Alex West

I've seen a simple man's tie used as a strap before - no need to fix it to the instrument surely... Alex West

Easier to shape as well. Good call Theo Alex West

Stephen Sure. The purple is a cotton brushed velvet. Any soft fabric like a crushed velvet will do. The plain panels are card with a double sided adhesive sheet on and the velvet covering them, then mitred and Copydexed on the reverse side. It's also possible to put a thin layer of some kind of foam in there to cushion the panels a little but that's not essential (and may well not be possible due to the tight dimensions). For the 4 vertical posts, I used some spare cheap timber of an appropriate dimension. The key dimension is the closed length of concertina. Deduct this length from the internal width of the case at about half the depth of the case and then divide the result by 2. That gives you the required width of the timber. Take off a little bit for cloth and any squidgy material you might use. You don't need the fit to be so tight that it's a struggle to get the concertina in when compressed. Snug is perfectly OK. Because the Nanuk (or Peli or WHY) case is slightly tapered, you need to saw the timber so that a sloping face is against the side of the case and you have a vertical face against the concertina end. The width of the timber only needs to be sufficient to "bind" against the peaks of the concertina end without clashing with any of the buttons or hand rails. I round over the top of the timber to give a nice look and a "lead-in" to feed the concertina in, then only cover two sides of the timber with velvet. Glue the velvet to the timber with Copydex and the timber to the case with a good contact adhesive. Is that sufficient? I can send you some photos of an intermediate stage if that helps (send me your email address in a Private Message if you like Alex West

Like this...? Alex West

And I took a look at the pictures. Yes, they need some work, but I've seen worse and they look recoverable Alex West

Highlander It's a "standard" Jeffries layout. I can send you a fuller description if you're interested if you send me your email address Alex West

Judy I don't have a Morse. In CG, I just have the 2 Lachenal concertinas and the Jeffries 39 key Alex West

Noel If you're still looking, can you get in contact with me please? Alex West

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Noel I do have a D/A but I hadn't thought to sell it yet. It's a very nice one but it doesn't get played as much as it should so I could be persuaded. It's a 30 key, stamped as a Jeffries but actually a Crabb (and no worse for that), with Dipper bellows. I'm away sailing at the moment so can't send any information but send me a PM of what you're looking for and your email address and I'll have a think about it and let you have some more details Regards Alex West

All opinions are valid, but I'm curious why you think this Alex West

Mike Have you thought of using BA machine screws? I've successfully used BA 10 or BA 9 when I've cleared out an old bolt Alex West

I have a 28 key John Crabb in Bb/F if you're interested? Lovely wooden ends, dated by Geoff Crabb as circa 1876. I can send you more details if you let me know your email address Alex West

I always take a concertina on the boat with me. I made the mistake of taking a "cheap" one once and it was so awful to play compared to my domestic instruments that I rarely touched it and didn't enjoy it when I did. Nowadays, I have a dedicated "boat" instrument which is not so precious but plays well. By the way, I've never seen a problem with salt air affecting the reeds in any way The instruments I play in sessions are also my domestic players. If an instrument is so good, why not play it with friends? Sure, look after it, but they deserve to be played Alex West

You might consider a Dabbler (https://www.flyingduckconcertinas.co.uk/dabblers.html), or a Marcus (https://www.marcusmusic.wales/new-concertinas) as new concertinas to add to your research, or Andrew Norman both makes new instruments and has vintage ones as well (http://www.acnorman.co.uk/). Depending on where you are in Scotland, Celtic Chords in Stonehaven markets AP James concertinas and the owner may have pre-loved instruments available as well. I have a vintage 30 key Lachenal which is available and which you'd be welcome to try but it's down south at the moment Alex West

The difference between Wheatstone and Jeffries is not just in the number of buttons and the keyboard layouts. IMHO, the sound quality and feel is quite different (and I'm not making a judgement here as to which is better). Crabb concertinas (and others) are available in Wheatstone or Jeffries layout as well and again, the tone quality may suit some people better than others. Alex West

I've not tried one, but I've dealt with Paul, the proprietor, and I think the short answer is almost certain to be "yes" Alex West

Anyone seen this listing? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/275238047818?hash=item401577504a%3Ag%3AtkkAAOSwqEpiQZ9Q&LH_Auction=1 Doesn't interest me but it might appeal to someone if it's genuine Alex West

I've a feeling Chris Algar had one (or very similar) on ebay recently. It needed a bit of repair work as far as I can remember. Even if that one isn't right, he might have a different one which would suit you so he's worth a try Alex West

Slightly off topic, but my tuba (brass but silver plated) was made in 1915, (completed on Christmas Eve) one of two large tubas made in amongst a run of bugles. Each tuba took over a week to make. At the time, the Boosey & Co Stanhope Place factory was in overdrive producing army bugles for the war effort... Did Wheatstone have a similar shortage in 2015? Alex West

It is possible to get small cabinet key blanks from companies such as this https://www.nichelocks.com/Traditional-Cabinet-Locks/Cabinet-Key-Blanks, from which you can recreate "your" key profile. In my experience (YMMV) the keys for old Lachenal and similar concertina cases are very simple single lever locks so they don't need the fancy saw cuts that your key seems to have Alex West

Sorry Adrian! I've had three 26 button (plus air) Jeffries of various keys through my hands and they don't have the LH thumb button. I've had one 28 key C/G Jeffries and that had an air button and a LH thumb button making 30 buttons in total - but that was a C Jeffries rather than a Jeffries Bros. Alex West

I used wooden beads in the restoration of a concertina intended to be Vegan. With limited success. (though the wooden beads weren't the problem issue). Steve Dickinson supplied them to me in a repeat of the same beads I used for an Aeola restoration as he said that Wheatstone had used them for a time and were therefore "original". The biggest problem was that, no matter how fine grained the wood is, the act of screwing the beads onto the levers inevitably splits some of the beadds along the weak grain axis. Steve noted to me that the wooden beads were no cheaper to make than leather beads and offered no significant advantage so wouldn't be making any more Alex West

The low D is quite common on Lachenals. It makes sense for the G row pattern, but not when you consider that it's an exact duplicate as you point out, so the A is a useful and common swap Alex West

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