Jeffries Duet

[Richard G]

Having thought this is probably the best place to start, I'm putting out feelers to find the value of my Jeffries Duet - with a view to selling it... what I can tell you so far is:

 

How many buttons? 52 odd including the bypass(air intake thing)? and a bass note

Core or home key? wouldn't know one if it asked me out for dinner, what am I looking for and I'll let you know which it is

Condition, including Concert pitch? Very good nick, a couple of notes are a little squeeky (sticky?) - one of the straps will need repair / replacing - I have the original leather case, but it will need a new handle or repair to it.

Bellow airtightness? no puffing / wheezing or cracks etc. Bellows are sound to the best of my knowledge

Pad replacement? I've not put any in

Valve replacement? the metal things that are in a bag at the bottom of the case - several spares, it is as it was when my great grandfather passed away in the early / mid sixties, ever since stored in a wardrobe in dry conditions,

 

It needs maintenance as opposed to repair, I can try and send a video clip of playing (hah! can't play a note) the notes through to show you what good condition its in.

 

attached is a picture

 

I'll start again with a basic 'learner' at some stage, but the wife has said 'we' are learning the piano now...

 

Thanks

Rich

[Chris Timson]

I'll start again with a basic 'learner' at some stage, but the wife has said 'we' are learning the piano now...

Get your wife to come on here and say that! We'll soon sort her out.

 

If the Jeffries duet is your preferred system then you should be aware that you will never see a basic learner version. Jeffries duest are less rare than hens teeth, but not by that much.

 

As to prices: up until a year or so ago Jeffries duets sold for a lot less than their anglo brethren; about a thousand pounds for a good one would have been about right. Then all of a sudden the price (as seen in several nice examples sold in eBay) went through the roof to two or three thousand pounds. So there is some doubt, but potentially a lot of dosh.

 

My suggestion is that you inform your wife that 'we' are learning the concertina now ...

 

Chris

[JimLucas]

I'll start again with a basic 'learner' at some stage, but the wife has said 'we' are learning the piano now...

If the Jeffries duet is your preferred system then you should be aware that you will never see a basic learner version. Jeffries duets are less rare than hens teeth, but not by that much.

I'll add my own support for Chris' recommendation:

... Though you may be able to get a good chunk of money from selling a Jeffries duet today, if you ever want to get another, I you'll likely find it costing even significantly more... and probablly entailing a long wait before you can actually find one. (As Chris noted, they do occasionally come up for sale, but still very infrequently, and you're unlikely to be the only person looking when one does become available.)

... So unless you're really desperate for the money right now and you're sure you're never going to want that instrument in the future, I recommend that you keep it.

... Even if you are learning the piano right now, if you have any desire to learn to play that concertina in the future, you should hang onto it for when that day arrives. A top-quality instrument of any type is far easier to learn on than a "learner". You have such an instrument, and you should keep it for when you have a use for it. And as Chris indicated, there is no such thing as a "learner"-quality Jeffries duet. You won't be able to pick one up "cheap". Probably not even in "spare parts" condition.

... Even if, when you do get around to trying to learn concertina, you discover that the Jeffries duet system is not for you, that instrument will have enough value to enable you to get a quality concertina of any other type (or a guitar, or saxophone, or...). Again, far better than trying to learn on a mediocre "learner" instrument, of any sort. But you shouldn't sell it until you're sure you're not going to play it, and equally sure what you will want to use the cash for, in its place.

 

Just my opinion.

[Ivan Viehoff]

There is a difference, not at all a subtle difference, between "learning the concertina" and "learning the Jeffries Duet concertina". It would not be at all surprising that a person wishing to "learn the concertina" and finding themselves in possession of a rare and special Jeffries Duet, might prefer to learn a different kind of concertina. Since one could probably swap said very special and rare Jeffries Duet for a very special and rare concertina of a different system, perhaps through a top quality dealer such as Mr Algar who offers such a service, I wouldn't be surprised if that was the course of action selected by many people in such a fortunate position. It would also be a service to society to make that rare and special concertina available.

 

I am fortunate in having both a piano and a concertina. I am permitted to keep the piano in the lounge but the concertina resides in a remote room.

[Dirge]

I second that. Sell the jeffries to someone adventurous/rich/perverse (delete as appropriate) enough to appreciate it. Then if you want to take up the concertina seriously in the future do some research on what sort of instrument would be best for you.

 

I've sold my piano AND my accordian so there. Anyone want to buy an authentic eucalyptus-branch-hollowed-out-by-termites-painted-by-real Aborigines-in the-middle-of-Australia-didgeridoo? My wife thought I'd like to play it but it's up there with the bodhran in my eyes. (That's just me being ignorant, it is of course a highly desirable authentic piece of folk art and could be yours at a very reasonable price. You could prop it up and accompany yourself on the squeezebox. OOOh! Perhaps I should try that....)

[JimLucas]

I second that. Sell the jeffries to someone adventurous/rich/perverse (delete as appropriate) enough to appreciate it. Then if you want to take up the concertina seriously in the future do some research on what sort of instrument would be best for you.

Dirge, I don't know if you're serious, but I'm certainly serious about recommending the opposite. My reason is simple: If Richard concludes that the Jeffries duet is not for him, then after he has made that discovery it will be easy for him to "swap" it for something he finds more appropriate. But if he parts with it now and later discovers that it is the right instrument for him, he'll have the devil's own time trying to get another.

[malcolm clapp]

Anyone want to buy an authentic eucalyptus-branch-hollowed-out-by-termites-painted-by-real Aborigines-in the-middle-of-Australia-didgeridoo?

 

Sure it isn't a mass-produced-bamboo-branch-hollowed-out-by-a-machine-painted-by-real-Chinese

-political-prisoners-in-the-middle-of-the-Gobi-desert-didgeridoo?

 

 

If you hold it up by one end and let it drop under its own weight, how long does it take to hit the floor?

 

MC

[JimLucas]

Anyone want to buy an authentic eucalyptus-branch-hollowed-out-by-termites-painted-by-real Aborigines-in the-middle-of-Australia-didgeridoo?

Sure it isn't a mass-produced-bamboo-branch-hollowed-out-by-a-machine-painted-by-real-Chinese

-political-prisoners-in-the-middle-of-the-Gobi-desert-didgeridoo?

I don't know about the Dirge-i-doo, but my own didge is definitely not bamboo. Also pretty clearly hand-painted, but I have no idea by whose hands. If it was by aborigines, they've taken to using modern enamel paints.

 

What key is it in? Well, "I'm no expert", but I think it's F. I haven't been able to find a serial number or a maker's label. No wood screws or wooden levers, though, so I don't think it's German.

[Dirge]

No it's the real thing Malcolm and if you're getting short of them I'll swap it for that Aeola i can see sitting at the back of your workshop...

 

And of course I'm serious Jim. Why would you ever HAVE to have a Jeffries system duet?

[Stephen Chambers]

I don't know about the Dirge-i-doo, but my own didge is definitely not bamboo. Also pretty clearly hand-painted, but I have no idea by whose hands. If it was by aborigines, they've taken to using modern enamel paints.

 

What key is it in? Well, "I'm no expert", but I think it's F. I haven't been able to find a serial number or a maker's label. No wood screws or wooden levers, though, so I don't think it's German.

But there is a "branch" of the Jeffries family in Australia, you never know ... this could be it!

Edited May 18, 2006 by Stephen Chambers

[JimLucas]

Why would you ever HAVE to have a Jeffries system duet?

To have it available when I finally get around to trying to learn to play it, of course.

 

At least that's why I have mine, though it's currently on loan to a friend while I concentrate on other priorities.

[JimLucas]

... my own didge is definitely not bamboo.

 

What key is it in? Well, "I'm no expert", but I think it's F. I haven't been able to find a serial number or a maker's label. No wood screws or wooden levers, though, so I don't think it's German.

But there is a branch of the Jeffries family in Australia,...

Are they the ones that settled along Reedy River?

[Stephen Chambers]

... my own didge is definitely not bamboo.

 

What key is it in? Well, "I'm no expert", but I think it's F. I haven't been able to find a serial number or a maker's label. No wood screws or wooden levers, though, so I don't think it's German.

But there is a "branch" of the Jeffries family in Australia ...

Are they the ones that settled along Reedy River?

They must have "gone out on a limb" somewhere!

Edited May 18, 2006 by Stephen Chambers

[JimLucas]

...there is a "branch" of the Jeffries family in Australia ...

Are they the ones that settled along Reedy River?

They must have "gone out on a limb" somewhere!

They must have gone out on a limb,

A large eucalyptus to trim,

To make didgeridoos

For non-natives to use

To make sounds that are really quite grim.

That's my limb-erick for today.

[Boney]

They must have gone out on a limb,

A large eucalyptus to trim,

To make didgeridoos

For non-natives to use

To make sounds that are really quite grim.

That's my limb-erick for today.

Very nice -- is that ab-Original?

[malcolm clapp]

No it's the real thing Malcolm and if you're getting short of them I'll swap it for that Aeola i can see sitting at the back of your workshop...

 

 

Sorry, Dirge, the 8 sided didgeridoo is sold....

 

MC

[Theo]

This one has just been listed on ebay by Chris Algar. He includes some interesting comments about tuning. It should provide some information about the market for Jeffries Duets.

[bignick]

Back on topic!

 

Richard, this looks like a lovely instrument. I play one that is very similar.

 

We would benefit from a close up shot of the maker's stamp, or at least the text of the inscription as that will help date it and learn if this was more likely to have been made by Charlie Jeffries himself or not.

 

To find the core key, take hold of the instrument (knurled strap screws upwards)by slipping your hands into the straps. Look at the buttons on the right hand end. They are in four, slightly curved rows. Starting with the row closest to your wrist, count up to the third row. From the left end of this row, pass over two buttons and then press the next three all at once. You should hear a major triad (a chord). Play them 1,2,3 and you should hear the first three notes of Johnny Todd/Z-Cars. It will be in the core key of the instrument. Go to a piano and figure out which key there matches most closely (if it's 'down the cracks', it is in some legacy pitch and we need to know this too.)

 

As noted by others, there are no Student Model Jeffries Duets. There are also no instruction books, tutors, teachers, or support groups that meet more often than once a decade. On the other hand, when nicely tuned and voiced, they sound utterly magnificent. Learning to play one is a task for a rugged individualist, stubborn and fiercely dogged, and with some good starting skills in basic music and harmony.

 

I bought mine for forty-five quid. I play it hard all the time and I worry that it may have to go into the shop soon (it was last tuned in 1980) for a major restoration which would leave me without an instrument. The one I ordered from Colin Dipper last century shows little signs of moving up his waiting list so, I'm interested.

 

I would definitley be prepared to pay more than I did for the last one.

 

 

Do you have any info about where your Grandfather played it and what kind of music?

 

Nick Robertshaw

 

 

 

(Thanks to Jim Besser for alerting me to this)