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W Jefferies for sale


reg

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I've tried to inquire here in the forum about the possible value of this instrument but unfortunately the rarity of it is such that no one seems to know. If one looks at his father's work, it is perhaps possible to determine some reference, as it is very similar but I have no clue. Have you any thoughts about what this might be worth? I am interested in selling this. Knowing it is rare is getting me spooked about playing it. Yes, it does play. All of the reeds work. It's a 48 button anglo. Someone here mentioned that they thought it was made for the Salvation Army.

 

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There are degrees of rarity and we are certainly not talking Mona Lisa rarity here. I've owned a similar concertina and other members of the forum still do. But they certainly aren't commonplace and they are quite valuable - though (oddly, you might consider) 30 button Jeffries are usually worth more.

 

Its value depends on a number of things, the prime ones being the home keys and its condition and playability. You really need to have it looked at by a reputable repairer or dealer. Whereabouts are you located?

 

Chris

 

PS This breaks probably my longest silence on c.net since the forum started! I'm fine, I'm just having a Jim-style sabbatical. I will be looking in from time to time.

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The later Jeffries that I've played and owned weren't as good as the earlier concertinas. This is of course subjective.

 

Hi David,

 

Thanks for your inquiry.Yep, we've determined that it is an anglo.

 

I understand the comment regarding the playable nature of the instrument but do folks really play these? Or are they merely collectible?

 

There are one or two shops in the area that specialize in such things that I've been meaning to bring it by and get an opinion from. Petosa's seems as though they are very knowledgeable in all things squeezable with reeds and there's one other guy, further south, who has asked me to stop by when I'm in his neighborhood.

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To answer question about the key that this anglo plays, I sat down with my pitch pipe last fall and worked out which notes belonged to each reed on the right hand side and I posted my findings on August 25th 2009 in the General Discussion forum here. What I initially posted was messed up somehow when I plotted the notes.

 

(*I have found some errors in the original diagram, no doubt my own fault, and I have edited this diagram to include the proper notes.)

 

The push/pull notes for the RH buttons, are as follows. The buttons closest to the strap are on the left side of my diagram below. These notes are arranged to simulate the way that they appear on the concertina as I play.

 

 

...................................B/C#

.......................F#/Ab..Bb/A

............A/B......F/E......D/C

E/F#....Ab/*G....A/G....F/Eb <-----the lowest note is this *G

Eb/D...C/Bb....C/Bb...Bb/G

G/F.....Eb/C#...F/D.....D/A

Bb/Ab..Ab/F.....*A/E <------- the highest note is this *A

Eb/C...C/G

G/D

Edited by reg
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Information on William Jeffries seems to be rather scarce.

I owned a Willliam Jeffries until recently and it gave rise to a number of questions regarding William Jeffries role.

The concertina had many Wheatstone feaures including Wheatstone sized bellows, Wheatstone type action etc. which may have indicated that W. Jeffries was working with parts which came to hand, possibly through the back door of Wheatstones or perhaps, as some have suugested that he did some work for Wheatstone, he may have bought the parts from them. Whatever the truth is, the concertina in question is very well made and after refurbishment by Colin & Rosalie Dipper (who remained faithful to the historical instrument) plays extremely well.

Jeffries.doc

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Reg- I'd not trust an accordion shop to know a lot about concertinas. The pictures of the three-row Jeffries shows an instrument that is generally more desirable to a player than the 48 button job, which can be very heavy. Everybody here (well, people like me, anyways) would love to buy it at a low price but EBay might be your best bet. It isn't a super-desirable concertina but it is a Jeffries, albeit a very late one and not from the most valued period. I don't think anybody can nail down a price that it would fetch on the open market, and certainly not without playing it.

If you're in the Northwest you should be able to find somebody locally who at least plays an Anglo. Molly Roberts (that's her user name), on this forum, lives on Orcas Island and plays Anglo concertina. She might be able to give you some advice. It's a pity that you didn't post this a few weeks ago, when there was a concertina class as part of the Friday Harbor music camp.

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Petosa's seems as though they are very knowledgeable in all things squeezable with reeds...

 

I only know of one shop so named that deals in the instruments suggested, though relatives of the same name opened Italian eateries and at least one grocery in the greater Seattle metropolitan area some years back. Regardless, your comment caught my attention and so I thought I should pass on a perspective considering the nature of your interest. It was Joe Sr. that sold me my first Stagi about ten years ago, and 30 years earlier I obtained one of their signature instruments from the same individual. When I last visited Joe Jr. was running the shop now and while I give the shop their full due with respect to piano accordions, I've been to see them a few times regarding concertina issues and came away with the distinct impression that while they understood the mechanics of the latter, they didn't have a close knowledge of the concertina market nor much interest in them either. If you're looking for concertina insight in the Seattle area I might be able to suggest a couple of people, although I know of no Jeffrie's "experts" here.

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Reg,

I realize that he is located about as close to the Idaho border as one can get without actually being in Idaho, but Wim Wakker is not that far off of I-90 in the Spokane Valley.

You can get an opinion from one of the best without having to travel halfway around the world.

I'm also acquainted with Joe, Jr., and I can also suggest that his expertise lies in accordions rather than concertinas.

Both Wim and Joe are lovely chaps - with very different levels of experience and expertise in very different instruments, however.

Perhaps a nice cross-state drive is all you really need to gain the information that you seek.

Pick a sunny day. Pack a picnic lunch. And enjoy the beauty that awaits you.

Here is a link to Wim's contact page: http://www.concertinaconnection.com/contact.htm

Be Well,

Dan

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Thanks for the lead Dan. I'll do what I can to find Wim and see what wisdom I can extract.

 

Many thanks to each of the rest of you, Chris, Paul, David, des tracey and Bruce for your comments and the information shared here.

 

David, perhaps you are correct with your comment about Ebay. It does seem to reach many folks with a great many diverse interests.

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OOPS!

 

While doing something else, I suddenly realized that I got Reg's note layout twisted in my head when preparing this post.

 

What I posted was wrong, so I have removed it.

I will now prepare an untwisted replacement. :o

Edited by JimLucas
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Here's what I got when I plotted the notes.

 

As I push the bellows, the RH buttons, I get the following. The buttons closest to the strap are on the left side of my diagrams below.

 

.....................B

..............F#..Bb

.......A.....F....D

E....Eb...A....F

Ab...G....C...Bb

C....Bb....F...D

Eb..Eb...(A) <------- the highest note is this (A)

Ab...G

C

 

Pulling the bellows I get these notes from the RH buttons.

 

....................C#

.............Ab...A

......B.....E....C

F#.(G)...G....Eb <------- the lowest note is the (G) on the left

D....Bb..Bb..G

F....C#...D....A

Ab...F.....E

C....G

D

 

When I tried to analyze this layout, I got quite confused... so confused that I realized shortly afterward that my analysis was completely wrong. What happened is that when my mind converted from Reg's notation, which is rotated 90 degrees from the way it's usually pictured, I got right and left reversed. So for my own benefit I have now produced a copy in the more usual orientation, and I share it here, with my comments.

 

push note/pull note
     B/C#   Bb/A   D/C   F/Eb   Bb/G   D/A
   F#/G#   F/E   A/G   C/Bb   F/D   A/E
 A/B   Eb/G   G/Bb   Bb/Db   Eb/F   G/G
E/F#   Ab/D   C/F    Eb/Ab   Ab/C   C/D

This is very interesting. The left-hand column are "extras", and the "usual" 5-wide pattern starts with the second button in each row, so for the moment I'll ignore that left-hand column.

 

The push notes in each row give a major chord, so taking those to be "keys", the four rows are (from "outside" to "inside") Bb, F, Eb, and Ab. In fact, the two outer rows (without the left-hand button) are exactly like the right hand of a standard 20-button Bb/F. And the push notes of the two inner rows are exactly like the right hand of a 20-button Eb/Ab. But that's not "normal"; it's flipped; normal would be Ab/Eb. And the pull notes in these two rows show no pattern at all.

 

Or do they?

Golly, gee! If you switched the pull notes between those two inner rows, then each would be a standard row. I.e., the pull notes for the Eb row are in the Ab row, and vice versa. Or maybe it's more accurate to say that it's the push notes have been switched, since flipping them from what they are now would give a "standard" 4-row Bb/F/Ab/Eb layout, i.e., with the inner of each pair of rows being a fifth higher than the outer one. Very interesting! And I presume deliberate, since the reed frames are almost certainly not interchangeable in the reed pan.

 

So now let's look at that first column. In the Bb row that button has B/C#, the equivalent of a C#/D# button for a C row. Judging by the standard 30-button layouts of both Jeffries and Wheatstone, those are important notes. What's more, only the C#(=Db) is found in the 4x5 layout discussed above, and I suspect that's a different octave. So there's a good reason for having those notes on that button. What about the rest of that column?

 

Well, the two notes on that button in the F row bear the same interval relationship to the rest of the row as in the Bb row. And the two inner rows? Lo and behold, they're the same, too, if you match that button to the pull notes, not to the push notes.

 

So it looks like this instrument is a "standard" layout for a 4-row Bb/F/Ab/Eb, except that the push notes for the Ab and Eb rows have been interchanged, and at the left end of each row has been added a button with the minor 2nd and minor 3rd notes of its scale.

 

This is yet another example of an instrument where we dearly wish we knew more of its history, especially why the person who designed the layout did it the way (s)he did, and what sorts of music and arrangements (s)he played on it.

 

I wish I could afford to buy it, but what little money I have is already committed to other needs. I worry that it will be sold to someone who will just take it apart for the reeds (and maybe even retune them to C/G and G/D?), without a competent and creative player ever testing its capabilities.

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Jim,

 

By way of explanation, I am not a player of concertinas. I play music but I know nothing about the reading or writing of the hens scratchin's part of it. I posted the image of the notes as they appeared on this concertina as I held it and played it in its normal upright fashion. The way I saw them as I sat behind the instrument.

 

I like the way you've arranged them here. (B/C#) It's far easier to express in written form than my diagram. :o)

 

Would you like me to go through the LH notes and offer them up for your consideration?

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