The Concertina Doctor

19/02/2026

Latest restoration, a lovely George Jones 30 key Anglo Concertina.
This was a particularly difficult restoration as the concertina was really in scrap condition when it arrived, it had fretwork damage, some reeds missing and many reeds in the wrong places, and many other problems, it also needed new bellows. A further problem was trying to source, and in the end recreating the original Jones pattern decorative bellows papers.
The concertina had been subjected to inexpert repairs in the past, including use of what appeared to be car body filler.
Now it is a great player with a lovely tone.
Soon to be returning to it's home in Northern Ireland.

22/01/2026

A pair of nice rosewood ends from a Jones 30 key Angelo Concertina undergoing a full restoration in the workshop at the moment.
There was some fretwork damage with some pieces missing, which has now been patched up using fretwork pieces cut from scrapped rosewood ends from broken up concertinas.
The ends have not been re finished, just polished.

11/11/2025

Here we have it! 🙄
A 20 key rosewood Lachenal that someone thought that the best way to tune the reeds would be to slacken off the clamping screws on the reed shoes 😬.
It makes the tuning job take much longer than it should as the reeds have to be re centered and the screws carefully tightened the right amount (they snap off easily if over tightened, so great care must be taken).
The screws have to be tightened enough so that the reeds can't move sideways, and that is pretty tight.

08/11/2025

Lachenal rosewood 30key anglo Concertina upgrade.
Fitting felt button hole bushes.
It makes a much smoother playing experience.

22/09/2025

Restoration of a nice Jones 32 key C/G Anglo Concertina just completed.

20/07/2025

Work in progress.
A nice amboyna 58 button Lachenal extended treble English Concertina with extra whistle and squeaker buttons.
When restoration is completed, this one will be available from Steve Turner at Turner Violins of Beeston, Nottingham.

24/06/2025

Porous bellows corner gussets in a Chinese Scarlatti Anglo Concertina.
The gussets are not leather, they are made of cloth coated with a plastic material, which perishes after a while, leading to pin prick holes, visible in the first photo.
The solution is to line the gussets from inside with thin soft leather, as in the next two photos.

10/06/2025

Hand cutting and thinning Jeffries valves with a scalpel.

09/06/2025

Fitting new chamois leather gaskets to the reed pans on a Jeffries Brothers Duet Concertina (Jeffries duet system).

20/05/2025

On the work bench today, an interesting C/G anglo concertina. This one is a Lachenal copy most probably made by the little known maker Tidder. Unusually Tidder never labeled his concertinas. Tidder & Co were more known for making harmoniums and seraphinas and for reed making.
This concertina will be for sale when the restoration is done,

25/03/2025

Vintage 1950s Hohner Amatona restoration update:
All done, playing superbly, re pitched from D/D # to D/G, which is much more use to me, new gold tape on the bellows, this one's a keeper. It has a nice light touch and response for such a big box.
Tune: 'Just as the Tide was Flowing'.

23/03/2025