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Posted (edited)

If this is not allowed, mods, please accept my apologies and remove or move to the right forum. Many thanks.

 

I am trying to determine the current market value of a C/G Jeffries 45 button Anglo concertina — concert pitch, 7 folds, new bellows. According to a 1978 letter from H.N. Crabb, it was most likely made by Crabb for Jeffries around 1880. It was fully restored by Steve Dickinson in 1978 and touched up by Bob Beimers in 2024. I understand that the market fluctuates and an instrument that cost $8,000 three years ago might not fetch that today and price might vary between the US and the UK. I did find several C/G 45 button boxes ranging between $5,000 US and $8,000 US -- it looks to me like the lighter weight Jeffries, 30 or 38 buttons, are more in demand. Any advice appreciated.

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Edited by Skaplan
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Posted

Please can you tell us exactly what is stamped in the oval. I've tried blowing up your photo, and think there may be a lower line reading something like '& Son'. Thanks!

Posted
1 hour ago, wes williams said:

Please can you tell us exactly what is stamped in the oval. I've tried blowing up your photo, and think there may be a lower line reading something like '& Son'. Thanks!

C. Jeffries

Maker

Posted

We often find that concertinas with this many buttons are conversions of Jeffries duet systems to anglos. The extra buttons (over 30 or 38 as you have seen) don't really give that much more playability. The thicker fret also suggests a later date in the overall Jeffries period,  as does the letter stamping rather than an engraving. Our article on concertinas made over the full Jeffries period can be seen on the Concertina Journal website. The 30 and 38 button anglos are much more common than anything larger, which explains why you see many more of them on the market.

Posted

As for value, this is quite a rare instrument though that does not really make it worth more.  Between $5,000 US and $8,000 US sounds about right to me. Quite a spread there.

 

It's worth whatever the market will bear. If someone really wants it, they will pay a higher price to get it. IMHO all those extra buttons do not add up to better playability unless you are playing melody in the way high upper range. Kinda squeaky up there on a C/G.

 

Still, if set up properly, it should be a great instrument. Those vintage Jefferies concertinas really kick up some dust.

Posted (edited)
11 hours ago, Jody Kruskal said:

Kinda squeaky up there on a C/G.

 

I'm having lessons from the other JK (John Kirkpatrick) at the moment and he often says to drop bits of a tune by an octave to avoid the top of the G row for that very reason, though thay can be useful to play along with other notes at the same time. - And that is on a standard 40 key. I can't see much reason for wanting to go any "Squeakier" than that top G.

 

 

Edited by Clive Thorne
Posted

Thanks, all. Guess I’m on the right track. Jody, I knew your dad years ago — we both taught at Pinewoods back in the day and played for Morris dancing.

Posted
3 hours ago, Clive Thorne said:

I'm having lessons from the other JK (John Kirkpatrick) at the moment and he often says to drop bits of a tune by an octave to avoid the top of the G row for that very reason, though thay can be useful to play along with other notes at the same time. - And that is on a standard 40 key. I can't see much reason for wanting to go any "Squeakier" than that top G.

 

 

Take the reeds out from the last squeeker on the bottom row for a pinkie/air button and use the thumb/air for a more useful note pair or drone.

Posted (edited)
7 hours ago, wunks said:

Take the reeds out from the last squeeker on the bottom row for a pinkie/air button and use the thumb/air for a more useful note pair or drone.

 

I did ask JK if it was worth losing the top G & F# and putting something else in, but he reckoned that the times you do need those two if playing octaves, or part of a right hand chord etc. Just that if the main melody goes up there it gets squeaky.

 

Note that my nominal top B is already a Bb the octave below, as I have seen on several Jeffies layout concertinas.

 

Mine is a 36 key, perhaps a 39 key beckons!

Edited by Clive Thorne
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Posted (edited)
On 1/30/2025 at 2:31 AM, Jody Kruskal said:

IMHO all those extra buttons do not add up to better playability unless you are playing melody in the way high upper range. Kinda squeaky up there on a C/G.

I reckon the big anglos get a bad press!

In general, the extra buttons from a 39 key to a 45 (or even 50) key instrument don't go significantly higher (or lower) and give you extra range.  I just checked a 50 key Jeffries chart I have and it goes one note lower and 2 notes higher than a 30 key.  What the extra buttons (and of course reeds!) do give you is more notes in both directions so playing chords in different keys than the home keys becomes easier.  A C/G is always going to be squeakier than a Bb/F (or an Ab/Eb or a G/D)

 

Quote from Wes earlier - "We often find that concertinas with this many buttons are conversions of Jeffries duet systems to anglos."   I know of instruments where this has happened but I'm not sure of the quantity.  I've no supporting data either way but I've seen a number of large Jeffries anglos which were only ever anglos from the very beginning.  And if the conversion from duet to anglo has been done well, it shouldn't affect the value?

 

As regards weight, there's another thread about concertina weights.  Personally, I don't find weight to be a big drawback as most of the time, the instrument is supported on one leg or other.

I have heard people say that the chambers are so small that the acoustics of big Jeffries anglos are compromised with respect to 39 or even 30 key instruments.  Certainly, the reeds mounted in central locations on the reed pan can have some very odd characteristics, but in my limited experience, a 50 key can sound just as good as a 30 key

 

Alex West

Edited by Alex West
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