The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

was the eBay headline on this machine. It had quite some damage to the lid and the record tray is missing, because some "****" put it together wrong and, the rest is history.

so i put some work to it, just to make it presentable but original and behold,

It turned out to be a Teak 101, made in Calcutta. I think It is a most rare Breed, because of the sidewinding, which i have only seen on once on Youtube shown by the EMGColonel.
Also, the Lid is not made in the way of other teak machines I have seen. There is no framed, but a "smooth" finish.

All the outside metal and some of the inside fitting have been gilded, but the gold has worn of considerably.
I replaced the handle from a period Columbia and the soundbox is rebuilt.

Other than that I have no information about it. What would you do with it? Restore it completely/partly, or leave it?

Nice! I would love to have one of these colonial Teak models. I would simply clean it, service the motor and find the correct reproducer. It looks great as it is.

Thanks
Andreas

I agree. That machine has lots of class. I personally like it better than the typical cloth covered portables. As said before, polish it up and enjoy.
Harvey Kravitz

That's a classy machine! I have one of these, but with the winder in the front and the framed lid. I would leave it just like it is now. The teak is tricky to revarnish, the decal will probably be lost in the refinish, and it is looking good as it is. If the guilded parts are too eroded, you can search for replacements, these are not too hard to find.

If I were you, I would sell it to me... or leave it as it is.

alang wrote: I would simply clean it, service the motor and find the correct reproducer. It looks great as it is.

It looks to me as though it already has the correct No.4 reproducer, or am I missing something?

Thank you so so much for your input. I don't think, I would sell it ^^. It is maybe one of the rarest 101 in existence.

The reproducer is an original No. 4 brass, i just rebuilt it.

Is there anybody with an original teak record tray, willing to give me some measurements? I would like to attempt to rebuild it some day.

Congratulations on saving this rare machine, which many people looking at the eBay listing would have dismissed as beyond restoration.

Yes the record storage flap is missing from inside the lid, but it might be possible to make up a passable substitute either from scratch or by cannibalising one from a common black 101. This would involve stripping the black leathercloth, staining and varnishing the plywood and finishing off with a replica HMV transfer. You would also need to remove the ferrule from the centre of the flap as this was not fitted to the teak versions. Not authentic but better than nothing.

All the "tropical" portables I have seen had nickel plated fittings. It is possible that over polishing has revealed the brass beneath, giving the impression that the components were originally gilded.

I am currently chasing a teak 101 to add to my portable collection, and hope to seal the deal next weekend. This one is the early front wind version with the two needle bins inside the lid, which were quickly discontinued after complaints of vibration during play. It is complete but in need of a new spring. I will post pictures when I get the machine home.

what I infact would try to do is replicate the teak lid in teak 1:1 as it was before. I "only" need the measurements in order to do that.

concerning the gilding. It was infact gilt. I am 100% sure that I am not misjudging. It was gold. It is visible on nearly every part. My 101 is much more like the 112 teak than other 101 teaks.

like I said. ultra rare 101.

With the greatest respect, I don't see any traces of gilt on any of the fittings. What I do do see is the brass showing though where the original nickel has flaked off, especially on the external corners. The majority of the fittings were brass, then nickel plated, or much later chromium.