Jake Middleton-Metcalfe

exactly

Jeffries layout on a 38 C/G or G/D can be done. Many other variants would be possible as the reeds are made in house they can just be made as needed. I am hoping to research some other historical keyboard layout options and put them on the website. Some varieties are already up but there seems to be quite an endless list of various historic layouts. I will endeavour to put the most common ones on my website and just remind people that they can have it changed to their tastes if needed. As requested here is an image of the right hand side. No makers name plate, it has that diamond shape instead.

Much like the Left side, no makers name plate though, I could put some other pictures up this weekend

I am happy to say that I am now making 38 and 40 button concertinas, previously I had 34 buttons as the maximum. Also new is that I am also now offering wooden ended instruments, as before it was metal ended only. Currently walnut Burr or amboyna are the available finishes. The instrument pictured is a 38 button C/G with walnut burr ends. These features are only available on the advanced model (made with concertina reeds) For more information including prices and waiting times visit: www.wolvertonconcertinas.com

WOOOO! Amazing playing, at one point having and almost didgeridoo like tone, powerful, trance like. Awesome. The only thing is, it looks like the bellows are taped up underneath from some sort of excessive force related damage. He is reeeeealy playing that concertina hard, I suppose that is just his style.

I would recommend if there is a tune you love and it sounds exciting to you add that to the list and practice it until you are really happy with it - and keep practising the tunes you know that you like but if there is anything in your repertoire which you find less interesting don't bother practising it as much as the ones you really like out of a sense of duty. If you really like a tune its worth spending time on, and even finding different ways of playing that same tune. I usually spend time on a really good tune thinking "well what is the best way to play this so as to get the most out of it" you will be surprised to find how exploring the alternative ways of fingering can make ornamentation or accompaniment more natural or sound better. This is my opinion, I hope it is of some use to you. Above all its great to hear you are enjoying playing.

Its a similar technique with the bandoneon from what I have seen, here is an example.

I should clarify a bit about discontinuing the standard model with accordion reeds. I am always pleased to hear that people enjoy the standard model instruments. I am very happy with how that design plays. I made the decision to discontinue it after some thought. Basically at Wolverton concertinas there is only me making the instruments. I have plans to introduce some new designs including a concertina-reeded English model and a 38 key concertina-reeded anglo. I have also been working on producing wooden ends which will soon be displayed on the website. With this increasing variation in what I am making my supply chain has become a bit complex for a one man band style operation. The standard and the advanced models for example use different leather, wood and metals, as well as reeds and I am cautious not to over stretch myself. This is by no means set in stone, I may introduce the standard model again some day. For now I still have the parts for 10 G/D standard model anglos, so those are still available for now. Edited to add: in case of any confusion - anyone who has previously placed an order for a c/g standard model (hybrid) will still receive it. Its just that at this point I wont accept new orders for this model.

man, I keep thinking they cant ramp the playing up any more but then they just do, Incredible.

for the past tense see "squose" I squose, they squose, we all squose together .

at my local session typically: 1 x C/G player 2 x G/D player

for instruments like this I would recommend getting in touch with Steve Dickinson at Wheatstone concertinas directly: http://www.wheatstone.co.uk/

as a side note I like how your end plates look, presumably your own design? Nice and original take on the idea.

I think Dana Johnson mentioned making an experimental carbon fiber reed once, maybe he will chime in with what he found out by doing it. I have used carbon fiber to make other things in the past but never reeds.

I saw a presentation which mentioned this recently, I cant tell but I am aware that some instruments stamped Jeffries are not made by him. It isn't always easy to tell.

that sounds quite pretty, its nice when music happens in a spontaneous and unexpected way. Is that one by ABBA?

Its indeed a good festival, good concerts and good lectures too. See some of you there maybe, I will be there exhibiting/trading this year.

Hello concertina players Recently I wanted to make some recordings to demonstrate my new concertina designs being played and thought it would be nice to record Cohen playing as he is a musician who I admire. Kindly he offered to help. We made two recordings, the two concertinas played are a C/G Anglo and a G/D Anglo, both made with concertina reeds. Look here to learn more about these instruments: https://wolvertonconcertinas.com/advanced-model/ look here to learn more about cohen and his music: https://cohenbk.com/ Have a pleasant April Jake Middleton-Metcalfe Wolverton Concertinas

fortuna bell knife skiving machines are excellent, just excellent things.

wow I havent seen flame polishing on acetal before, I have seen it done on clear acrylic though. If fast cut is a bit pricey you might get a decent result with brasso on a soft cloth and polishing it by hand in the lathe - though I cant be sure. It will probably be slower than the fast cut, but you probably have a can in the cupboard somewhere!

use fast cut plus and cotton wool, run the lathe pretty darn fast and hold the cotton wool (dipped in fast cut) against the button, works well in general but its a bit slow. A quicker non lathe approach is to use a high speed polishing mop mounted on a bench grinder motor and a fine polishing compound on the mop (the same sort of thing you might use to polish a bit of brass). Rotate the button slowly while polishing - this approach is quicker but potentially easier to polish away bits of the button unevenly as its a bit aggressive, if you use the latter technique be careful as you do it but it can be made to work well.

you will probably get a lot from going to some local sessions, hopefully there might be an american one in Brighton. Probably there will be English and Irish sessions, its a great way to get inspiration for tunes and playing techniques. If you ever get the chance to see Brighton morris men dance they have a very good anglo player.

yes indeed it is. Send me a pm if you want to discuss further, or you could email me on jake_middleton1@hotmail.co.uk

Instrument now sold, thank you.

"as good as or better" is a bit hard to define as peoples tastes are quite different, beyond a certain level of quality its sort of like art appreciation and it really depends what you play and what sort of feel and sound you want. In my opinion - without being too specific there are currently some makers producing instruments above and beyond what the first wave of makers made and I am very fond of these instruments. But someone else might very well say "oh well that is over the top how good does it need to be?".