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My rare 42-button Jones ‘Perfect’ Anglo (number 27140) was fully refurbished in 2019 by Andrew Norman. It has new bellows, new pads, new valves, new hand-straps and tuned the steel reeds to concert pitch. The fretwork each end is complete and any cracks have been repaired and stabilised. The levers have riveted action and the concertina is responsive. The concertina comes with a purpose-made lined case. The 42-button Jones ‘Perfect’ C/G Anglo is a very rare fully chromatic Anglo concertina, patented in 1884, with a range of around four octaves from C3 to C7. Several notes are duplicated and can be played either on the push or pull of the bellows. I am only aware of two of these - Jim Lucas’ one and mine. Jim Lucas described his 42-button Jones ‘Perfect’ Anglo in http://www.nonce.dk/Jones-42/ (used with his permission). This includes a layout of all the buttons and a detailed description and pictures of the instrument. He also includes some tunes, showing the capabilities of this type of anglo concertina. I can send you some more pictures or YouTube clips if you are interested. Also on UK Ebay - more pictures there. If you are interested and would like to try the concertina, please contact me and I will see what we can arrange, if you are in the UK. Postage by Royal Mail Special Delivery, including insurance up to £2000 or collection or delivery may be possible in the UK. I am looking for £2000.

I have recently purchased a George Jones English, however it has lost it's (baffles and) plaque. I am looking to replace the lost oval. The concertina dates to 1902, so something before then would be best, but others considered as well. Dave

Hey, I was wondering if anyone would be able to tell me about this concertina, I don't really know much about them as I'm a percussionist and whistle player. As far as I understand it's a 26 button George Jones anglo concertina? Anyone with any info to share and a rough idea of the value? Thanks in advance for any help

Here's a 38-key anglo made to look a bit like a Jeffries. It's 6.25" across the flats, so a little larger than Jeffries. The fretwork is like Jeffries but a bit coarser in execution. The layout of the buttons, levers and reedpan are the same as Jeffries, except that a few reeds are mortised into the reedpan instead of being screwed on. There's no serial number, but possibly a batch number and no maker's name. The most distinguishing features are (1) the air button, where an s-shaped piece of wire presses on a spring-loaded trapdoor and (2) the riveted action, which looks like a Jones action to my untrained eye. Any thoughts?

Today, I visited with Mr. Greg Jowaisas. Immediately walking in there was almost a dozen instruments set out for me to try, amongst them, Lachenal's and Jones'. Due to a bit of overwhelm and sensory overload, I was only able to take notes on a few. The first instrument I looked at was a Lachenal Anglo 20 button C/G with brass reeds. It had a sharp sound and was a bit dissonant, but not enough to be unbearably off putting. The one thing that gave me a hard time was gripping the instrument. A bit into the visit, Greg talked about the different parts of the instrument and mentioned the strap screw and then I realized "gripping" was more a trivial matter than a legitimate one. All in all, it was really simple to pick out a few tunes on, but the lack of a C# immediately turned me off. The second instrument I tried was a Lachenal Anglo 22 button C/G. I have no idea what changed in between the two systems, but I couldn't figure out the diatonic scale structure. Out of frustration, I moved on to the Anglo 30 buttons C/G's. The Rochelle was pretty sharp, and sometimes ringy, so tonally it was a little on the harsh side. But like the Lachenal, it wasn't so bad that it hurt. I was quite impressed with it. To answer my own question, no it did not sound like a toy. What I didn't like was how the buttons didn't really have a stopping point when pushing them, like the springs didn't have enough tension. Given it's an entry level instrument it's shortcomings were obvious and expected. There wasn't enough wrong with it to turn me off so I will officially be starting on the Rochelle. The steel reeded Jones's were really nice. They had a very warm and mellow tone compared to the brass reeded boxes. I liked them a lot. I also got to try a Carroll. It was absolutely lovely. It was very comfortable and smooth to the touch. I loved the feel of the metal buttons and it's bellows were very light. It's tone was bright but very controlled. It is a wonderful instrument. I walked in not expecting to learn a single tune, but I picked up this system very quickly. It was much simpler than I expected. I'm no longer intimidated by the Anglo being bisonoric and I'm actually quite fond of it now. Over the time I was there I managed to pick out a jig and a reel: Joe Cooley's Jig(The Bohola) and The Little Bag of Spuds. I didn't get them down-pat, but I was impressed with what I could work out in such a short time. I also tried out an English, just to give it a fair chance and to experience for myself it's "apparent" intuitiveness... First off, I have no idea why it's the recommended concertina for pianists. It's alternating pitch structure wasn't very logical to me and it's unisonoricness didn't help it's case at all. As embarrassing as it is, I admit I couldn't manage to even figure out the D scale. I couldn't find the F#! It was so frustrating and humbling, Greg brought out a fiddle for me to play so I could recover. I say all this in good humor but the English is not for me. He also showed us a baritone Duet concertina, which was enormous and made even less sense than the English. Goodness... On the English, I couldn't find the 3rd scale degree, and on the Duet I couldn't find the 2nd! xD. It was really neat sounding though. Overall, the concertinas were all wonderful. They do small acoustic instruments proud with their loudness, but they weren't too loud. Those that were bright weren't too sharp. Those that were warm weren't too muted or stale. A few did have a clarinet thing going on with their tone, and that baritone duet could've passed for a... well... Baritone(brass). But the rest of them did have a special and distinct tone. I'm so glad I got to feel and hear them live on my own knee. In between the concertinas, we were able to share a few tunes, a few stories, and a few laughs. He told me about different events in the area and talked about his experiences with Noel Hill. He also answered all the questions my very inquisitive friends had to ask. I would've learned a lot more if I wasn't so focused on assessing the boxes. One of my friends said, "I think I know more about the concertina than any other instrument now!" Definitely worth the trip and I look forward to continuing things with the Concertina. Thanks everyone for the recommendation and thank you very much Greg for the opportunity. You're a gentleman and a scholar! Cheers! -Jerone