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Jeffries 50 Button Anglo


Dave_Stanford

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Hi,

Im just gathering information before getting serious on selling my Jefferies 50 button Anglo. I havent played it for about 5 years, so its case is just gathering dust. I'd like to say it was my great grandfather's but no such story. I actually got fed up of a 30 key Honer Anglo with a 'stuck' button, so I went to Hobgoblin and bought the best in the shop - 1100 quid 20 years ago.

 

I guess Im wondering what information people want on this. Pictures, key chart, anything else? Im also wondering whether I'd better to just do the whole thing on eBay instead.

 

Appreciate any comments.

 

Thanks

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Hi,

Im just gathering information before getting serious on selling my Jefferies 50 button Anglo. I havent played it for about 5 years, so its case is just gathering dust. I'd like to say it was my great grandfather's but no such story. I actually got fed up of a 30 key Honer Anglo with a 'stuck' button, so I went to Hobgoblin and bought the best in the shop - 1100 quid 20 years ago.

 

I guess Im wondering what information people want on this. Pictures, key chart, anything else? Im also wondering whether I'd better to just do the whole thing on eBay instead.

 

Appreciate any comments.

 

Thanks

 

Hello Dave,

 

Could you kindly take several digital photos of your concertina - both sides, bellows opened, bellows closed? Concertina purists may ask that you take your concertina to a knowledgeable person who can open this concertina so that we can take a look at the reedpan (action board) and the reeds.

 

A picture is worth a thousand words. What city or town do you live in? Knowledgeable people from this site, close to you, may be able to contact you and give you a proper evaluation of your concertina.

 

Give fellow concertina players a week on this site to reply to you before considering selling it on Ebay.

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Hi,

 

Thanks for the info: Ive had it for 5 years so Im not rushing to sell it. I plan to take a number of pictures, then add all the notes - from the keychart I made several years ago. It would be nice to think that a concertina player actually got to use it. Its a nice box.

 

Difficulty is that I live out in Charlotte, North Carolina - a long way from Greenwich SE10.

 

Most times I see a concertina, its cut in half and stapled into the wall of a restaurant!

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Hi,

Im just gathering information before getting serious on selling my Jefferies 50 button Anglo. I havent played it for about 5 years, so its case is just gathering dust. I'd like to say it was my great grandfather's but no such story. I actually got fed up of a 30 key Honer Anglo with a 'stuck' button, so I went to Hobgoblin and bought the best in the shop - 1100 quid 20 years ago.

 

I guess Im wondering what information people want on this. Pictures, key chart, anything else? Im also wondering whether I'd better to just do the whole thing on eBay instead.

 

Appreciate any comments.

 

Thanks

 

Hello Dave,

 

Could you kindly take several digital photos of your concertina - both sides, bellows opened, bellows closed? Concertina purists may ask that you take your concertina to a knowledgeable person who can open this concertina so that we can take a look at the reedpan (action board) and the reeds.

 

A picture is worth a thousand words. What city or town do you live in? Knowledgeable people from this site, close to you, may be able to contact you and give you a proper evaluation of your concertina.

 

Give fellow concertina players a week on this site to reply to you before considering selling it on Ebay.

 

May I suggest contacting Doug Creighton or Richard Morse from the Button Box at email address: squeeze@buttonbox.com or the website: www.buttonbox.com Doug and his technicians can evaluate your concertina for a price of approximately $40.00. They may be able to suggest a sell price or sell it for you on consignment. The Button Box is located near (Sunderland, MA) Boston, Massachusetts.

 

Bob Tedrow from Homewood Musical Insruments in Birmingham, Alabama can also help you out. Check his ad on this website.

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Hi Dave,

 

I'm a long-time anglo player, and Jeffries owner, and I don't live all that far from you. I live in Tryon, NC and Charlotte is only about 1-1/2 hours away. If you need somebody to open the instrument up to evaluate its condition for potential buyers, just send me an e-mail. I have the experience to do check this out and can help you with photos too. I'm recenty retired, so time is not a major issue. You can reach me through my e-mail address on this site.

 

Best regards,

 

Ross Schlabach aka rp3

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Hi,

 

Thanks for the info: Ive had it for 5 years so Im not rushing to sell it. I plan to take a number of pictures, then add all the notes - from the keychart I made several years ago. It would be nice to think that a concertina player actually got to use it. Its a nice box.

 

Difficulty is that I live out in Charlotte, North Carolina - a long way from Greenwich SE10.

 

Most times I see a concertina, its cut in half and stapled into the wall of a restaurant!

 

Dave,

 

You may get asked the question as to the exact nature of your concertina, you describe this concertina as an anglo, is an anglo or a Jeffries Duet? or even a converted Duet to Anglo?

 

Dave E

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OK,

 

Now to remember as much as I can about it. I went to Hobgoblin as they were the closest to Greenwich, London and at that time 1992 had a selection to chose from. After the Honer I wanted quality and was told/had read that Jeffries were a good make. The price tag over a 1000 quid was high, but I was single and money wasnt a problem (boy has that changed....).

 

What did they say about it. I believe they said that it was converted to an Anglo - hence all the keys. But it was basically the same notes as the Honer (plus a load more) ie. a C-G. Instead of having to bounce from side to side for the melody, you could do the whole melody on one side and all the accompaning chords on the other side.

 

They told me it was recently tuned to concert pitch at Hobgoblin, and Ive never had to retune it. Ive verified the notes with an electronic tuner, they all seem ok. This is not to say I wont have it looked over at some point by a professional. But basically Ive had the thing for 16yrs so Im not rushing into all this.

 

Ive taken a bunch of pictures and I guess I'll somehow put some of them on this site. Im waiting for my camera to upload them to my PC. Theres pictures of outside, sides, reedbed, key nomenclature, tried to get a close up of the Jeffries logo. Couldnt see a number on it.

 

Now to try to answer some of the questions you've posed

Various of you had mentioned taking it to a professional to take the sides off, but I've done that several times already over the years - pretty straightforward. Try fixing a five speed gearbox, now thats a challenge. I also have several videos "the Seaman's Concertina" and "How to repair your Daitonic Accordian or Concertina" both by John Townley - explaining pretty much everything. Ive never had to retune any of the reeds, bit of dust in the mechanism, flap not closing, just simple stuff.

 

I live in a town called Richfield, 40miles east of Charlotte, in North Carolina.

 

Dave.

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post-6554-1202963086_thumb.jpgpost-6554-1202961476_thumb.jpg

post-6554-1202961623_thumb.jpgpost-6554-1202961955_thumb.jpgpost-6554-1202962096_thumb.jpg[attachmen

t=3416:P2130071.JPG]post-6554-1202962422_thumb.jpgpost-6554-1202962657_thumb.jpgpost-6554-1202962734_thumb.jpgpost-6554-1202962833_thumb.jpgpost-6554-1202962934_thumb.jpgpost-6554-1202963002_thumb.jpg

 

 

 

 

A few pictures.

 

pictures uploaded.

84/85 key nomenclature

67/70 ends

71 pulled out

76/91 reed beds

80/89 bellows

66 case and original straps

77 R Whitten and #R76

78 other side of end plate.

 

The plate where it says Jeffries reads;

 

JEFFRIES BROS MAKER

23 PRAEN (sort of faded)

LONDON

 

Obviously, I put on hard wearing leather straps, the original are in the case.

 

I guess I could attach a video of me playing it, but I might get sued by the musicians union...or RSPCA !

post-6554-1202962279_thumb.jpg

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Well I think we can safely say that's worth rather more than 1100 quid! A very nice looking instrument, I would say. Jeffries C/Gs have been seen going on eBay recently for the other side of 5000 pounds, but they were 30 button boxes. Paradoxically the smaller concertinas go for more than the larger ones because Irish players have little use for the extra buttons by and large, and think they just weigh the instrument down.

 

Fortunately quite a few English players value the extra versatility the extra buttons give, so I would expect you to sell this fine concertina without too much trouble. I am less sure how much you should ask for it. The higher side of 3000 pounds (whatever that is in $) certainly; how much higher I don't really know. Hopefully others can say.

 

I would certainly offer it here first. For one thing you will pay less and for another Paul (the forum owner) can use the money more than ebay can. Also you will definitely reach players here rather than collectors.

 

Best of luck,

 

Chris

 

Edited to add PS: it's 23 Praed St

Edited by Chris Timson
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Once again, thanks for the interest. I remember when I bought it, I liked it cos it was about the same size/weight as a standard anglo.

 

What Im going to do is leave the information out here for a week/10 days and then (Feb 24th) decide what to do - and I will post what the plan is.

 

Meantime, enjoy the pictures, ask questions, etc.

 

Regards Dave.

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Hi,

 

Thanks for the info: Ive had it for 5 years so Im not rushing to sell it.

 

 

OK,

 

But basically Ive had the thing for 16yrs so Im not rushing into all this.

 

 

I live in a town called Richfield, 40miles east of Charlotte, in North Carolina.

 

Dave.

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post-6554-1203035655_thumb.jpg

 

OK,

 

I see why you quoted those 2 emails. Why did I say I had it for 5 years and then 16 years. You could have just asked the question.

 

Let me put it another way. Ive owned it since 1992 when I bought it, so Ive owned it for 16 years. But I havent played it for about 5 years, its been sitting in its case.

 

What I was saying was "I am not rushing into selling this in the next day or so, its been sitting in a case for 5 or so years, unplayed, I can wait a couple more weeks".

 

I guess if you were really anxious you could contact Hobgoblin, I dont think I paid cash - they might have records of my payment in March 1992, it cost 1095 (and before you requote the 1100 quid, I was rounding up).

 

Ive thought about selling it in the last few years. I read somewhere that if there's something you've been planning to do, and you dont get round to it for 3-6 months, then you're probably never going to get round to it"

 

here's a picture of the first page of my Anglo concertina demystified, you'll see where I wrote when I bought it.

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Thanks for your clarification, Dave.

 

Those of us who wheel and deal in concertinas or who track eBay auctions regularly have seen lots of deliberate frauds, stolen accounts and previous auction listings reused. Jeffries concertinas are expensive, popular and a favorite favorite target of the scammeisters. I think the site monitors, Ken and Paul weed out dubious listings but we all kind of watch each other's backs.

 

We appreciate your listing with cnet and sharing as much information as you can provide and remember including the clarification. In this forum it will help both seller and buyer.

 

Best of luck,

 

Greg

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oh man, I just typed in some big reply, then realize I wasnt logged in and lost the lot......

 

Well what I was going to say was this....

 

OK, I understand the whole scam thing, I once got 'almost' caught in a PayPal scam, they had the screens the lot, I only twigged when they asked for the account/password combo.

 

Here's some more information about me;

 

Yes I am Dave Stanford, I work at a company in Charlotte called CheckFree, my email is dstanford@checkfree.com I also have an emal dave_stanford@hotmail.com If you want to email me on any of those, thats fine. However, what I am trying to do is keep everything on the main page. Anything that appears to be pertinent to the instrument I will post. eg. a question was asked to the size of the instrument - and as you saw I posted that information. I am NOT accepting any offers behind the scenes.

 

I do use eBay to buy stuff, my user name is "hiphophippo" and you will be able to see my dealings if you look at that account. I just buy stuff on eBay and have around 50 purchases. I dont sell anything - if I was devious I guess I'd have another account for that, but between a job, a family, 6 dogs, a cat... I have no time for anything else.

 

If you can think of any other questions, just ask.

 

If you want any other pictures, just ask.

 

I may take a stab at recording all the notes in an mp3 file and then posting it. I guess the problem is getting a decent microphone to do the recording. Anyway Ive got a few days to think on that.

 

Well the dogs are howling, Pogo needs to go walkies, so Im off now.

 

Regards Dave.

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