Theo

Richard Welcome, you will find many helpfull people here, but since no one has responded yet I'll give you a little background. You may already have discovered this but there are a couple of things that you should know about your concertina. First, Jeffries concertinas are amongst the most highly prized concertinas of all, especially the anglos. Secondly the Jeffries duet systems is one of the least common concertina systems on the planet! I think there may be one or two players here, but they are far from numerous. There is a keyboard chart and other information here which should be enough to get you started.

Yes, and the reeds are really packed in, with some on a second layer. Quite nicely made, certainly a cut above the current Stagis I've had the misfortune to repair. Accordion type reeds, mounted on soft leather gaskets and held in place by screws, not wax.

Thank you Jim, it has 48 buttons, with two extra rows below the normal treble range, and the top two rows missing.

I'm trying to identify a Gremlin English concertina. It is much lower in pitch than a treble, not simply the same layout an octave lower. Comparing button for button it is an octave and a tone lower, so where a treble would have G near the thumbstrap on the left it does not have G on octave lower but the F below that. The result is that if you want to play in G you start on the right. I'm really just trying to find out the correct description of this version of EC so that when I put it up for sale in the near future I can describe it correctly. Thanks

Corbin Great story. You seem to have the rarer acute form of CCBD, most people here suffer from the chronic form. Worst case (and most likely) is that your acute disorder will not be cured but will become chronic.

And me too!

Dave Shaw the pipemaker lives a few miles from me and I play with him regularly in sessions, he is just one of the pipers I know who regularly play NSPs with a G chanter. They are commonly used by the pipers who mix with players of other instruments and are readily available. Yes they are rather too small for comfort (I'm told) and to my ear the tradition F blunt chanter is easier on the ear, but in Northeast England G chanters are in common use. Another approach used by the best pipers is that they use a keyed chanter in concert F and transpose into G, D etc. I'm told Kathryn Tickell does this. On the subject of Northumbrian tunes in other keys it is important to remember that the Northumbrian pipe tradition is just one strand of Northumbrian music. Fiddle music is at least as important. One of the great Tynside tune writers, James Hill, was a virtuoso fiddler. Many of his tunes were probably originally composed by him in flat keys. Most were published in The Lads Like Beer which is sadly out of print. I saw a copy a few years ago and recollect that several tunes which nowadays are usually played in D G or A are given there in Eb Bb and F. An amusing piping anecdote: I saw this happen at Alnwick Gathering about 5 or 6 years ago. I went in to an early evening session in one of the pubs and found a session in full swing, 8 or 9 pipers playing F chanters. A few fiddle players joining them. Quite a few fixed pitch instruments listening quite happily. In a break in the piping a whistle started a tune in D and as it was playing the pipers all stood up and walked out! Now maybe it was supper time I don't know, but there is a hint of a rumour that pipers have stuck with the F chanter because they prefer to play only with other pipers!

At a Family Concert at Whitby Folk Week in 2004 John Kirkpatrick was one of the turns. He marched onto the stage with a smile and said to the family audience: "A woman walked into a pub and asked for a double entendre, and the barman gave her one" The parents all fell about laughing, while numerous offspring looked puzzled!

Tomas Have you looked at the bellows made by David Leese details here. If you want a more up-market bellows I can recommend Wim Wakker at Concertina Connection I had some bellows made by Wim last year and they were excellent.

Where are you located? And what is b/o?

Another fetuare of German ones is the way the buttos are made of wood with a bone or plastic cap. You can clearly see a division between two materials on the ebay photo. On German action the buttons tilt slightly as they move so the holes have to have a significant clearance round the button. On Lachenal and other English makes the hole acts as a guide for the button so must be a close fit.

If you mean the David Leese Concertina spares page, yes that is a good place to get them. Considering what a bargain you got when you bought the concertina, the least you could do for it is to give it a present of a nice set of thumbstraps! The concertina will thank you every time you play it.

Fairly typical 20-key German concertina. Certainly not "similar in quality to a Lachenal" as claimed by the seller.

You just need to scrape gently over the surface of the chamois leather on the end of the bellows frame to raise the nap. It may also be worthwhile to lift out the reedpans and look at the material on the inside surfaces of the bellows frames. You should see the pattern of the edges of the reedpan pressed into the leather. Gently scrape here to raise the nap in the compressed areas. If the reedpand is a snug fit and needs to be pulled firmly to remove it then you probably do not need to do this. If the reedpand is very loose to the extent that it just drops out, then this method will not cure the problem, though it may help. An equally common route for air to escape is via the pads.

It is hard to tell from the pictures, but if you look at the last picture, side view showing the bellows I manged to convince myself there was a slight upward curve to the metal. The two metal ended ones I have here are raised by a smaller amount than the wood ended ones.

It look slike a typical Lachenal New Model with metal ends.

There is aslo the question of what may have been done to the instrument in the century or so since it was built. Gooid reeds may have been substituted with poor, or vice versa. Inexpert tuning may have worsened the performance of the reeds etc, etc. The only answer is to play the instrument before you buy. Not always easy I know, but a good dealer will should let you have ian instrument on approval if you wer to far away to visit.

Man, now youre talkin'

If you are able to get as far as taking the end off, then have a look at the air button lever. You might work out a way of extending the lever inside the concertina, and making a new hole for the air button in a convenient place for your thumb. There could be less disturbance to the rest of the instrument.

And the reader should equally take care not to assume an intention in the writer. Someone so well qualified in ICT should be aware of that. (no sarcasm intended) And I know from experience that the offer of help was genuine. I've benefitted from Oldnickilby's help an advice on many occasions.

I can only guess. Most likely 1920s or 1930s. Reason: that is the period when the german squeezebox industry was it its most inventive. The style of the metal makers plate makes me think 1930's too though I can't say why. It belongs to a friend if mine who is trying to sell it.

I have seen camera cases used successfully, and there is a kind of hard shell makeup case that I've seen used by several concertina players.

This one is German made, by Schuster. A copy of an early Wheatstone. It even has English-style metal levers and English-style dovetailed reed shoes with steel reeds. The reed quality is poor though and it plays no better than an average brass-reeded Lachenal.

Well it is at least an English made concertina, the metal levers are clearly visible, and I think I can convince myself that I can see Lachenal type pivots through the fretwork.

Gosh! I've always just used a club hammer, do you think I should try something a little more delicate? Chris Chris T you should be ashamed of yourself, club hammer indeed! How can you join metal parts with such a tool? Oxy/acetylene torch is the only tool for the job. Just remember to quench the work in water before trying to play a tune. You don't want to burn your fingers.