George Jones or Crabb?

[Alex West]

Many thanks Stephen.  I think on the information so far, my inclination is to attribute this to the Jones workshop given the action and the knowledge that 

George Jones used the same gilding tool

 

I'd be even more confident of a George Jones attribution if it had a Jones series number stamped in it.

 

The instrument itself plays well enough - fast action, good response from the reeds.  Not too loud but with the same sort of edge that a Jeffries or Crabb would have.  When the time comes to sell, I'll let the purchaser decide what key, pitch and temperament to keep it in - it should go up to C/G in modern pitch without too much difficulty but could also go down to Bb/F

 

Alex West

[Alex West]

On 6/29/2020 at 10:14 PM, Stephen Chambers said:

the earliest Jeffries concertinas were made by George Jones,

So what sort of vintage are we talking about Stephen - 1870s?

 

Alex West

[d.elliott]

On 6/30/2020 at 4:38 PM, David Aumann said:

"But. of course, the earliest Jeffries concertinas were made by George Jones"

 

I didn't know that. I have a concertina here that, to my untrained eye, looks a bit similar to the concertina at the start of this post. I was told was a Shakespeare, but it has a Jones action, no serial number, trapdoor air button (as on another Jones I've seen), and the ends are Jeffries pattern but cut coarser.  My simplistic understanding was that Shakespeare was an assembler of parts that could have been bought from a variety of sources (or that "a Shakespeare" was a convenient way of describing a hard-to-identify non-thoroughbred concertina.)

 

I'm just posting because of the similarity to Alex' post.

 

Whilst looking through some earlier posts, I came across this one. From the picture of the action, and the shape of the pivot posts this concertina could be either a Case or  a Jones. given which side of the post that the lever arm is mounted I would think that its a Jones.  

[Alex West]

Thanks for the reply Dave.  I've since had it on very good authority that the instrument is more than likely (better than 90% certain) a Shakespeare, confirming what John Dipper thought.  I don't think "my" instrument is very similar to David Aumann's - at least in the fretwork, but perhaps it does support the thinking that Shakespeare acquired his parts from a wide variety of makers.

 

It'll remain a bit of a mystery, and it's now in a new home, but it still sounds and plays very well!

 

Alex West