New reeds for a Jeffries

[Jeremy]

Hi everyone! I own a 38 button C/G Jeffries anglo concertina. There is a drone button on the left thumb, tuned to C/F, which is not very useful for me. I’d prefer D in both directions. I don’t want to alter the reeds, would prefer to take them out and keep them safe and put new D reeds in for the drone. Any advice? Anyone know where to find suitable reeds? Any concerns about my plan? I live in Halifax, Canada, more than 1000 km from the nearest concertina repair shop, so anything DIY (and safe) involving simply ordering parts is much preferred. Thanks!

[wunks]

Well, I've moved a few reeds on my Jeffries duet with great success and recently Bob Snope at the Button Box Repair Shop moved the whole lot down a step to a "D" core with little difficulty.  Completely reversible.  No carpentry required.  He needed only 3 replacement reeds.  Saved the spares.  I can't speak to your particular instrument but the Jeffries Parallel chamber build style seems to accept movements in small increments.  I decided to go ahead with this after close inspection, some trial moves and a hands on consultation with Bob.  I would say if you're comfortable opening up your box, and you have a D elsewhere , try it as a test.  Left hand thumb key might be an inboard set of reeds which could be a problem.  You should call Mr. Snope for advice.  By Jeffries anglo I assume you mean the maker not just the layout.

[Don Taylor]

5 hours ago, Jeremy said:

so anything DIY (and safe) involving simply ordering parts is much preferred

I imagine that you can probably get a suitable reed that will fit, but even if it is tuned to D then you are likely going to need it touch tuned for your instrument. 

 

If this is something that you are prepared to do yourself then you could try Concertina Spares in the UK or Greg Jowaisas in the US. 

 

I can also recommend Greg if you need the job done for you. 

 

I think that there is someone on the forum in Toronto who does repairs, but I cannot remember the name right now. 

[Alex West]

4 hours ago, Don Taylor said:

I imagine that you can probably get a suitable reed that will fit, but even if it is tuned to D then you are likely going to need it touch tuned for your instrument. 

 

If this is something that you are prepared to do yourself then you could try Concertina Spares in the UK or Greg Jowaisas in the US. 

 

I can also recommend Greg if you need the job done for you. 

 

I think that there is someone on the forum in Toronto who does repairs, but I cannot remember the name right now. 

Paul Read.  Nice bloke, on this forum and good for this job

 

I'm not sure why you're in such a rush to make this change though.  On a typical 38 key Jeffries, you have D in both directions, but the C/F thumb button gives you a C on the draw and an F on the push which you otherwise don't have at that pitch

 

Alex West

[adrian brown]

You beat me to it Alex - I can't imagine why you would want to swap two very useful reversals to duplicate notes you already have in both directions!

 

On the other hand, perhaps Jeremy is talking about a low d in both directions? (a whole tone above the lowest note) In this case I don't think the chamber would be big enough to support such low reeds.

 

Adrian

[Jeremy]

11 hours ago, wunks said:

Well, I've moved a few reeds on my Jeffries duet with great success and recently Bob Snope at the Button Box Repair Shop moved the whole lot down a step to a "D" core with little difficulty.  Completely reversible.  No carpentry required.  He needed only 3 replacement reeds.  Saved the spares.  I can't speak to your particular instrument but the Jeffries Parallel chamber build style seems to accept movements in small increments.  I decided to go ahead with this after close inspection, some trial moves and a hands on consultation with Bob.  I would say if you're comfortable opening up your box, and you have a D elsewhere , try it as a test.  Left hand thumb key might be an inboard set of reeds which could be a problem.  You should call Mr. Snope for advice.  By Jeffries anglo I assume you mean the maker not just the layout.

Thanks! Yup I've already swapped around a D# and a C# reed. When I got the instrument, it was C# both directions on the right hand index finger and D# both directions on the middle finger. I swapped a C# and a D# reed so I can have a more "standard" Jeffries layout. Thank you for the advice!

[Jeremy]

6 hours ago, Alex West said:

Paul Read.  Nice bloke, on this forum and good for this job

 

I'm not sure why you're in such a rush to make this change though.  On a typical 38 key Jeffries, you have D in both directions, but the C/F thumb button gives you a C on the draw and an F on the push which you otherwise don't have at that pitch

 

Alex West

Thank you! So you use that button like any other rather than a drone. I can see how that would be handy. What type of music do you play on concertina? I don't often find myself wishing I had more options for F's and C's on my 30 button concertina. Maybe I'm not adventurous enough!

[Jeremy]

1 hour ago, adrian brown said:

You beat me to it Alex - I can't imagine why you would want to swap two very useful reversals to duplicate notes you already have in both directions!

 

On the other hand, perhaps Jeremy is talking about a low d in both directions? (a whole tone above the lowest note) In this case I don't think the chamber would be big enough to support such low reeds.

 

Adrian

The reason is to make it easier to add a D drone while otherwise playing a melody normally. I realize it's possible to achieve the same result with some fancy left hand fingering while also playing a melody. This was really just a simpler way of doing something I can already do. If I played B flat sessions or more tunes in C or flatter, a C/F option would be more useful to me! But maybe it's time I dove in to tougher repertoire.

I didn't mean a low D, and understand that would be a much larger reed. I had considered replacing the low F with a low D, which would get more use, but am leaning away from that.

Edited January 13, 2023 by Jeremy
incomplete response

[Alex West]

1 hour ago, Jeremy said:

What type of music do you play on concertina?

I mostly play English/Scottish tunes with occasional forays into Swedish and Quebecois. I mostly play a G/D box, but yes, I use the thumb like a normal button as an addition to chords.  I rarely (well, never) use it as a drone - though I can see if you're playing Irish style concertina you might find the D (or even a G?) useful

 

Alex West

[Jeremy]

Now that I have my C# and D#'s where I like them, I think I'm just going to abandon changing the drone for now. I have 7 other new buttons to get comfortable with as it is. Maybe I'll feel differently in a few years! Even if I do end up making this change, I'll at least be more confident I'm not rushing into it. Thanks all!

[adrian brown]

21 hours ago, Jeremy said:

Now that I have my C# and D#'s where I like them, I think I'm just going to abandon changing the drone for now. I have 7 other new buttons to get comfortable with as it is. Maybe I'll feel differently in a few years! Even if I do end up making this change, I'll at least be more confident I'm not rushing into it. Thanks all!

Glad we gave you some food for thought. And in the meantime, if you do want to use a drony effect, try using the buttons you have, it might not be as difficult as you think, once you are used to the concept.

 

Good luck,

 

Adrian