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Selling A Concertina


prender

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....................he's looking for £5500 in Oz dollars = Aus $ 11,190

Robin

 

That is the price for a brand new Steve Dickenson Wheatstone 40 button anglo (I am on the list)! I'd go for the new Wheatstone.

 

It looks like we are headed for new prices of 6000 GBP and upwards for Jeffries concertinas.

 

 

And when will this Wheatstone 40 button Anglo be delivered? Before or after pigs have learned to soar like eagles?

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here is another possible wrinkle to add to cocusflute's liste of potential scenarios:

 

a qualified technician opens it up and over more than a century of repairs, 2/3 to 4/5 of the original reeds have been replaced with lachenal or lachenal-quality reeds.

 

this happened to me as i was on the verge of purchasing a jeffries several years ago. anyone who lays out this kind of money for a vintage concertina without having it professionally vetted, in writing, by one of the handful of people who are qualified to do so, is an idiot.

 

and the only useful input to be offered the original poster is, take the instrument to one of the handful of people who are qualified to evaluate it, and proceed from there.

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Wow,

 

Firstly, thanks to all the guys who have pm'd with offers and advice. I have been extremely busy at work recently and so have not really had the chance to deal with this. I work at a university and I have asked a friend in the music department to ask around to see if there is anyone who can determine what key it's in as that seems to be quite an issue. Is it as easy as someone who plays the piano being able to say 'Oh that's in....' or do they need special concertina knowledge?

 

As for issues with the quality - I did say it was in good working order but that is obviously to my untrained ear. I'm no mechanic but I can tell when a car's running well and when it's not. A poor analogy I know, but I'm basically saying that there is no obvious problem when the concertina is expanded/contracted and the buttons pressed - to me it sounds like a good instrument played badly.

 

A list of people in the uk who could evaluate it would be appreciated - I am based in Leeds. Like I said this is a sale on behalf of my mother; I want the best price for her, and ebay seems to be the consensus, but neither of us wants to sell someone a dud even if it is done in good faith.

 

Once again, thanks for the interest and advice and I will keep you updated.

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I work at a university and I have asked a friend in the music department to ask around to see if there is anyone who can determine what key it's in as that seems to be quite an issue. Is it as easy as someone who plays the piano being able to say 'Oh that's in....' or do they need special concertina knowledge?

On the attached photo, I've highlighted the buttons (on the right hand) which will give the best indication, with the bellows being compressed.

 

Regards,

Peter.

post-1710-1212743544_thumb.jpg

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... over more than a century of repairs, 2/3 to 4/5 of the original reeds have been replaced with lachenal or lachenal-quality reeds.

 

this happened to me as i was on the verge of purchasing a jeffries several years ago.

Was it an instrument that had come from one of the Liverpool concertina bands by any chance? :blink:

 

That would be common enough with one of theirs, but unusual otherwise.

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Hi,

I agree with cocusflute. In addition, there is a danger here of seriously inflating the price above and beyond its true worth. Valuations cannot be made on "unseen" objects and neither can they be made based upon a few photographs. I realise of course that some forum members are trying to help but sometimes one can get carried away by ones own over enthusiasm with dire consequences.

 

One could end up with a scenario (unlikely but possible) whereas a "potential" concertina player with more money than sense is trawling through this forum looking to buy his/her first concertina. Might even have made a few tentative enquires and is aware that certian makes are considered poor and others are worth their weight in gold. Sees a Jeffries and thinks "wow, I've heard about them; I'll jump in quickly ...". Result? Either one very lucky beginner or one who is very p..... off when someone points out that the reeds aren't original; not a Jeffries etcetera etcetera.

 

It is also unfair on the seller. His expectations have now been raised probably far in excess of what he anticipated. He may be genuine and I don't wish to be disrespectful to him but it is a fact of life that people of shall we say "the shady side of life" join forums such as this waiting to pounce upon the gullible and unsuspecting.

 

It would have been kinder and more sensible to have announced to the owner of this Jeffries that he "may" have in his possession an instrument that is very much sought after and commanding high prices based upon condition etcetera. He could then have been pointed in the general direction of Chris Algar to name but one and advised to have the instrument assessed and valued. At least that way expectations based upon over enthusiasm are less likely to result in a fall.

Mike Delta.

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I'll weigh in here I guess as I have put mine up for sale and quoted a price that seems to have added to this debate.

 

I put the price on mine based on the sale of the last jeffries that I saw go through on ebay. It ws an unrestored Bb/F Jeffries and it sold for about 5050 pounds. Based on this and what others have told me, a C/G that has been restored should be worth a bit more than this, so I put the price I have quoted based on this.

 

Having said that, I was in two minds on how to sell it. I put it one here with the idea that I could donate some money back to the site and also pay less fees on the sale. Plus if I use ebay, it seems that I must use paypal and the fees continue to mount up. As this is not an auction site I also figured that I should put a decent price on it as can'timagine people offering me more if I put a low price on it.

 

I have seen a concertina identicle to the one I have sell for about $10,000 Aus a few years back and didn't play a note and had bits rattling around inside it everwhere (mind you the exchange rate ws a lot different then). I have been watching the concerttinas that have sold on ebay for some time now and they have nearly all been bought by the same person (BUSMICK). Maybe he is responsible for some of the prices being paid/asked. makes me wonder what is doing with them all.

 

 

Scott

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... over more than a century of repairs, 2/3 to 4/5 of the original reeds have been replaced with lachenal or lachenal-quality reeds.

 

this happened to me as i was on the verge of purchasing a jeffries several years ago.

Was it an instrument that had come from one of the Liverpool concertina bands by any chance? :blink:

 

That would be common enough with one of theirs, but unusual otherwise.

 

hi stephen

could you expand on this statement re the liverpool marching bands.

thanks

cplayer

Edited by cplayer
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  • 1 month later...

Hi Guys,

 

I'm really very sorry for leaving this for so long but I've been working 14 hour days for the past few weeks and so this took a back seat.

 

I was lucky enough to get some advice and an evaluation from Mark Davies, who I think many of you know. He wrote out a description of the instrument, which is pretty much word for word the description I am going to put on ebay:

 

Jeffries 39 Key Anglo Concertina

 

C/G - Modern Pitch (442).

 

Original Six Fold Bellows, Metal Ends and Buttons.

 

Original Untouched Condition with Original Six-Sided Leather Case.

 

39 Buttons - C Drone on Left Hand.

 

Bellows are Airtight

 

Small Leather Patch on Bottom of Endframe.

 

Buyer to Arrange and Fund Delivery - Will Ship internationally.

 

 

The last part about the buyer arranging shipping is a bit of a quandry for me as I would imagine any buyer would want to use a trusted method of delivery and I'm not sure Royal Mail (or whatever they're calling themselves) would measure up.

 

Mark, very generously, agreed to field any questions about the instrument through me, although I'm sure that those of you who know him can contact him directly. The only trouble is that I'm having a little difficulty contacting him myself at the moment as I suspect he is on holiday. As soon as I know that he will be available to answer any technical questions I will put the listing on ebay.

 

Again, thanks for all the interest and your patience.

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... over more than a century of repairs, 2/3 to 4/5 of the original reeds have been replaced with lachenal or lachenal-quality reeds.

 

this happened to me as i was on the verge of purchasing a jeffries several years ago.

Was it an instrument that had come from one of the Liverpool concertina bands by any chance? :blink:

 

That would be common enough with one of theirs, but unusual otherwise.

hi stephen

could you expand on this statement re the liverpool marching bands.

thanks

cplayer

Sorry to be so slow in replying, but I've only just noticed the question.

 

My experience of instruments from the Liverpool bands would seem to suggest that they were not at all concerned about the "integrity" or "originality" of their instruments and that, lacking any competent tuner/repairer, they were quite likely to change a reed that was out of tune, or malfunctioning, for a reed that was working/in tune from another concertina. So you might find some Lachenal (etc.) reeds in a Jeffries, even brass ones! :blink:

 

Their instruments are typically in fairly "butchered" condition. :(

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