Jewish Leprechaun

You could reach out to David Robertson (up in Norwich), he does a great job with restorations https://www.concertina-restoration.co.uk

I'll second what Theo said, went down this road years ago with a Lachenal I had... the soft case started some extra wear and tear on the bellows corners. Nothing terrible, but definitely unnecessary. Ditched the soft case and never looked back; hard cases are the way to go.

Well done on the review, I actually stumbled across your video on youtube a few days ago. David Robertson certainly does a wonderful job in his restoration process. I purchased an old shakespeare from him a few years ago, very lovely concertina, and Dave's work was impeccable! -Lep

Very true LJ, most likely it is 5.25 inches, but 5 inches with 30 buttons or 5.25 inches with 34 buttons, either way there's some serious engineering going on inside these pint-sized 'tinas.

I know the Dippers somehow managed a 5inch C/G with 34 buttons... an impressive feat!

If this is what you're referencing, it looks like Bob managed to save it on his website! http://hmi.homewood.net/bnick/anglo.htm

You're reading my thoughts right there, Alex! Surely there are some drawbacks squeezing it all in to a package that small (air volume aside). Much appreciated Stephen this is some great information, quite rare beasts!

So I'm curious to see a picture of one of these 5-inch 30 button Jeffries. I saw them mentioned here in section "(b) the instruments": https://www.concertinajournal.org/articles/charles-jeffries-and-his-sons/ Has anyone ever seen one of these?? Does anyone have any pictures or any experience playing one? I'm curious how they sound and play compared to full-sized Jeffries (small concertinas always have fascinated me).

Living the dream right there!

Check out this thread for more 20-button playing: -Lep

If you meant "can I ignore the extra buttons and play it like a 20 button concertina?" here are my 2 cents... You can make a lot of great music with a 20 button concertina, but eventually you might feel limited. For some good examples of 20 button playing, look up some recordings of Mrs. Crotty. I don't think you'll have any regrets with a 30 button. The third (extra) row is an accidental row with all your sharps/flats. The other two rows should be more or less identical between the 20 and 30. The accidental row adds a whole lot of options and the opportunity to pla

Depending on how high end you want to go, this might be an option for you. http://www.concertina.co.uk/stock-selection/?concertina=3300 -Lep

Bringing this thread briefly back to life rather than start a new thread. I just ran across this video today of Noel Hill playing his A/E concertina.

I would highly recommend investing in Dave's book. It has a plethora of good tips and trick, that can extend to free reed instruments in general. "The Concertina Maintenance Manual" Dave Elliott https://mcneelamusic.com/the-concertina-maintenance-manual/ And then you can build yourself one of these nifty tools with a dowel and some 400 grit sandpaper!... My apologies Dave, I actually had to sit and think for a second to figure out where I'd first seen this done. Haven't needed to use it on concertina reeds, but it worked great on harmonica reeds.

If Juergen doesn't reply to an email, I would say he is definitely not ignoring you. I've experienced this email problem as well. Over the years I've sent my fair share of emails to Jurgen and some he replies to and the others I am certain he simply does not receive (probably a spam setting on the email... or something more technical out there in cyber space that I am unaware of). I would say just keep trying to send him emails until one gets through. Ok, so you take the end screws out and you can't get to the reed pan? So are you able to separate the bellows from the