Mike Jones

Join the West Country Concertina Players (WCCP) for £10pa, it is worth every penny. They are very helpful and will have members who can answer all and more of your questions and they also provide teaching and learning opportunities for all types of Concertina. I expect they will have some members close to you as well. They have a website and facebook pages so won't be far away.

Hi Alex, Chris Flint produced a concertina timeline that includes some information about Jones concertinas. I have just found it again at https://www.scatesconcertinas.com/pdf/Concertina Timeline open office.pdf. I made up a short spreadsheet for Jones concertinas using what information about individual instruments I've been able to find on the Internet as well., it may be helpful. I possess number 28064 a 30k Anglo with steel reeds, tuned A/E where A= 432 and I believe its original tuning. As I've been unable to find another Jones with a higher number as yet, it has been tentatively identified as constructed in 1905. I also have number 1632, a 20k brass reeded instrument very similar to C333 and C332 which are in the Concertina Museum. Like everyone else, I have not been able to find anyone collecting Jones concertina numbers and info. Perhaps it is time for someone to volunteer to take on the work. Mike Jones timeline.xls

As a point of interest I waited seven years before I could buy a Wheatstone C/G Baritone and Chris Algar at Barleycorn Concertinas finally found one for me. It was not cheap, you could buy a second hand car for a lot less. It is not for sale. Good hunting.

Sorry David, The Maccann went almost immediately and is now in Romania. Have you tried Barleycorn Concertinas now the pound is so low? Good luck with your search. Mike

Geoffrey: - thank you for that information. I have taken Alex's earlier advice and ordered a 9BA and a 10BA set of taps with drills and some cheese headed screws/Bolts to fit. Richard was kind enough to let me have some old shoes and I've recovered a few screws/bolts from those and another member of the forum did likewise. I now have enough reed screws/bolts for my purposes and a means of replacing missing or broken screws/bolts for the future, so, thank you everyone who helped, supported and informed me. I think that can end my quest. Mike

Hello Richard, Thanks for the offer. If you are sure they are no good to you I'll gladly have them. I'll send you a personal message with my address etc. David is a good friend of mine but I'm reluctant to approach him as he is quite generous and last year let me have, for free , several of the very low notes I needed to make up a G/D set I was assembling for a change of key for an old 20k Lachenal and I don't want to compromise that friendship. He has also tuned reeds and effected repairs for me in the past, as well as other concertina related benefits. Many Thanks Mike

Thanks Alex, I did look at machine bolts e.g. for model making thinking they would be small but didn't know what size would fit. You have given me valuable information. MIke

Yes, you might think so, but having searched the Web i can only find M1.7 bolts as the nearest size. M1.8 self tappers are available but I would like to to stay with bolts as originally used, which is why i'm asking the Concertina community to help.

Over the years I have accumulated a few reeds with one broken screw of the two that hold the tongue in place. Often I have been able to remove the broken screw stub and use an unbroken screw from another reed to make a complete reed again. I now have several Lachenal reed shoes with no screws and one Wheatstone shoe with no screws. I my experience, Lachenal and Wheatstone reed screws are not interchangeable, nor are they with Jones reed screws, I can't comment on the others makers products. Does anyone have some spare/old/surplus Lachenal and Wheatstone reed screws or old ruined broken reeds that are no longer fit for purpose they can let me have so I can make up the bits I have left into full reeds? I need at least six Lachenal and two Wheatstone reed screws If so, please message me and we can come to some arrangement. If anyone is interested, I have used a M1.2 drill to drill out broken studs and then use an M1.4 followed by an M1.6 and finally an M1.8 tap to restore the original hole size. Lachenal reed screws are near as damn it M1.8 and screw into the holes with no trouble and fit well and tightly. Happy Squeezing Mike

For what its worth, I currently have five 20k instruments and another three two row instruments (22k and 24k Lachenal's) (plus a few others). From the point of view of playabilty and quality of tone, timbre and sheer volume plus lightness my favourite is a 20k wooden ended Crabb in C/G made in 1936 of laminated wood as a copy of an earlier Lachenal, but with rivetted action and aluminium framed reeds with steel tongues. This is my main squeeze for Morris in the key of G. It is also the cheapest 20k box I have ever bought and took very little restoration. My next favourite was a brass reeded early Jones 20k mahogany ended in C/G, also with rivetted action and lovely sonorous low notes. That is now sold. I have one Rosewood ended 20k Lachenal tuned to A/E that has been restored from a broken wreck, and another 22k Lachenal Rosewood in D/A. Internally the action on both of these was/is the same as the Mahogany ended ones, with a bent brass staple as the pivot point, not the best means of achieving a smooth action. They are both OK but nothing special, certainly not better than my other basic 20k Lachenal boxes in G/D and Bb/F or the ones mentioned elsewhere here. As supposedly the quality end of the Lachenal production of 20k instruments I think their performance could be viewed as disappointing although I do enjoy playing them. Possibly the best 20k Lachenal I have is a brass reeded one i made up for my grandson to learn on. This started off as a purchase of a cheap concertina just for the reeds, as this had a mixture of brass and steel reeds, (The steel reeds now reside in a 24k Lachenal). It was in better condition than I thought and needed minimal repairs to get it air tight and playing, plus some tuning and I made up a full set of brass reeds from my spares. its from about 1879 and has a nicer smoother action than most of the 20k instruments (although still brass staples) I have had and sounds quite good too. So, from my point of view, playability and similar qualities outweigh the aesthetic or build qualities of the "more desirable" instruments and the relatively low cost of a basic Lachenal or similar make them good value purchases. I've tried some other 20k instruments e.g Wheatstone Anglos from their "best period" and although they were very nice, I think I would rather stay with what I have. PS. I also have five East German made 20k instruments but the less said about them the better. Mike

I've taken the ends off my G/D Marcus (number 625) a few times and the end plates are detachable but why not send it back to Marcus, I've always found them very obliging and helpful and quite quick to respond. Give them a ring and see. I believe the endplates are stainless steel.

Hi Jacques, Sorry, the 24k Lachenal you are interested in is no longer available. Mike

Hi Ben, Playing with others also helps you improve so if you can find someone locally to help you or join a group of like minded individuals you should make good progress. There is also the following amongst other local resources to explore. The East Anglia Traditional Music Trust has restarted their annual melodeon/ concertina /free reed tutor days but you have missed this years event. They used to run evening sessions around Bury St. Edmunds for beginners and improvers at other times particularly during the winter so contacting EATMT or looking at their website may help. There is an On-line folk magazine for Suffolk called Mardles that lists folk clubs etc. where you will find other players, Morris sides and similar who also may have concertina players. Regionally there is SqueezEast Concertinas, to which I belong but based around Norwich, where we play music in parts e.g. scored for orchestra or other groups which also includes a strong element of folk based music, plus we also sometimes have provison for tutoring. Several of us play for the Morris as well or in ceilidh bands. Tutoring is also available on-line for most genres of music including concertinas

Hi Tori, Sorry about the delay I've been without internet connection for 4 days . Sorry too, the Maccann Duet sold early on. MIke

Hi David, If I remember any of the other truisms I came up with over the years I'll post them to you. My playing is always downbeat (tic). Just got back from a festival in the Netherlands so apologies for the delay.