Mike Jones

I'm in the process of trying to reconstruct Lachenal Number 18868 a 26 button Anglo with numbered bone buttons and offset accidentals. I put photos on another thread. The right hand end was so badly worm eaten the action board and box fell apart to dust when I dismantled it and unfortunately the corresponding reed pan has gone the same way. I've repaired the end frets with new Rosewood inserts and stabilised them and made new boxing for them plus replaced the worm eaten bellows frame on the Right Hand Side. Unfortunately I don't have the tools or materials (or skill) to remake the action box or reed pan. Does anyone out there have either or both for a 30 button or 28 button instrument they don't want that I could purchase? A 26 button set would not work as the accidental buttons are offset. Alternatively could one of you make a reed pan and action box for me? I have the levers, pivots, buttons and reeds and can accommodate either a circular or ovoid-ish air hole. Responses via the thread or PM me. Other helpful suggestions would be welcome too. Many Thanks Mike

Thanks Guys, All woodworm is now dead! treated with killer direct into the holes in the other parts of the concertina that remain. Amongst the dust in the photo above were a few insect carcases and I think from the state of it that the 'tina has seen a few cold winters and hot dry summers before I got hold of it. Anyway it will remain in the (unheated) garage in a box of its own whilst I work on it and well away from all my other boxes. The brass has cleaned up well as have all the buttons and the LHS reed and action pans and the reeds look to be pretty well unmolested. the adhesive holding the pads onto the grommets was still flexible and just peeled off and the pads did pretty much the same so not too much cleaning off of glue required. Mike

Quite, and this is a picture of the Right hand action pan after I removed the end, it just crumbled to dust. Interestingly there is no A/G reversal on the LHS you get G sharp/Bflat, C sharp /E flat and A/Bflat (according to the impressed marks on the reed shoes). I'm hopeful I will eventually restore/rebuild it and then see how/if having the C sharp/Bflat helps playing in F or Bflat in comparison to a "normal" 30 Key. I haven't looked yet but suspect a similar result on the right. Mike

Hello people, I recently obtained a 26 button Lachenal C/G, number 18863 (or 18868, the number stamp is unclear), Rosewood ends (and the reed pan for a 30 key instrument) with steel reeds and five fold green bellows. Accidentals are black the white bone buttons numbered 1 - 10 on both sides ( 1 - 5 on the "C" row and 6 -10 on the "G" row). The accidentals are offset, as you can see in the photo. Unfortunately when I removed the Right Hand end, the Action Box and frame all collapsed into dust due to a catastrohic attack of worm. I may be able to save the right reed pan and none of the rosewood is significantly damaged. The Left side is unaffected. I also have a 24 button Lachenal labelled "Silber and Fleming", number 18273, with numbered bone buttons and brass reeds, the extra accidental buttons are engraved C/D Sharp and G/B sharp on both sides (I don't have a "hash" button on my keyboard). Mike

Pictures of the event are now on our website and some of the music. The rest of the music recordings will go up as soon as they are edited. Next Year we will be having the Band day in the same place on Sunday 9th June 2019. More information closer to the time. thanks to everyone that came, we had a really good day with some mind stretching arrangements courtesy of Paul Barrett.

I had a similar problem so I purchased some screw-in plastic/pearloid buttons to fit the bass end of a Melodeon off Charlie Marshall. I had to slightly/lightly sand the wooden button remaining to taper it to the same diameter as the plastic but they work OK and dont look too bad. I now need to rivet some new reeds into the reed plate to get the thing working. Using an old Harmonica reed set for this one. best of luck with the restoration. The one I am working on is a project for my Grandson.

Thanks Paul, we shall probably see you at WCCP in October before next year. Enjoy Normandy. The last time I went with some Morris Men we collapsed the ( temporary) stage, drank too much Calvados, ate too many sausages and Moule Frite and had a wonderful time. They really seemed to appreciate our English folk music too. Mike

Thanks John, I do have you on my little list, and looking forward to seeing all of you again. Mike

Still time to book/register for our excellent SqueezEast Band day. All the music is a surprise on the day (except to the Music Director) and can be quite challenging and stimulating. Why not look on this as an alternative to the Irish Music workshop with Sinead Turner that had been arranged for the same day , which I understand has had to be cancelled. You will be in good company with 30 plus other players, excellent acoustics and a grade two listed concert room to play in as well as not being far off the A1. Bring your own food or go to one of the excellent local pubs for lunch. Details are still on our website as above. Mike

Should that not be Beer, more Drink, Sessions and Morris? My wife believes I have two co-equal Dominatrix, vis Morris and Concertinas

I have a Jones Anglo number 28xxx that is stamped on the non-chambered side of the reed pans together with L and R. I know it is a Jones as it has a Jones stamp as well. I don't think mine has been messed with too much, it looked largely original and the valves in the largest chambers were also mounted in reverse. The valves looked to be in reasonably good order although they were very dark on the internal surface adjacent to the slot with very little curling or deformation. The external fretwork resembles a Lachenal and the reeds also looked similar, however, Dave Elliott says they are definitely Jones reeds. The pins were as would be expected and doubled for the largest reeds and chambers, which seemed to be suitable for the reversed valves as well. Mike

Not by Jabez Austen either. I believe on balance it is a Jones. Now to get it back into working order. Buttons already re-bushed and new springs and pads. Clean the reeds next and replace the valves, then the bellows for which i need some brown gussets and end binding leather. Think I may try to make them myself. Mike

Hi Neil, I agree, not a Nickolds. I was looking more closely at the bellows today with a view to tackling the repairs needed. I noticed that there appeared to be splits in the end binding where they meet the folds. When I looked more closely it seems to me that the end binding does not cover the top end of the first fold but is trimmed at the edge of that fold. The top edge of the bellows is similarly finished and the two sealed together with another length of binding and it is this binding that has split in places. There is still the linen/fabric in situ stretching from the bellows end folds to the bellows frame, in place and apparently in good condition. I have not yet been able to take a good enough photo to post to show this.. Has anyone ever come across this method of attaching and finishing ? Mike

They can be. I had a Stagi, Hohner and Gremlin 30 button models. all similar in design and construction at the time (1990's) albeit in different keys. The action was the real problem with all of them as the buttons kept going out of vertical and wobbling, due ,in my view, to the poor design of the pivot and pivot point and poor use of materials (aluminium) that had little resistance to torsion or bending. I did make a replacement set of hand rests for the Gremlin which improved playability, although the sound of all of them was acceptable, certainly good enough for Morris. The Hohner was probably the best of them and lasted me 10 years before i had enough to buy a Rosewood Lachenal. All three were moved on very soon after. I haven't tried one since the mid 2000's so they might have improved in the meantime. I have no problem with the Rochelle I sometimes use except it is an early one with a small air hole that loudly sucks or blows air when used and the low A buzzes. I recently tried both a Scarlatti and a Stephanelli 30 button but found that I could not reach the inner row of buttons (I have long fingers). Mike

I recently repaired a 32 button Jones, e 1880 (no cartouche on the palm rests and she tells me dated to 1872) for a friend, it too has steel action rods. I bet the reed chamber walls are made of the same mahogany as the action board? Mine is. Is the low C on the left hand side marked "cc"? Mine is, picture below. Also Lachenal Type papers. And the same robust reed shoes(much beefier than Lachenal reed shoes. Though it doesn't show in the photos(I forgot it was a point of interest), the hand rests are very slightly domed, not as much as a Lachenal, but not flat, either. Mine has machine screws, not wood screws. Mine also has a woodscrew going through the action board, into a supporting piece, into the hand rest. Your's doesn't seem to. Mine also, instead of the reddish material(I don't think of it as fabric) Lachenal used to cover the action, this has a type of very fine screen, like I have seen on some 19th century German made instruments. I wonder is the leather on yours was done by someone down the road? I think the majority of the differences in our instruments were due mine being a higher grade one, not a different maker. I also have a typical 20 button Jones to compare it to. Totally different, un-inked/unburned, and much smaller serial number stamped in. Reeds and reed shoes very, very similar. But the low C is only marked "C". Also, the F#s on the Jones are marked as such, but only read "F" on the Nickolds. What does yours say? My Jones serial number is two different ones, the action board says 8579, and the reed pans and bellows frames are 8580! (someone was asleep at the wheel that day!) One side had a screw through a block in the action board going into the hand rest, the other side doesn't, but it does have a glued up hole, and a broken screw in the underside of the handrest. Don Smith Don, sorry, No to mahogany reed chamber walls, no double stamped reed shoes, Reeds; F* are stamped F*, Hand rests definitely flat topped, no supporting pieces . Yes: to more robust reed shoes and Lachenal type end papers. My example has five fold brown leather bellows I've posted more photos to show the baffle, chambered side of the reed pan and palm rests. Looks as though there is no "definitive" answer to my questions, but it is fun having the debate and I had not realised how many small differences there are between concertinas in respect to makes, models and over time. Mike

Hi Nicx66, Yes I have, as I'm also a cheapskate but also like a challenge. I have some old bellows from 48 key EC's that appeared to be in reasonable(ish) order, nothing a partial rebind and a few gussets would not cure. After cutting card for some delaminating cards, inserting new fabric hinges, and spending two days removing old end papers, rotten leather and replacing half a dozen gussets I gave up and ordered new bellows, it would prove cheaper in the end once I realised that it would be better to disassemble the whole thing and start again. Really minimal repairs may be workable but its like buying an old car, the rust you see is 10% of the rust you will find and the cost rises to match. All the best with your project. I've given up on mine for the moment but may go back to it in a few months once I have finished restoring three other concertinas to working order. Mike

Hi Neil, They are circular drilled not slotted/open. The reeds and shoes look like Lachenal/Wheatstone reeds I have seen but with a precisely stamped note letter clearly defined on the rounded end, unlike most of the other Lachenal/Wheatstone reeds I have seen. Are open clamps totally /definitively diagnostic of a Jones? Looking at the reedpan illustrated in C332 (see below) none of the clamps there appear to be slotted. I found C333 on the Concertina museum website with the same fretwork but different action and reed pans and also the turned bottom pegs of the bone buttons enter directly to holes in action board, the holes penetrating right through the action plinth and action board. C332 has very similar action and reed pans to mine but more ornate fretwork, as do some of the other Jones concertinas featured. I wonder if after the fire in 1857 GJ was forced to buy in components from Lachenal and/or Wheatstone to continue manufacturing or is this the influence of Mr. Shaller introducing tooling in the manner of Lachenal (my interpretation of the Butler history)? So could this be a just post 1857 example? MIke

I picked this up cheaply on an on-line auction recently. The style of fretwork behind the palm rest looked familiar together with the rusty riveted steel action. But I've not seen one with such minimal fretwork on the ends nor this size and shape of the reeds and shoes in a Jones before. My inference is that, if a Jones, it is likely to be before he introduced his broad reeds thus pre-1880. Can anyone confirm this or give me a positive ID (and a likely date range as well?). The number stamped into the woodwork inside is 1632 on both ends of reed pans and bellows frames. It has wood screws going down into the bellows frame (two of which are sheared), Mahogany action pan, 7mm diameter bone buttons, 27mm long, of which the last 7mm form the location pin. The internal cover to the fretwork appears to be genuine white leather like very fine bookbinding leather (I have a friend who is a bookbinder) and not the usual fabric used by Lachenal et al. The palm rests are of square form without the more usual dome shape on top and hend in by two rusty steel dome-headed wood screws. The bellows are brown leather with dot and cross pattern end papers. Unfortunately, although it has not been too badly treated (it appears to be complete) there are no labels. I would post more pictures if it were not for the forum size limitation, but can send more directly if anyone wants some, so PM me if you do. Many thanks in anticipation Mike

Hi Roger, Did you ever get a reply to this topic? I too wish to do the same to a couple of old boxes and wondered if you had any success and where you got them from. Mike

Does anyone have a suggestion for the date of manufacture of the Liliputian? I have done a search of the net and nothing there have I been able to find. Judging by the internals and materials used i would think 50' or 60's

Hi Dave, "I think that you HAD several friends in the Troshers, calling them less able". That is how it was told to me by the players not named, anyway they don't frequent this forum. We are also planning at some time in the future to have a joint concert/ session/music event with SqueezEast and the Troshers. I'll see both of them on Wednesday when we have a bit of friendly rivalry with sticks during some dancing, let them hit me on the knuckles and then when they will feel guilty and I can ask the question to square things. I don't suppose you know anyone who can make and re-rivet some very small brass reeds in to zinc plated reed bank? Mike PS I sent you an email about a Jackie of ours you have. Any news?

Hi Will, That I had forgotten about and I have several friends in the "Troshers " (less able accordion band but aspiring to greatness) and know a few other accordion players too. I shall ask. Mike

Thanks Will, but David only deals with "traditional" concertinas and he keeps my others, Lachenals and Wheatstones, in good voice and I know he does not have the tools or equipment to do the job I'm wanting.

Recently I "won", as they call it, a small 20 button "Made in Saxony" (as stamped on the ends), 4.25 inch (108mm) across the flats Anglo concertina with zinc plated reeds sets and riveted brass reeds. I have no idea of the tuning as it was and still is unplayable. However one reed is broken and I should like to replace it if possible. The existing reeds are not transferable within or between the two sets. Does anyone know of an artisan in the UK who is competent to do such work. If someone will send me contact information I can then deal with them directly. The instrument is an ideal size for my 4 year old grandson who likes in particular my 1860's? (number 18273) 24 button Lachenal (as well as all my other 'tinas) but finds it too large. He already has a toy melodeon and piano accordion on which he can noodle and find chords etc. but he still prefers my concertina. At the moment "The Liliputian" as it is called, has been spray painted gold, needs new gussets in a couple of places as well as some work on the wooden lever action and some replacement wood/plastic buttons (5mm diam), in addition to the above, for a start, but I shall hang fire on these repairs for a while in case I get an affirmative response to my query above. Alternatively, if there is another concertina of the same ilk out there awaiting new ownership or willing to be donated for spare parts I would also be interested in that. Thanks in anticipation Mike

Hi Helen, See what John Adey's suggestion brings, in my experience all concertina groups are very friendly and welcoming (even if we can be slightly obsessive). It is possible to hire instruments from SqueezEast Concertinas (and West Country Concertina Players (WCCP)) as you save for something of your own, and as Paul says "If you want to find out about concertinas with an event presumably not too far from you, it is Squeezeast in Stamford a week on Saturday (http://squeezeast.org.uk/), and there will be dozens of tinas there". Unfortunately he got the day wrong, its Sunday 4th June, and all details are available on our website, just go there to register (nil cost) or just turn up. If we know you are coming we can bring some hire instruments with us either English or Anglos or both. You will be very welcome and we won't expect you to join in with the band. Mike (member of SqueezEast)