Anyone here going to Powick tomorrow?

[Steve]

It should be interesting!

[Steve]

I'll take that as a grand "NO!"

Good. That means that I'll get all the bargains!

[Steve]

Yesterday was the annual CLPGS PHONOFAIR and as usual we were grateful that we did attend as we were warmly received by a host of regular CLPGS members and enjoyed what turned out to be a very pleasant day with plenty on offer. We purchased some great records from some of the regular dealers. A pleasant friendly atmosphere was enjoyed by all and many records changed hands throughout the day, with one buyer taking a whole stall load home with him. A well earned break from scouring the merchandise was rewarded with some very reasonably priced sandwiches and liquid refreshments.

Some very rare and interesting machines were offered for sale but the item that caught my eye was actually a Frankenphone made from all Seymour parts, complete with high quality re-contructed cabinet, wooden horn (!), genuine back-bracket, tone-arm and soundbox. What was really odd about it, apart from the care and attention to detail and obvious quality, was that someone had used 1916-1922 era Seymour components to create a machine that might otherwise pass for 1907-1914 (to anyone who didn't know better). £400 if you're interested. It did sell to someone who I suspect will be dumping it on eBay by the time I have typed this - a sad indictment of todays market.

By 2.00pm things were being wrapped up but that didn't stop one dealer from making a last minute rush of sales when a small group of younger people arrived from London desperate to purchase ephemera, records and machines and he was the last man standing! There is hope for the gramophone world after all for anyone who can offer good condition high quality machines at fair prices. In fact the market is positively blossoming it seems.

I didn't spot anyone from this forum there but well done to Alan Smith et al for organizing the event once again.

[epigramophone]

Although neither of us realised it at the time (probably because neither knew what the other looked like ) we did exchange a few words while your charming companion was asking me questions about record collecting.

I am glad that you enjoyed the event and made some good purchases, as I did, and I certainly agree that reports of the hobby's demise have been greatly exaggerated.

[Steve]

Well yes, when a stall holder is "forced" to return home during the event to replenish their record stocks because the first buyer takes EVERYTHING and THEN four relative newcomers to the hobby, who have spent the day travelling from London arrive at the close of play and buy lots of stuff from the last stall holder to pack up (well he had packed up nearly but clearly sympathised with the late arrivals and seized the opportunity to unbox his merchandise whilst everyone else was in the car-park or the local pub!), you do realise that there are potentially many people interested in this hobby out there who clearly aren't automatically known or recognised by the more familiar folks amongst us!

I believe the late entrants actually originate from Romania or Bulgaria, in which case they could be very early arrivals!

Anyway it was a good day certainly. Whilst you were distracting my better half I bought an unusual machine and quite a lot of Pathé records. Mind you, when I returned to the car, I noted she had already filled it with books and her own boxes of records! Such is the competition these days.

[Retrograde]

What? No snapshots?

[Valecnik]

What? No snapshots?

I second that. A few photos would be great. It would also be interesting to know what kinds of machines showed up and, for me, whether any interesting Edison machines, disc or cylinder might have been brought in, (not that I need another)

It sounds like a good time was had by all.

[Steve]

I second that. A few photos would be great. It would also be interesting to know what kinds of machines showed up and, for me, whether any interesting Edison machines, disc or cylinder might have been brought in

I imagine someone might have taken photos but alas I don't have a camera these days so it wasn't me. You might see some pictures appearing in due course on the CLPGS website (due for renewal someday soon) showing the early stalls setup. Anyway, for me a camera is more to carry (and lose!) and can tend to get in the way of what you're trying to do. I know there were Edison cylinder machines for sale. Not being a cylinder man I'm sorry to say I didn't check what they were exactly but there might have been a Home and / or a Standard or two. I doubt they were rarities or of much interest to a seasoned cylinder machine collector though. Elsewhere there was a really smart Le Concert Automatique Francaise with red and white horn, fully operational. Also, although not for sale, a gentleman was demonstrating a machine he had designed to play damaged cylinders - quite incredibly engineered if you're into solving obscure problems!

[epigramophone]

Although I do not understand all the technicalities of Adrian Tuddenham's machine, I will try to explain the basics of how it works.

It's purpose is to remove the wobble, or "wow" as the hi-fi buffs call it, from cylinders which have become distorted. Anyone who collects Blue Amberols will know that they can sometimes go oval.

A stepper motor connected to various sensors automatically varies the speed of the mandrel to compensate for any irregularities in the cylinder. This was vividly demonstrated when Adrian put on a perfect cylinder, but placed a length of binder twine between it and the mandrel, causing it to wobble visibly.

The sound was dreadful until Adrian turned on the electronics, when all the distortion miraculously disappeared.

It is hoped that museums and other institutions will use the machine to transfer their priceless cylinder collections onto digital archives.

[Valecnik]

I would imagine these machines Mr. Tuddenham has made are not cheap but does anyone know the price he asks? Sounds like a brilliant invention. Some cylinders which would otherwise be just fine are so warped as to be unplayable.

In a way it's odd that not more high quality cylinder machines turn up in the UK. Two of the nicest Idelias I've ever seen were originally sold in the UK. Both are in American collections now as far as I know.