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Jeffries Anglo Concertina 38 Button C/g


JD Leedham

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Hello All,

 

This is my first post and it is an inquiry into the Jeffries Anglo 38b C/G that is currently being listed on the UK bay site. It is item number: 281057206743

 

Living here in the States the prices of the finer vintage instruments are astronomical so I'm looking abroad. I'm curious if this Instrument is being sold by a member or if anyone here may have first-hand experience with it or seen & checked it out? Does anyone have any experience with this particular seller? From the back and forth in the questions and answers the seller references this group and sounds like they have scrubbed a reed or two in their time. Are there any thoughts about its condition based on the photos and description? Any sage counsel would be deeply appreciated.

 

Kindest regards,

JD

Edited by JD Leedham
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The fact that there is no bid as yet doesn't mean that it will go cheap. All "professional" bidders only bid in the last seconds. I would be surprised if it goes for less than 3.000 pound - and there is a risk regrading condition and state of the reeds...

 

However there seems to be in dip in concertina prices right now. The major dealers have a surplus of desireable instruments for sale - still at high prices, though.

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The seller is known to 'us' here and he appears to be totally honest and a very genuine fellow. As Conzertina says there is a dip in the prices of these Babies which is very much due to the fact that the economic bubble that has existed in Ireland since (approx.) 1995 has definately burst. The strength of the Irish market for any Charlie Jeffries Anglo was the key factor in the rapid growth of prices.

 

My gut feeling is that the current market price will be closer to that of a 'top end' Wheatstone English... so again as Conzetino says £3000+.

Prices generally do appear to be more reasonable in the UK.. I think that generally people are guarding their money.

 

As to the playability or absolute condition of this particular instrument ?

Edited by Geoff Wooff
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Hi all, and thank you to Geoff for those kind words. I am indeed totally honest and a very genuine fellow (but then I would say that wouldn't I?)

 

My apologies to anyone that was watching it when I so brutally and shamefully pulled it, and apologies to Mr JD Leedham in particular. No suspicious circumstances at all, I don't want to say much more for the moment because the eBay police are everywhere, suffice to say I am a happy man. It's a lovely instrument and I've grown rather fond of it!

 

If only I had the sticking power to practice a bit more, but I've got way too many hobbies for one person. I've just completely dismantled a Canon EOS500D camera and installed a different filter for doing astrophotography of hydrogen alpha emission nebulae, and I don't even understand most of that yet!

 

Next job is a McCann 55 button (sorry Geoff, metal ends) which needs pretty much everything. I might even learn to play it, it seems far more logical to me!

Cheers.

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there has been a 45-key jeffries at bb for a long while, priced at nearly $11k. there are at least as dozen vintage ECs in stock there, 10 or 11 of which have been present for a long stretch. when i commented on this a few months ago as a sign of the economic times, there was a reply from another commenter tut-tutting me and saying, check those listings after the [???? event--i think NE SI, but not sure]. but not only did the numbers not go down, they have gone up since then.

 

i do take this as an indication that there has been a price bubble that badly needs a correction (not only talking about bb--i mean in general in the "market,") but i am also convinced that that issue is not the whole story. it also says to me, bigtime, that the so-called "recovery" we are being told is in force here in the u.s., is nonsense. people are letting go of their concertinas because they need cash. and the potential buyers who are yearning to buy, simply do not have the cash, or, they do have a bit of cash but are afaid to let go of it. and....many sellers are still operating with bubble pricing...and...i am very curious as to whether there has been what the economists call a permanent or long-term "structural" change in consumer sentiment as to value (as opposed to mystique and cachet) when shopping for concertinas. this is definitely the case on my part. six thousand dollars or more for an instrument that is not brand-new, as-new, or completely, superbly, and recently restored? er, no thank you. well-made accordion-reeded concertinas looking and sounding pretty darned good? absolutely.

 

those Irish Sherwood concertinas that the allaboutaccordions guy (Sean Garvey, I think it is) is selling, with your choice of two types of TAM reeds with different sounds depending on brass or aluminum frames, must be looking pretty good to the irish right now, and can you blame them? the ridiculous snobbery in the music community and among competition judges about a twelve-thousand-dollar jeffries being the only way to show your child is "serious" about the music seems pretty asinine round about now, doesn't it?

Edited by ceemonster
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six thousand dollars or more for an instrument .... And well worth it, I say. There is some magic about a great vintage instrument. The new concertinas are lovely but there is something special about a vintage concertina. If you can't hear the difference between a good vintage Jeffries or Wheatstone and a contemporary hybrid then there is something wrong with your ears. It is not all about "ridiculous snobbery in the music community."

So far as I know, judges don't award points based on the value of the concertina being played. Sean Garvey's concertinas might be good. But I don't know anybody among "the irish," as you say, who would prefer one of those over a good old Jeffries. The market for good quality vintage instruments is holding strong in Ireland. And I would go into hock in a minute if one of my kids played well enough to deserve a $12,000 instrument.

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[The new concertinas are lovely but there is something special about a vintage concertina.]

 

certainly. a recently and completely restored one. the prices we are seeing for unrestored or scantily restored instruments would seem to indicate that the reality of the post-bubble world hasn't sunk in for some...

 

and yes, there is indeed a ridiculous "Stradivarius Syndrome" that comes into play regarding the holy vintage instruments on the circuit....

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Thanks for the words Andy. No worries & best wishes photographing all that very, very vintage light.

 

Concertina-wise I'm building my path as I go one brick at a time and having a great deal of fun along the way. It's just another aspect of this second half of my life. Music, history, doing a little more to influence the weft and warp that becomes the fabric of my community. Oh, and rubbing shoulders with the likes of all of you. What's better? Besides prices vs value is relative to not much in particular or everything in general and always has been.

 

In the meantime I'll continue to be on the lookout for a decent vintage Anglo 30 that needs some love, but has great potential.

 

Cheers

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Vintage guitar guide shows 30% average price drop since 2008. Vintage solidbody electrics are worth

44% less than they were worth five years ago. Seems music markets are under pressure everywhere.

I follow that market a bit and one of the things to realize is that most of the "Buy now" prices or advertised

prices have little to do with actual selling prices. You can get 70's silverface champ for 800$ on ebay but

the last one actually sold on an auction was 270$. These inflated prices have impact on pricing by private sellers,

who should not expect to get as much as reputable delears anyway, but use comparable pricing.

My take is that we haven't seen the worst of it yet. The music industry as a whole has lost its economic

footing, and prices will start to drop when people who are now seeing their gear as a secure

investment become scared of getting stuck with almost unsallable instruments.

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