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HMV 102 - Three questions please

Posted: Wed Feb 21, 2018 5:49 am
by poodling around
Hello everyone.

I have only just joined the forum and live in England.

I have had my HMV 102 since about the age of 9 and have always enjoyed having it.

It needs a good clean as you can see from the 'photo's and many decades ago I did a terrible job of gluing the matt onto the turntable but it seems to work perfectly.

I suspect that it is a very early model- as it has a No 16 sound box and an old 'brake' ? Am I correct in thinking this please I wonder ?

The second thing I wonder is what the 'serial number' represents ? I assume that it wasn't the 102nd millionth player to be made ? So do numbers mean something else ?

Finally, if the number 16 sound box eventually breaks I think I need a 5a or 5b replacement ? I assume that these will fit the player arm. Where do people buy these from - mainly ebay I assume as and when they might be available ?

Thank you very much for any help / advice you can give.

Re: HMV 102 - Three questions please

Posted: Wed Feb 21, 2018 7:14 am
by Gramtastic
Hi, welcome to the forum ! as you say this is the earliest version of the 102 from 1931/2 as it has the 271C motor and the no:16 soundbox. The 16 proved to be unsatisfactory as it didn't sound very good and couldn't be opened for repairs/tuning and so was replaced by the 5a. Ebay would be your best bet if you wanted to replace it but 5a's and b's are now fetching anything from £60 - £80.
I believe the first three numbers of the serial number are the model i.e. this is a 102 numbered 4744.
(By the way, there is a British and European board where this should be really be posted !)
Cheers

Re: HMV 102 - Three questions please

Posted: Wed Feb 21, 2018 7:26 am
by poodling around
Thank you so very much for answering my questions.

I am sorry that I posted in the wrong forum. I don't see a button to change this thread to the right one.

Thank you again.

Re: HMV 102 - Three questions please

Posted: Wed Feb 21, 2018 11:18 am
by epigramophone
Another early feature present on your 102 is the "universal" automatic brake, which was claimed to be able to stop the turntable at the end of a record whether or not it had a run out groove. This brake proved troublesome and was replaced in early 1932. Later 102's had both a manual brake and a simplified automatic brake, which could be disengaged when not required.

If your "universal" brake is working well you are one of the fortunate few. Many early 102's have had this brake removed and a manual one substituted.

Re: HMV 102 - Three questions please

Posted: Wed Feb 21, 2018 2:13 pm
by poodling around
Thank you for the information about the brake. Very interesting.

It really does work very well and always has so I am indeed lucky.

Re: HMV 102 - Three questions please

Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2018 2:49 pm
by SteveM
Indeed, very cool to see you have a working early complicated brake. Also nice to see you've had it for decades. I have three of them (all 1945) and only for about 3 years, but they are my favorites!

Re: HMV 102 - Three questions please

Posted: Sun Feb 25, 2018 3:35 am
by poodling around
Thank you SteveM.

It is good to know that you have a collection of 102's. As you say, I value mine too because it looks so good and sounds so good.

We have just purchased a red HMV 101 and collect it tomorrow. so it will give me something to compare the 102 sound to.