Pete Dickey

Which reminds me of a "fact":- To tell if woodworm is still in the instrument it is necessary to count the holes. An odd number means that it is still in there and an even number means it has gone Pete

Interestingly Dave when I made a couple of threaded inserts for my Jeffries I found that the threads on the thumbscrews were standard BA size. Pete

Thought I remembered seeing something like that so had a search and found this Lachenal english which was sold in 2004. Pete

To be frank, the insert is of pretty basic design. Any self-respecting engineering workshop or model engineers would be able to knock you something like that out in pretty short order for not a serious amount of loot. If you are struggling then send it to me and I'll get it done for you. Pete

I don't agree 100% Frank. As you say the reeds do vary depending on age and construction, from awful but at the other end some Lachenal steel reeds from say the 120000 to 140000 era can be absolutely superb, particularly in something like a Murdoch Peerless where there are signs that they may have been "cherry-picked" from the stock. Some of these reeds would hardly be out of place in a Jeffries and I suspect that there is many a Jeffries out there with a fistful of Lachenal reeds installed and no-one is any the wiser. Pete

Well that should free you up to go to Bradfield Dave Pete

As far as I see it there is no contest! You get everything ready, bottle feed (unless he/she is on draught) change the nappy, burp, jump in the car and drive hell for leather to Whitby. You then spend a couple of hours in one of the superb sessions before hairing back to Scarborough ready for the next feed and change assuming something like a 4 hour cycle. After all you have to get your priorities right. As to getting a decent 'tina, well you have to start making worthwhile investments for the baby's future and a concertina is hard to beat on that count See you there if the boss will let me Pete

Nicely spotted from "down-under" Nanette. Farne is a great site with a lot of superb music I really do feel that we ought to have a links page to sites like this so everyone can see them much sooner. Although I came across the site a couple of years ago I was well behind the pace since I note that Howard Mitchell made the first reference to FARNE as early as the beginning of 2004! Pete

Another thought. Could this stance be where the South African term "Squash box" comes from? Pete

Following enquiries, from April 1st, any new instruments that I may make will have the option of a fitted waist strap for hands free wear and/or proximity sensors fitted to the rear of the bellows which will lock the latter in the open position to prevent possible crush injuries. Geoff Crabb Think we can now see why you had to put that extra fold in the bellows Geoff Pete

I'm just sad I didn't buy a copy of the calendar a few weeks ago when I had the chance. I certainly wouldn't have had the bottle to do it and as it was to raise money then good on him for doing it. As far as the online edition of the y MAil is concerned then I had no problems accessing it on http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/arti...in_page_id=1770 Pete

Retuning to CG would be too far to go, but it would retune to GD though. There must be an awful lot of GD's that started life in this tuning. Shame to lose the rare Ab/Eb tuning, there can't be many of these left. Pete

Another couple for your enjoyment. Afraid they are a bit dark though Pete

Will be glad to Dave. Unfortunately he is out of commission at present due to a "bug" as he was meant to be coming over here today for a session. Lets hope he gets better soon, theres more to be done Pete

Just got my CG ME Lachenal back after a full restoration by a certain superb craftsman not a million miles away from me. Before it went it was in a pretty bad way, little more than a bag of bits, the ends looking like someone had played football with it. However after a rebuild and new bellows, pads, buttons springs, clean-up and retune it looks a million dollars and probably plays better than it looks. To say I am pleased would be a vast understatement and he deserves a big pat on the back, but I'd better be careful as he might want more money Before and after shots attached if I can Pete