Jeffries On E-bay

[Alan Day]

Excellent and balanced reply Paul.

What the old instruments will never provide of course is the specials.The purpose made instruments made specifically for one persons requirements.This market will allways have to be catered for by the modern makers.These concertinas will create interest in say one hundred years from now ,when they will be talked about,probably by your son Paul, as to why somebody did this or that.

I must admit to modifying all my Jeffries layouts to suit my taste but only in a minor way.

Al

[JimLucas]

A few words about retail and insurance prices on fine anglos.

[...]

Everything Paul said is on the mark. But I have (of course ) a few quick additions:

...to reflect on the uniqueness and irreplaceable qualities of certain superior antique instruments.

It's not just antique ones that can be unique and irreplaceable. Contemporary ones, too. (I won't say that Chris T. would bash someone with Kilroy to prevent them stealing his baritone Dipper, but if that were the only way, I bet he'd have a hard decision. )

 

Concertinas are not commodities.

Concertinas are not just commodities, but as long as we're paying money for them, there is a commodity component to their value. (Or does Paul mean something other than a saleable or resellable item? Concertinas certainly aren't uniform, mass-produced commodities, I'll agree.)

 

Jim is right that we can also expect [market prices] to fluctuate over time, and that some instruments will lose value.

While that's true, my additional point -- for those who think that investing in concertinas is a sure way to make a buck -- is that it might not be just on "some" instruments. Broader economic conditions could force the market itself to collapse. I believe it was a year or two ago that the media reported that happening in the high-price (over $1 million) art market, with prices-paid in general dropping by 50% and more. I've personally seen it happen more than once in real estate markets, with prices dropping by anywhere from 10% to even 90% in some over-invested regions. If prices are going up on high-end boxes because there are more knowledgeable players appreciating their playing value, that may be "solid", but if they're going up because people are jumping on the investment bandwagon, that's a disaster waiting to happen, and even in the first instance, if too many concertina players lose their jobs... . I sincerely hope that doesn't happen, but believing "it can't happen here" is no insurance.

 

I fear ... a misconception that concertinas  (unrestored, or of doubtful condition), should be "bought expensive and repaired cheap." If this opinion prevails, a permanent loss of quality in many of the antique instruments may be the legacy of this period of history.

I would include wholesale retuning in the "repaired cheap" category. Even tempered A440 in C/G or G/D doesn't automatically make a better instrument. I have a "C/G" Jeffries that I'm sure was originally in Bb/F, and it's a wonderful instrument, but I wish I could hear what it sounded like before the conversion. And particularly, if your main purpose is to play in sessions all muddled in with other instruments, why "waste" a super-special Jeffries on that? Get something less special -- but in even-tempered A440 -- for that, and save the beautiful, original sound of the Jeffries for occasions where you don't have to be in tune with somebody else's Generation whistle, or Stagi, or.... (I intend this only as a statement of opinion. If you want to turn it into a discussion, please do so in a separate Topic, and I'll happily respond there.)

[JimLucas]

What the old instruments will never provide of course is the specials.The purpose made instruments made specifically for one persons requirements.This market will allways have to be catered for by the modern makers.

In some cases, sure. But I think many people have found their own "ideal" instrument among the old ones. I have a couple of Englishes like that, and if I hadn't experienced them first, I probably wouldn't even have know they were what I wanted.

[Paul Groff]

Jim,

 

Thanks for your clarifications. I think we are on the same page (figuratively). Even if we two are in general agreement, of course, that doesn't make us "right!"

 

Yes, in a global market shift the price of all concertinas might drop. I have a sense, though, that there are a lot of younger players hoping to get a great instrument someday. I know this is true for the anglo, and I think and hope it is true for the english concertina. (Where oh where are the classrooms full of teenage duet concertinists?)

 

Thankfully, the wonderful modern makers are adding to the number of first-class concertinas in the world. And, yes, I agree that all the handmade ones are unique and irreplaceable as individuals -- but in principle, with a modern maker one could hope to commission an "approximate replacement" (a very similar instrument) if yours was lost. This is the point I intended.

 

And finally, you are right to correct my use of commodity -- I meant the word in the sense of mass-produced (or bulk) products that can be treated as "equivalents" for purposes of economic analysis.

 

Paul

[Alan Day]

Those people who just buy a concertina for investment ,poke it away in a cupboard and sell it when they think they can make a profit,are in fact are the major losers when the market nosedives.As Jim has said many people use the Antique market for this purpose many of the large insurance companies boast that they operate this system.We are the winners either way we have the use of these lovely instruments,we can look at them marvel on the craftsmanship,discuss various features from experiance.We are not looking at instruments through a bit of glass,we are making them play and be a part of our personality for all the years we own them.

Stuff the investment ,lets play and appreciate what we have or what we save to buy.If my concertinas are worth less in twenty years time,I personally could not care less, what great fun I have had with them.

Al

[Erik Murray]

I know of several very special Jeffries that have changed hands in England and Ireland for 4000 pounds (sterling) or more, or in America for $7000 to $9000, in the past few years. 

What makes a "very special Jeffries"? That seems to suggest something more than just one person's opinion of the sound and feel of the action.

E