John Sylte Posted October 27 Posted October 27 I was flipping through Facebook reels last night and saw this… Took a screen cap. Can anyone tell me anything about this miniature Concertina? Looks like an anglo, with lots of buttons!? Seems impossible that so many reeds could fit in that thing given the glass of beer next to it. Unless that glass of beer is extra large?
Johanna Posted October 27 Posted October 27 Could it be a toy model, rather than a playable instrument? I'm just an EC player, but those handstraps look smaller than an adult's hands could fit through.
John Sylte Posted October 27 Author Posted October 27 (edited) Yeah I thought the same. Although construction quality looks excellent. Looks like a miniature 38 Button Jefferies!? I wonder if it’s a Piccolo? https://www.facebook.com/share/r/16Krvgtwtk/?mibextid=wwXIfr Edited October 27 by John Sylte
Peter Laban Posted October 27 Posted October 27 I wouldn't rule out it is pasted in. The photographic quality of the concertina doesn't seem to quite match the rest of the image.
Johanna Posted October 27 Posted October 27 3 minutes ago, Peter Laban said: I wouldn't rule out it is pasted in. The photographic quality of the concertina doesn't seem to quite match the rest of the image. The image is a still from a video (which OP links in his follow-up post). And if you go to the rest of the Facebook videos from the same pub, there are several others showing the same miniature concertina-looking thing - always on the table in front of the same fiddle player. If somebody is editing the videos to fake the existence of a miniature concertina-looking thing, they're doing a very attentive job of it.
Johanna Posted October 27 Posted October 27 As for the piccolo Jeffries possibility: Usually when the body of a concertina gets smaller (or larger), things like the size and spacing of the buttons stay the same. (See, for example, the piccolo at the bottom of the listings here: https://steve-turner.co.uk/concertinas/) But the buttons on that miniature concertina-looking thing are tiny. My money is still on non-playable toy model/paperweight. I don't know why a fiddle player would own a toy model of a Jeffries concertina and bring it with him to an Irish session (more than once, it looks like, from the video archive). But this pub is in Cambridge, Massachusetts, home to Harvard and MIT, and people there do a lot of strange things.
Peter Laban Posted October 27 Posted October 27 It seems an unlikely thing but I'll take your word for it, no Facebook for me.
John Sylte Posted October 27 Author Posted October 27 I have two Anglo miniature Lachenals, and the buttons are definitely closer together, but not this close!
Isaiah Posted October 27 Posted October 27 It looks like a toy or model to me. There looks to be some text on the side of it facing up that's raised,l, I wonder if it might be a 3D print?
Johanna Posted October 27 Posted October 27 Some detective work: The fiddle player's name is George Keith, and he apparently made the concertina-looking thing (or another one just like it) for someone named Bernadette Nic Gabhann. https://www.instagram.com/p/DFxLex0sptw/ From the tone of the post, it's pretty obviously not real.
John Sylte Posted October 27 Author Posted October 27 Wow, how’d you find that all out? Now I’m even more curious to know how he made it and what for? It’s pretty impressive! Even if just for looks…
Peter Laban Posted October 27 Posted October 27 31 minutes ago, Johanna said: someone named Bernadette Nic Gabhann. That's Caitlin nic Gabhann's sister, a very fine fiddle player. 1
Daniel Hersh Posted October 28 Posted October 28 14 hours ago, Johanna said: Some detective work: The fiddle player's name is George Keith, and he apparently made the concertina-looking thing (or another one just like it) for someone named Bernadette Nic Gabhann. https://www.instagram.com/p/DFxLex0sptw/ From the tone of the post, it's pretty obviously not real. George Keith's website says he's in Medford, Massachusetts near Boston and plays some concertina too. Contact info is at https://www.georgekeith.net/contact . Does anyone here know him?
John Sylte Posted October 29 Author Posted October 29 (edited) From George himself, who commented on my comment/question, “John Sylte it's my rosin case.” Edited October 29 by John Sylte 2
Johanna Posted October 29 Posted October 29 Does that make it a George Case? (Did he even make Anglos?) 1
Stephen Chambers Posted October 29 Posted October 29 15 hours ago, John Sylte said: “John Sylte it's my rosin case.” My partner, Cathy, buys her rosin in octagonal briar-wood boxes, and gave me the last one she'd used up "to make a miniature concertina out of" - only I can't be bothered... There are hexagonal rosin boxes available too!
Matt Heumann Posted October 29 Posted October 29 It reminds me that back in 1973, when I was first learning English concertina, I used to go over to U of M Grad Student Barry O'Neill's to play and get pointers. He had an absolutely dead-ringer copy of a 48-button English w/ chrome ends that was cast in ceramic by his friend Gail. Only the heavier weight gave it away when he would swap it into my case. It was often displayed on the fireplace mantel of the original Hill Street Ark.
trayc Posted October 30 Posted October 30 You can print your own! 3D print-jeffries-anglo-concertina-box 2
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