another thing I noticed immediately: this thing was much heavier than my Lachenal! Now, it isn't a real tank or anything, but I made an immediate mental note to retract my comment I made in my NHICS '98 report about the Suttner Jeffries copy I tried being a little heavy. So consider this a public retraction: as far as I can remember, the Suttner Jeffries copy I tried was not any heavier than either of my old Jeffries! Compared to the Jeffries, my Lachenal was a veritable featherweight. I don't have a scale, but with one concertina in each hand, the Jeffries was clearly much heavier. I'm now a little more used to the weight, but it takes time to make something heavier feel like a part of your body when you play once you're used to a certain heft.

After fooling around with it for a while (and gluing yet more pads back in place), I remembered to check the tuning with my new little digital Korg CA-10 tuner (a steal at under $20 by the way!). Turns out it's a Bb/F. Just to make sure it really was a Bb/F and not just seriously out of tune (I'd heard stories of people making tuning mistakes this way), I opened it up that evening and checked the notes stamped on the reed carriers (this is standard practice on just about every concertina I think). Yep, it had always been a Bb/F. Still, the tuner registered most notes at about 25 cents sharp.

I then opened it up and gave the insides including all the reeds a really good inspection. The woodwork and action looked remarkably good and clean, with no cracks or apparent damage. Then I took a look at the reed pans. Ouch! First, a little concertina anatomy: A concertina reed pan is basically a thick piece of maple which pressure fits into the wooden reed frame. What keeps it from flopping against the inside of the bellows? Normally, there are small triangular wooden blocks glued to the inside of the bellows frame. These blocks support each of the six corners of the reed pan and so keep the reed pan at the proper height and keep it neatly sandwiched against the inside of the action board (the board with all the holes in it that are opened and closed by the raising and lowering of the pads when you press a key). So what happens when one or more of these supporting blocks falls off? You got it. The corner of the reed pan with no support is pushed inwards and warps and/or cracks. Luckily there were no cracks, but one block was missing from the right-side bellows frame, and two adjacent blocks were missing from the lower left side (where the low notes are on the left side). Both reed pans were warped inward (towards the bellows). Holding a straightedge across the reed pan and measuring the lowest point of the "dip" or bow, the right side warp measured 1/16", and the left warp measured 1/8". This might not sound like much without actually seeing it, but trust me, on an instrument only 6" across, 1/8" looks huge, especially when your bank account is now nearly empty after buying this piece of warped wood. So the warps were clearly the cause of the leakage between notes, since the tops of the reed chambers were now not firmly sealed against the ends of the action boards.

I discovered the warps in the reed pans at about 10:00 PM. What a nightmare. I was terribly worried and disappointed. I'm such a worry wart that I didn't even sleep well that night. So the next day I called Doug at The Button Box (where I bought my beautiful old Lachenal about 2-1/2 years earlier). Doug immediately put my mind at ease and suggested that the warp could be repaired and/or worked around. Phew! We also spoke for a while about the other problems including the dead bellows and the need for new pads and valve flaps, although these last two were still in remarkably good shape and for the most part workable.

As I suspected, getting it back into tip-top shape would probably run around $1000 US or so (that's over $1500 Canadian -- I live in Canada), including new bellows from one of the makers in the UK. Not a terrible price considering that a good chunk of that was just for the bellows, but I was broke. So what to do? Originally, I had no plans to sell my Lachenal. I really did like it and I was thinking that it would be nice to keep the Lachenal for the warmer and mellower sound. Still, it didn't take me long to realize that with a Jeffries and a Lachenal side by side, I would never pick up the Lachenal. The action on the Jeffries really was that much better, regardless of the tone I was in a mood for. So I was then thinking of selling the Lachenal to pay for a complete overhaul of the Jeffries, but then I found out that it was a Bb/F. The lower tone of the Bb/F was simply lovely and since I found out that the warped reed pans didn't spell disaster, I had decided to keep the Jeffries, but if I sold the Lachenal, I'd then be without a session instrument. Not that I ever play in sessions, but the possibility gets greater all the time the better I get and the more tunes I learn. What to do? Read on...

Jeffries #2

The price he was asking for a restored C/G Jeffries sounded too good to be true. It was. When it arrived at the middleman, I was told that it was in pretty bad shape, but I was also told that it was still well worth the asking price and everyone said I would be crazy to let it go. So I bought it. My decision was also made easier by the fact that I had a feeling I could get this one at least playable by myself. Sure, it would need some professional work (tuning and such), but I was now desperate for a playable instrument.

While I was waiting for the C/G to arrive, I did what I could with the Bb/F to get it playable. This wasn't much actually, because there really weren't many small things to do. It needed big stuff (bellows, reed chamber sealing/adjusting to accommodate the warping, tuning, etc.) that only a professional could do (at least in my opinion). Still, I got it so it was mostly working, but then disaster! One of the action arms actually popped off! Now, this is not supposed to be able to happen with an instrument with riveted action! The lever arm is supposed to be riveted to the supporting post which is firmly seated into the action board. So what had happened? Well, this instrument had clearly seen a LOT of use. Someone had enjoyed it for many years. The wear on the wooden palm rests showed this. As a result of probably millions of button pushes, the friction of the lever pivoting on the rivet and the spring pushing up on the arm had actually caused the rivet hole in the arm to wear right through the underside. The arm was now obviously worthless. I don't know much about metal or metalwork, but I knew there was no way it could be repaired. In a panic I contacted a few people to find out what could be done only to be told that this was perfectly normal in old unrestored instruments and that the post/arm/rivet assemblies could be replaced with spares or newly made parts. What a relief! To see an original part from such an old instrument clearly worthless was very discouraging, not in the least because it would mean an additional expense.

The arm which wore through was obviously the most used: the top middle key on the left side (what would be the A/G key on a C/G instrument). I realized that the same key on the right also gets a lot of use. A quick check confirmed my fear. There was a lot of vertical play in that and several other often-used assemblies. Obviously, there should be no vertical play in a riveted assembly. So here I was with one absolutely unplayable concertina (the arm just popped off if I tried to play at all), my Lachenal sold, and another concertina of questionable quality and condition on its way. More than once I lay awake at night wondering what I had gotten myself into and whether or not I had let my own greed and hardware-envy ruin my love of the instrument. I was getting very nervous and depressed because I was also now not able to play at all and playing my concertina had become a true source of joy for me. Rarely in the 2-1/2 years since I had purchased my Lachenal had more than a day or two gone by where I didn't play the concertina.

I got the C/G Jeffries a few weeks later. The cheque took forever to get out West -- this time it was the United States post office that messed up! It was barely playable. There was lots of corrosion (but only a little on the inside of the reeds thank God!) covering just about everything, and the Dipper bellows from 1985 were extremely stiff and dry and barely usable. It's hard to believe, but all in all, it was far worse (sounding and playing) than my Lachenal. Many reeds were squeaky and out of tune, some didn't sound, and there was leakage between notes in a few areas due to a missing bellows frame reed-pan supporting block which once again led to some warpage (just a little though). The action mechanism was also so corroded and just plain dirty that the action was quite mushy and unresponsive over a number of keys. Still, it was a Jeffries, with Jeffries reeds and mostly original action, and so I thought that it at least must have some potential.

During the next few weeks I completely took the instrument apart. Taking apart a Jeffries is actually easier than a Lachenal. Just loosen the end bolts, take off the action box and the pull out the reed pan. Don't forget to keep the end bolts organized so you're sure to put them back into their original holes (I used an inverted foam cup with holes punched in the end). Fewer screws and easier to reassemble than a Lachenal if you ask me. Of course by now I had taken apart these two a number of times and so was getting very bored with screwing and unscrewing those end bolts a million times!

One thing I discovered was the the C/G was originally a Bb/F. It was indeed restored by Colin Dipper in 1985. There is a note from him, written in pencil, on one of the reed pans saying that it was "re-reeded with Jeffries reeds to C/G in November 1985". I'm not sure whether this means that he put Jeffries C/G reeds into the Bb/F reed carriers or that he re-tuned the Bb/F to C/G, but either way, the reed carriers are the originals, as the Bb/F pitch stamps are still visible under the newer C/G stamps. Either way, everyone was indicating that this could also account for the somewhat thin and squeaky sound of the instrument. It was made to be a Bb/F over a hundred years ago. Mind you, it's easy to get all judgmental now, but even just 14 years ago Jeffries weren't worth much and so changing the pitch to something which could be used in a local session wasn't as sacrilegious as it would be today. The original keys were also gone and in their place were Colin's keys with the delrin (plastic) bases and metal caps (similar in construction to Wheatstone keys). They're fine keys, but the throw is very short compared to the Bb/F. This results in a very low pad lift, which is also probably muting the sound somewhat. I'm getting used to it, but I think a higher pad lift would really help it sing. One of these years I'll probably see if Colin can do something about this. I have a feeling that he can. Just taking a big off the base of each key would do the trick. Anyone good with a lathe?!?

During this time, I also cleaned all the reeds using the standard "stiff paper under the reed tongue and then pull" technique to clean off the corrosion under each reed. A few swipes on each reed removed an amazing amount of corrosion and assorted junk. I also cleaned out the black dust and goop covering everything (gently and lightly with a soft paintbrush and toothbrush), and took out and re-seated all the reeds carriers (many were jammed in their slots from years of neglect and high humidity). The metal ends and action are still pretty black and/or corroded to some extent, but I thought it best not to go for looks at this point, since I know that over the years some patina on metal is normal and helps protect it from further corrosion. I just wanted to get the excess out to let the parts move freely again. Cleaning and reseating all the reeds helped open up and tone down the sound immensely. It was now starting to sound and feel less like a Stagi and more like a Jeffries. It wasn't squeaking much and it was starting to sound a little louder and take on a more honky and growly sound. Yeah! Next it was time to figure out if those bellows could be saved.

After some discussion with various people, I tried applying a small amount of neatsfoot oil (which I purchased at a cobbler shop in a local mall) to the leather on the inside of each bellows fold. I know some people recommend not using anything except shoe polish on bellows, but the neatsfoot oil recommendation came from several excellent sources, and besides, these bellows were way beyond a simple polish job and were really in need of serious rejuvenation. It was either that or the trash. I dabbed a thin layer into each fold with an old paintbrush and wiped off any excess with a rag. I then worked the bellows back and forth for twenty minutes of so while watching TV to really work in the oil. Wow, what a difference! They immediately began to loosen up. I then left it to sit overnight just to let the oil penetrate. The next day I was so convinced that the bellows just needed a good oiling that I oiled the hell out of them (still careful not to let any soak into the inside and saturate the cardboard) and worked oil into every dry, exposed, or moving piece of leather (that just about covered the whole bellows actually). Of course this was easier also because these are plain bellows with no gold tooling or papers so I didn't have to worry about messing up the finish (which was already faded). Another day of working in the oil and working the bellows resulted in a much more playable instrument. I was starting to think that the bellows would actually be serviceable.

The result is now a pretty nice instrument! It plays and sounds quite nice now. Everyone I spoke to also just recommended playing it to help it out. Now you're probably thinking that I'm some kind of concertina nut and went crazy calling and bugging everyone I knew. Well, I was actually in contact with some of these people for other reasons too, but you're not far from the truth. So I guess this would be as good a time as any to publicly thank Richard Morse and Doug Creighton of The Button Box, Paul Groff, Colin Dipper, John Connor and Noel Hill. They were all very reassuring and helpful when I called in various stages of panic as I discovered the condition of the piles of unplayable metal and wood I had just paid ridiculous sums of money for. Yes, they weren't "cheap" by any standard. Still, they were less than the $5000 figure you see bantered about these days for fully-restored top-notch Jeffries, that's for sure.

Interestingly, the action assemblies of the most often-used keys on the C/G are also showing signs of wear with considerable vertical play. None of the arms have worn through yet and so it is still playable, but the writing is on the wall. It needs help too.

Anyway, with the C/G now playable, I finally decided to hold onto it for now and send off the Bb/F to be restored since everyone says it's a potentially much more valuable and "better" instrument, being all original. I asked everyone to not give me any presents or anything for my birthday, Hanukkah, etc. and just give me money to put towards restoration of the Jeffries. As per Noel's and Paul's suggestion, I've decided to keep the Bb/F in completely original tuning since it sounds so beautiful as it is and since finding one in original tuning is apparently so rare now. I sent it off in the middle of January, 1999, to Colin and Rosalie Dipper in England. They're going to make new bellows, fix the worn action assemblies, as well as do a whole laundry list of small fixes, but I asked them to maintain the original philharmonic and unequal temper tuning. I called a few weeks after sending it to make sure they got it (they did -- Canada Post actually came through!) As always Colin sounded positive, but did indicate that the reed pans really were "severely" warped, so that's still a source of worry for me. Still, I can't wait to get it back -- it's going to be a real beauty and I think an excellent instrument. As always, speaking with Colin was a real pleasure. He's such a very nice guy and was very reassuring and laid back which really helped calm me down when I was all worried about the various problems with both instruments. If you're looking to order a concertina, don't hesitate to give him a call -- he has never once made me feel as ignorant as I really am!

Conclusion

At first I really wasn't crazy about the sound or action of the C/G and wasn't even sure if I was going to keep it once I got the Bb/F back. Still, it was all I had and I was desperate to get playing again, so I just went at it. Again, everyone said that simply playing the poor instrument would help it out, and once again, they were right. The more I played it, the better it got. The squeaky reeds either worked out their "issues" on their own, or I pulled them out and forced them to submit to my will (no concertina is going to bully me around!) Either way, the whole instrument began to behave much better. The bellows were loosening up, the action was getting smoother, and the tone was getting richer and louder.

Was it only the instrument that was improving? No. I was also learning how to control such a beast. It's not exactly obvious, but I now know that a great instrument is not necessarily the easiest to play. I was speaking to Noel Hill about this, and he mentioned that people will sometimes pick up one of his Jeffries which is set up the way he likes it and they will find it very difficult to play. I didn't understand this at first, but now I understand that an instrument with the potential for great dynamic and tonal ranges takes a lot of effort and practice to control. My Lachenal sounded sweet and warm and pleasant pretty much no matter how I played it. Not so with the Jeffries. At first I was playing like I played my Lachenal. It just didn't work, and it sounded terrible. Once I got to know it better, I started to control the air flow and to adjust my playing style to better meet the needs of the reeds and action. It makes a huge difference. The heavier weight also was difficult to adjust to, but I hardly notice it now. It did make my shoulder quite sore for a few weeks though, and it made me adjust my posture and style. I could be sloppier with the lightweight and more forgiving Lachenal. Poor posture and a tense upper body with the Jeffries led to aches and pains and sore muscles. This was also the case because I found myself having to be a bit more aggressive on the bellows due to their stiffness and I think in part due to the low pad lift which required me to play a bit "harder" (louder) to get a tone that I was pleased with. After many hours of play, the reeds now respond much better, but the tone is still kind of thin and tinny when played softly.

Still, it's shaping up to be a fine instrument, so I now have no plans to part with it. Not at least until someone drops a find old Wheatstone in my lap! (I'm kidding!! ... Kind of...)

Would I recommend that you do as I did if you're ever offered an unrestored Jeffries or Wheatstone? Yes and no. I'd recommend it only if you don't mind taking risks, have money to spare, are patient, and don't have to sell your current instrument. I didn't meet any of those requirements and I still made out okay (well, at least I think I'll feel more like I did when I get the Bb/F back), but it has been a very stressful few months, both emotionally and financially. I would definitely not recommend delaying an order of a new Suttner, Dipper, Wheatstone or Connor (apologies if I'm forgetting anyone!) just on the hopes that you'll find an unrestored Jeffries or Wheatstone -- despite my good luck, this is becoming quite rare and difficult. Besides, it turns out that the final cost of even one of my Jeffries (after restoration including new bellows which are almost always required) is going to be more than a brand new Jeffries or Wheatstone copy would cost you (and maybe not much less than a restored Jeffries), and you would have none of the issues I've detailed above to deal with. With that said, should an unrestored Jeffries materialize, you'd probably be crazy to pass it up if it's under $2000 US and at least restorable. Music and instruments are emotional and sometimes mystical things while money -- as my father once told me when I was worrying about it recently -- is just paper. And this web page is just digital paper, so get back to enjoying your music and instruments already!