Search the Community
Showing results for tags 'Jeffries/Crabb'.
-
Hi all, I was the winning bidder on the Jeffries/Crabb two row you may have seen on ebay a few weeks back. The reeds are in unfiled excellent condition, no rust, still in old pitch, all working untouched, in fact the instruments is very clean inside (The inside is so unmarked and clean, it looks like it has gone through a washing machine). But, as could be seen on the ebay images, the bellows are totally disintegrated, and the fretted ends will need recutting, but otherwise everything is there to make job fairly straight forward. But can anyone help me? I have two Jeffries with metal ends stamped Jeffries Maker and Jeffries Bros. Did the wooden ones have this stamp too? The one I purchased, although in Jeffries livery, and fretted end design, does not. I ask because the reeds and shoes are exactly the same, in measurement as the 1880/90's Jeffries and the 1920's Jeffries I have. The reeds are immediately recognizeable as they tend to be slightly slimmer with thicker shoes than the Lachenal, in fact a Lachenal I did up a few years ago had a lone slim C4 reed packed in with sheets of folded brown paper, a little longer in slot than a Lachenal, and I would swear it was a Jeffries. The bellows cards are of the same dimensions as the bellows cards of the early jeffries I did up, and the reed plate is the same thickness, much thicker than a Lachenal. The valves are parallel, not saddle punch shape, as on Jeffries, and the pivot pins are the same as Jeffries. So I wonder, were non-stamped Jeffries always Mr Crabs efforts, or were they simply unstamped Jeffries, OR will one never know? (There is no number inside the instrument) Any advice? (Anyway, when I am finished it will be a beautiful two row, to all intents and purposes a Jeffries, but without the mark, just the way it was sold. A very happy purchase for me.) Best regards to all, David Hornett