Nigel Champion

The maker is shown as W (William) Jeffries, 38 Craven Park. There's some discussion here:

I suspect the "excess" glue is to reinforce the super-thin cardboard layer! Nigel

I have one reed in a 1972 Crabb 48-key EC that drops by 12 cents under pressure. It is one of largest/lowest reeds. I've wracked my brains for a possible cause. Any advice would be appreciated. Nigel

If you scan the page with black paper behind it, the writing on the page's reverse side is much less intrusive. I find your scan above very difficult to read because of the bleedthrough. Good luck.

I have a small stash of used long 1g screws. Ironically, the only one that isn't corroded to some extent is the one that sheared. With that shearing in mind, I'm wary of using brass. For a 1972 metal-ended Crabb EC with corroded and sheared 2g screws, I chose to replace them with M2 stainless countersunk screws from Aliexpress available in 25 & 30 mm lengths. The downside is the crosspoint head but I also replaced the two smaller M2 screws with matching crosspoint stainless machine screws & locknuts. The crosspoints may not suit the antique perfectionists but I don't expect any problems for a long while.

J Vickers were instrument dealers and often re-badged the merchandise with their own name. It can be seen on the label inside the case.

This thread reminds me of a fine concertina player/repairer, Harold Green, here in New Zealand a few decades ago. His day job was as an industrial lathe operater. He was asked on his retirement what farewell gift he'd appreciate most. He asked for the lathe he'd been using and they agreed. He kept the monstrous beast in his garage purely for turning out these 1g screws and concertina end-bolts!!!

Also the last photos on eBay show the case.

I think you will find those end-plates are made of aluminium. You can scrape off the white powder (aluminium oxide) but polishing aluminium is no easy task. Motorbike shops have compounds for polishing alumininum crankcases, etc. Good luck.

Hi 4to5to6. There's a George Case concertina on our local (NZ) version of eBay, etc: https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/marketplace/music-instruments/instruments/other/listing/5255069523 I should imagine a double-chambered concertina would have deeper bellows frames. The concertina is part of the sale of a deceased estate by a family member who knows nothing about concertinas. I have no connection with the seller. Good luck Nigel

It's also unusual having 10 (+1) buttons on one side and 15 (+1) on the other! Nigel

Earlier this year I was asked to investigate loss of air from a Wren concertina. I found muliple leaks through the gusset material! These were made of a plastic cloth with a plastic coating. Due the concertina being played, this coating had disintegrated and NONE of the gussets were airtight! I informed the owner that the only way to fix this was to completely replace the bellows. Since then, I have seen special paint that claims to adhere to such material but how effective it is is anyones guess. Please note that McNeela now offer the Wren 2 which may possibly use better gusset material. Good luck. Nigel

Try pushing and pulling the bellows vigorously while pressing the problem button AND 2 or 3 buttons close to it. I find this works more often than not. Nigel

Hi Mike. His name is Willie Crook with an R. Nigel

Thanks Roger. I was using this centred-spot idea to measure my positioning after reassembling the action box but, until Frank's technique, I felt I was going round in circles! Many thanks to all Nigel

Thanks very much, Frank. I was hoping there might be a way to avoid this effort as it needs to be done for both ends {sigh}. However, old concertinas are deserving of such care. I'll follow your excellent guidance but may add a couple of "wings" to reach the two screw holes securing the fretwork cover. All the Best Nigel

I'm replacing the pads in a Lachenal 48-key English concertina but aligning the pads is driving me crazy! Despite the embossed circles around the holes on this concertina being poorly-formed and in many instances not concentric, I've managed to get the pads sitting centrally over the holes. However, when I try to position a lever and its little leather bead on the pad, the tendency of the lever to flop sideways without the support of the bushed hole in the fretwork throws everything out-of-whack! I tried making cardboard jigs to hold each row of keys vertical but with limited success. I can see no way around the problem other than making a complete bushing board as used on metal ends. Does this mean it's time to replace the action plate due to excess wear in its holes? I've searched David Elliott's book and Concertina.Net for guidance on this all to no avail. Am I missing some crucial step? Any help appreciated. All the Best Nigel

Concertina.Net proves yet again to provide a wealth of information. Many thanks everyone for this discussion especially David Elliott (and Geoff Crabb in a related thread). What I thought was a Wheatstone 56-key Baritone because of its size ( 7 1/4 inch octagonal) proves to be a Tenor/Treble. Nigel

I have a 1928 octagonal Wheatstone Baritone/Treble English concertina needing some work on its leather valves. The highest 5 or 6 of notes have both their valves cut short exposing some of the opening. I believe this is original. Was it done to avoid excess pressure on such tiny "brass" reeds with those large bellows? All the Best Nigel

Many thanks for your expertise and knowledge. I do love those embossed screw-heads!

Hi, all. I'm intrigued by the style and design of this EC with its gold tooling and ornate adjuster screws. Does anyone have any knowledge or experience of these? Good health Nigel