Stephen Chambers Posted December 12, 2007 Share Posted December 12, 2007 It's right about Wheatstones making the best concertinas of course. Jeffries sound uncouth. Dirge, I'd certainly prefer a good Wheatstone, and can claim to have converted a few Anglo players to the fold. Though Fred Kilroy was very much of the Jeffries persuasion. I do like the Jeffries sound, though I certainly don't prefer it for everything. Jim, Did you ever try a Jeffries English? I had one briefly, but would not say they were as successful as his Anglos... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirge Posted December 12, 2007 Share Posted December 12, 2007 It's right about Wheatstones making the best concertinas of course. Jeffries sound uncouth. Dirge, I'd certainly prefer a good Wheatstone, and can claim to have converted a few Anglo players to the fold. Though Fred Kilroy was very much of the Jeffries persuasion. I do like the Jeffries sound, though I certainly don't prefer it for everything. Jim, Did you ever try a Jeffries English? I had one briefly, but would not say they were as successful as his Anglos... Thanks for the vote of confidence. I thought it was just me being odd again.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimLucas Posted December 12, 2007 Share Posted December 12, 2007 Did you ever try a Jeffries English? I had one briefly, but would not say they were as successful as his Anglos... Always wanted to, but haven't yet been near one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marien Posted December 12, 2007 Share Posted December 12, 2007 Sorry I must have been driving up the price... I had that type Crane ($500 a few years ago).Feel very happy that I was able to re-sell it at the same price (almost the same). Too small, not enough air, bad balance between left and right, uneven tone and squeaky. I really liked the layout, but realizes that Duets are not Anglos, the treshhold of acceptable quality is much higher. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Dunk Posted December 12, 2007 Author Share Posted December 12, 2007 There seems to be a glut of Cranes on ebay at the moment, here's another one. I can't see how a 48 button model with tatty bellows could hope to bring that kind of money. If anyone is seriously interested I might be able to go look at it as it's not too far from me, no promises mind - it's a busy time of year! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimLucas Posted December 12, 2007 Share Posted December 12, 2007 (edited) here's another one. I can't see how a 48 button model with tatty bellows could hope to bring that kind of money. Looks in OK shape to me, though who can be sure? And IMO 48 buttons for a Crane is adequate for many purposes, though I personally prefer 55. The price is definitely high, though. I think that what the seller has set as a starting price may be high even as an ending price. Edited December 12, 2007 by JimLucas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Chambers Posted December 16, 2007 Share Posted December 16, 2007 The price is definitely high, though.I think that what the seller has set as a starting price may be high even as an ending price. Indeed so, especially when you consider that the Wheatstone was probably a better instrument, and sold for a very reasonable £510! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivan Viehoff Posted December 17, 2007 Share Posted December 17, 2007 People have been denigrating 48-key Cranes, but actually they are an exceedingly popular and useful size. In contrast to 46-key Maccanns, they go down to middle C on the right and you can play every triad in the left, and you don't have three missing notes immediately above low C. The disadvantage is that they are necessarily larger and heavier than 46-key Maccanns, and don't have such a wide LH range. But the market judges these small disadvantages and they fetch a premium of probably £200 to £300 over 46-key Maccanns of equivalent quality. Chris Algar was selling a Lachenal 48-key Crane for £900 a couple of years ago. It had wooden ends of very similar appearance to the one here. But it was in beautiful fully restored condition, with bushed metal keys (I can't see from the photos whether this one is bushed) and lovely bellows. I was astonished at the smoothness of its action, the response of its reeds and its lovely tone. He had a £1000 metal ended Wheatstone of typical quality alongside it, and the former was flattered by the comparison. If I had been in the market for a 48-key Crane I would have bought the Lachenal. So a 48-key Lachenal Crane with standard wooden ends can be worth that amount of money, but only the very best in top condition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hooves Posted December 18, 2007 Share Posted December 18, 2007 (edited) There seems to be a glut of Cranes on ebay at the moment, here's another one. I can't see how a 48 button model with tatty bellows could hope to bring that kind of money. If anyone is seriously interested I might be able to go look at it as it's not too far from me, no promises mind - it's a busy time of year! a few months ago I got a nicely restored 48K Crane for less than that. I discovered the problem with my lower notes was in fact my amateurish playing, although they are somewhat slower than the notes on my Macaan (on the very low end), I just have been to gentle with it and playing harder now, the notes don't seem quite as slow, I finanly got brave enough to open it, and I may have loosed up some dust or other debris. Do "valves" need to be broken in too? I wouldn't think so. Edited December 18, 2007 by Hooves Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m3838 Posted December 18, 2007 Share Posted December 18, 2007 Do "valves" need to be broken in too? I wouldn't think so. Hmm. If you mean the "pads", and they are new, I guess the playing will make them sit and seal better. If you mean the valves on the reeds, then too, new ones need some time to take a shape of a slot and flex. But it doesn't mean the new ones shouldn't seal, it's just they sometimes make "flopping" sound. Plastic valves only bend out over time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveP Posted December 21, 2007 Share Posted December 21, 2007 Indeed so, especially when you consider that the Wheatstone was probably a better instrument, and sold for a very reasonable £510! As the lucky buyer of the Wheatstone, I can say that the price probably was a bit on the low side, but not much. It certainly needs some immediate care and attention - a couple of notes not always sounding correctly, and some notes need re-tuning. If funds allow, I may get this one put into A=440 pitch at some point, (at the moment my meter says that most notes are around A=450). On the whole though, a decent instrument, quite bright & loud, and no bellows problems. One possible reason for the lower than expected price may have been the fact that it was a private auction. I know some people steer clear of them, me included usually, but on this occasion the seller's feedback looked OK so I went for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stella24 Posted December 21, 2007 Share Posted December 21, 2007 (edited) I've been playing a 48 key Crane for over 30 years and it's done me proud. I was in a bidding war for a 55 key on ebay a bit over a year ago (it went over my limit), but I luckily found an almost identical instrument through this forum. I'm still working on things to do with the extra buttons. I use it mainly for song accompanyment (see website Crane Drivin' Music for a few samples), so my playing tends to be fairly simple. Definitely not trying to sound like a church organ! They do come up on ebay from time to time, but most people who take the time to get into the instrument don't want to part from it. Andrew Wow! REALLY liked all the sound clips! now that's folk music. recommend highly. wes. (just replace the comma with a period on the url.) Edited December 21, 2007 by stella24 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimLucas Posted December 21, 2007 Share Posted December 21, 2007 I've been playing a 48 key Crane for over 30 years... I use it mainly for song accompanyment (see website Crane Drivin' Music for a few samples), so my playing tends to be fairly simple. Definitely not trying to sound like a church organ!...Wow! REALLY liked all the sound clips! I corrected the URL (also in the quoted link in this post, so you can just click on that), but where are the sound clips? On the Recordings pages there are several tracks labelled "MP3 player", but I haven't yet found one that's actually a link to a sound clip. I'd really like to hear them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Dunk Posted December 21, 2007 Author Share Posted December 21, 2007 Jim, go to this page then press the big blue button next to checkout till. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimLucas Posted December 21, 2007 Share Posted December 21, 2007 Jim, go to this page then press the big blue button next to checkout till. Thanks! I thought that button was connected to the cash-register, didn't even notice the small-text "click for mp3 jukebox" underneath it. I'm now enjoying both the concertina and the songs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crane Driver Posted December 28, 2007 Share Posted December 28, 2007 Hi guys - Apologies for messing up the link - must have been tired. Thanks for fixing it. I'll have to look at the design of the recordings pages again, try to make the MP3 player more obvious. And thanks for the comments on the music - it's nice to be appreciated. Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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