marien

In addition to Dave's remark that concertina's should be stored damp free. I guess that a concertina case should not be made air tight, else it may become wet inside when the temperature decreases. Would it make sense to drill a few holes in a case for air ventilation and to avoid moisture problems. Or would it be enough to put a bit of silica gel inside the case to keep it dry when you are travelling (or in rooms that vary in temperature).

Patrick, As for the ends, no matter if it's veneer or solid woods. I would try to find a "similar" replacement wood for the missing parts. With similar I mean - of a similar age (so it may have the same wrinkles and dryness, it doesn't work anymore) - wood type, grain, structure, pattern - colour/tone of the wood. Sometimes you can find these in an old guitar (beyond repair) or furniture. Sometimes an old antique shop has old veneers... Success, Marien

Nighthawk, I don't know if you are still looking for a crane duet. Check this one out on ebay.com (quick as auction ends today 22 june), Search on ebay.com for "lachenal crane triumph concertina", It is offered by Cocoa111, currently for 700 GBP, being restored and in concert pitch. Best of luck, Marien

There are a couple of interesting concertinas at Eastbourne Auctions on 12 and 13 november (check www.easyliveauction.com and search for "concertina") The jeffries is lot 319. I phoned the auction house and they played the concertina on the telephone, I think it is a C/G concertina, may bneed some TLC. Lot 317 and 318 are interesting wheatstones 48b english, octagonal. Marien

Brian, The button pattern makes me think that this is not a MacCann Duet. The symmetrical pattern of the buttons with two groups of three buttons per row. If it is not a MacCann, I wonder if it's the same as Crabb´s Victor model, or an extended version, as Crabb made them with max. 42 buttons. In that case, it makes the concertina more unique, it is possible that this is the only wheatstone concertina build of its kind, so collectors might be interested, however, I think that (at this time) no one plays this system... Marien

The ends do not have a lachenal pattern I know, but I did not see all of them... Could somebody have replaced ends? It will not be a wheatstone, serial number. The ledgers show that #31800 was a 48 button rosewoods ends and not a 35 key ebony ended one.

This concertina on ebay (not mine) has a button arrangement lie a 2 row melodeon in c-f. Interesting for melodeon players perhaps, but it has no more than 4 bass buttons. http://www.ebay.com/itm/171605472671

Hello Dan, Maybe you missed the words I did not write, but I think you filled the gap completely, and my thoughts are quite in the same direction. A small addition - for what it's worth. As you say - the victor system is a logical one but may be difficult to play. What I wrote earlier was based on some thoughts. The "split" of 3 buttons going up and 3 buttons going down on the same row is comprehensible. But my hand does not have a similar split, I usually use no more than three fingers on one hand, the pinky comes in occasionally. To my idea, the difficulty is not the range (for example pressing Eb and F# at the same time), but the main difficulty seems to be to learn to play all scales on the instrument - all chords have a different pattern of buttons to press - I think that is a clear disadvantage in comparance to C-, B-griff or Hayden duets. A great challenge though to play this system... Greetings Marien .

Thanks for the chart Geoff. Compared to a MacCann. Crane or jeffries layout one can see that the logical system is free from the concept of diatonic scales. Unbelievable that the patent for the "Victor" was not granted in 1958 because it was too much similar to other duet concertina layouts. Nevertheless, quite a challenge to play this system... Looks like a B-griff system split up into 2 groups of three buttons and the second group is Always in reversed order, which makes it complicated to my idea... Marien

This concertina was sold on ebay lately, it's a crabb, it is serial number 14060. It's not mine but it made me curious, the positions of the buttons differs from the usual shape MacCann layout. Does anyone have an idea what kind of duet this is? Is it something else or is it just MacCann? Thanks in advance, Marien

I think I'ld prefer the usual Crane hand straps...

Jim, No I really meant your Jeffries Crane I played in Sweden. So I read - raised metal ends - and the button arrangement Strange that it's not what I had in mind. Am I getting old? Memories seem to change over time... Maybe I closed my eyes while playing it. But one thing still is a fact - it played like heaven, I hope it still does... it's the most important thing to remember... Marien

It really looks like a huge Crabb...

They're rare enough that iwould seem they were only special order instruments, though maybe more "common" than Jeffries-labeled Englishes or Maccanns. I.e, instead of 3-5 of the E's or M's that I've heard of, I've heard of maybe 8-10 of the Cranes and actually seen one other than my own. A question perhaps for Geoff Crabb, though: Since Crabb is reputed to have made some Jeffries instruments, at least in the early days, is it possible that some or even all of the Jeffries-labeled Cranes were really made by Crabb? Jim, If I remember well, your crane has black polished wooden ends and a slight bow pattern of the buttons in one, whereas the Jeffries Cranes with metal ends that shop up in this discussion look like Crabb made with the V pattern of the rows. Custom made I suppose, the question is who made it? The sound of yours is different (compared to reeds of my big Crabb which are sounding great by the way) - it maybe related to the wooden ends or would it suggest another maker of the reeds? Best wishes, Marien

Hello Dan, I played Jim's Crane Jeffries in Sweden - about 5 years ago. I don't know if it had 55 or 59 buttons but I remember well that it's a very fine instrument with the responsive Jeffries reeds... After that I searched for a 55+ Crane made by Jeffries but no success. Concertina dealers in UK confirmed that these instrument are very hard to find... Best wishes, Marien