Strange Jeffries tuning?

[Andy Holder]

I'm just starting to tune my Jeffries Anglo and the first few reeds I've measured are very flat, about one and a half semitones flat, in fact A=405. I was under the impression that most "old" tunings were slightly sharp, i.e. Philharmonic =452, Salvation Army = 456. All the ECs I've done have been.

The instrument appears to be in tune with itself and these measurements are for the note stamped on the reed frame. Can anyone shed light on this please, I'm reluctant to take that much metal off.

Thanks.

Andrew

[Chris Ghent]

I'm just starting to tune my Jeffries Anglo and the first few reeds I've measured are very flat, about one and a half semitones flat, in fact A=405. I was under the impression that most "old" tunings were slightly sharp, i.e. Philharmonic =452, Salvation Army = 456. All the ECs I've done have been.

The instrument appears to be in tune with itself and these measurements are for the note stamped on the reed frame. Can anyone shed light on this please, I'm reluctant to take that much metal off.

Thanks.

Andrew

Andy,

 

I can't remember the keys your concertina is in, but perhaps it is not a C/G, maybe it is a Bf/F in old pitch and as such is close to being in tune..?

 

Jeffries frame stampings are often misleading, and I wouldn't assume it is a C/G just because the frame stampings say so.

Edited June 11, 2012 by Chris Ghent

[Andy Holder]

I'm just starting to tune my Jeffries Anglo and the first few reeds I've measured are very flat, about one and a half semitones flat, in fact A=405. I was under the impression that most "old" tunings were slightly sharp, i.e. Philharmonic =452, Salvation Army = 456. All the ECs I've done have been.

The instrument appears to be in tune with itself and these measurements are for the note stamped on the reed frame. Can anyone shed light on this please, I'm reluctant to take that much metal off.

Thanks.

Andrew

Andy,

 

I can't remember the keys your concertina is in, but perhaps it is not a C/G, maybe it is a Bf/F in old pitch and as such is close to being in tune..?

 

Jeffries frame stampings are often misleading, and I wouldn't assume it is a C/G just because the frame stampings say so.

 

That's interesting Chris. I don't know yet what keys it is because I've only just started to get some notes out of it. I assumed that they would tune to the stamped note but if you reckon that they might be wrong then it's quite possible that its a Bb/F. Does that make it more valuable or less?

 

Thanks.

Edited June 11, 2012 by Andy Holder

[Frank Edgley]

It is my understanding that there were more than two pitches. One of these was flatter than A-440, so it could be that, or a Bb/F as previously mentioned. One and a half semitones is quite a bit, though. It could be an A/E, or an Ab/Eb.

[Andy Holder]

Since the last message I've just managed to get enough notes out of the right hand side to ascertain that it is a Bb/F and it's about 40 cents sharp. All of the stamped letters on the frames are wrong!

Andrew

[Chris Ghent]

I'm just starting to tune my Jeffries Anglo and the first few reeds I've measured are very flat, about one and a half semitones flat, in fact A=405. I was under the impression that most "old" tunings were slightly sharp, i.e. Philharmonic =452, Salvation Army = 456. All the ECs I've done have been.

The instrument appears to be in tune with itself and these measurements are for the note stamped on the reed frame. Can anyone shed light on this please, I'm reluctant to take that much metal off.

Thanks.

Andrew

Andy,

 

I can't remember the keys your concertina is in, but perhaps it is not a C/G, maybe it is a Bf/F in old pitch and as such is close to being in tune..?

 

Jeffries frame stampings are often misleading, and I wouldn't assume it is a C/G just because the frame stampings say so.

 

That's interesting Chris. I don't know yet what keys it is because I've only just started to get some notes out of it. I assumed that they would tune to the stamped note but if you reckon that they might be wrong then it's quite possible that its a Bb/F. Does that make it more valuable or less?

Can you point me towards a notation chart for a Bb/F. There are a lot of extra notes!

Thanks.

No notation chart would be guaranteed to fit your instrument, there is variation in the notes outside the standard 30. You can find charts online. I think Jurgen Suttner has one on his site. There may also be charts on this site under concertina.net rather than in the forums.

 

I have a G/D Jeffries which is stamped for C/G, was probably an Af/Ef, and has been tuned to G/D. It is the same size as a standard C/G. It is as if the concertina was completely made except for the reed tongues, and only at that point was the decision made what key it would be.

 

A Bf/F is less valuable in strict currency terms, but they are a lovely thing.

Edited June 11, 2012 by Chris Ghent

[michael sam wild]

My C/G seems to have been tuned up from a Bb/F