Pathé on Ebay - interesting machine

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CarlosV
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Re: Pathé on Ebay - interesting machine

Post by CarlosV »

In a strange coincidence, there is a similar Pathé for sale in France, see https://www.ebay.fr/itm/RARE-GRAMOPHONE ... rk:11:pf:0

In the first case, a single turntable and two horns, and in the second case, the opposite. This dual turntable was designed to play the opera sets, allowing to replace the records with no interruption of the music. The single turntable one could only serve to increase the volume of the music. Both are interesting machines.
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PeterF
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Re: Pathé on Ebay - interesting machine

Post by PeterF »

Well except they are very different in functionality of course. Two tone arms act like a polyphone with the delay/reverb effect to create a spatial feeling, while the two platters are simply a means of playing records in succession more quickly.

I just love all the weird Pathé stuff. Such a wild array of machines and models and variants. Somebody really really needs to write and publish Look For The Rooster!

Phonofreak
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Re: Pathé on Ebay - interesting machine

Post by Phonofreak »

This is a very unusual machine. I was at the Cecil Dancer auction back in 2002, and that machine was sold to a buddy of mine for about $3500.00 back then. Stanton facilitated the auction. There was a horn attachment to this machine similar to a Pathé Jour Et Naght.(Spelling??) The hard part with this machine is to get the reproducers and styli synchronized.
Harvey Kravitz

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PeterF
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Re: Pathé on Ebay - interesting machine

Post by PeterF »

WOW, it was that long ago! I was there too, Harvey.

estott
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Re: Pathé on Ebay - interesting machine

Post by estott »

The one on Ebay has a lot of problems (to me) Both reproducers are missing the collets & have ordinary screws drilled into them for set screws. The grillework is the kind of material that you put in radiator covers. I don't like the crank coming out through the grille- Pathé would do better than that. On other machines with two styluses traveling in the same groove they are placed much closer together to minimize the echo and distortion. This makes no such effort and sounds awful.

In my opinion, a Frankenphone at best.

CarlosV
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Re: Pathé on Ebay - interesting machine

Post by CarlosV »

estott wrote:The one on Ebay has a lot of problems (to me) Both reproducers are missing the collets & have ordinary screws drilled into them for set screws. The grillework is the kind of material that you put in radiator covers. I don't like the crank coming out through the grille- Pathé would do better than that. On other machines with two styluses traveling in the same groove they are placed much closer together to minimize the echo and distortion. This makes no such effort and sounds awful.

In my opinion, a Frankenphone at best.
I beg to differ. The grill is typical of the Pathé machines of the period, and the set screws are also the original ones utilized in such reproducer. The front crank is also typical, there are several Pathé models with such design (I own a couple with the same arrangement). The additional point that shows that the machine is bona fide is the reversed needle stem on one the reproducers. That machine is no Frankenphone. The seller is also a reputable dealer that has longstanding experience and is known for the high quality of the machines he sells.

estott
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Re: Pathé on Ebay - interesting machine

Post by estott »

CarlosV wrote:
estott wrote:The one on Ebay has a lot of problems (to me) Both reproducers are missing the collets & have ordinary screws drilled into them for set screws. The grillework is the kind of material that you put in radiator covers. I don't like the crank coming out through the grille- Pathé would do better than that. On other machines with two styluses traveling in the same groove they are placed much closer together to minimize the echo and distortion. This makes no such effort and sounds awful.

In my opinion, a Frankenphone at best.
I beg to differ. The grill is typical of the Pathé machines of the period, and the set screws are also the original ones utilized in such reproducer. The front crank is also typical, there are several Pathé models with such design (I own a couple with the same arrangement). The additional point that shows that the machine is bona fide is the reversed needle stem on one the reproducers. That machine is no Frankenphone. The seller is also a reputable dealer that has longstanding experience and is known for the high quality of the machines he sells.

I stand corrected, admit my ignorance- and I still don't like it. There seem to be good reasons that after efforts from at least three makers this system never rose above the novelty level.

Sidewinder
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Re: Pathé on Ebay - interesting machine

Post by Sidewinder »

The machine with the 2 turntables is incredibly rare and worth far more than the price indicated. The penance of the (speaking generally) ignorant seller is that they do not question why 50 people write to them asking for a "buy it now". So the 2 turntable Pathé is off the listing. Congrats to the buyer!

The one still on ebay is uninteresting in comparison.

CarlosV
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Re: Pathé on Ebay - interesting machine

Post by CarlosV »

Sidewinder wrote:The machine with the 2 turntables is incredibly rare and worth far more than the price indicated. The penance of the (speaking generally) ignorant seller is that they do not question why 50 people write to them asking for a "buy it now". So the 2 turntable Pathé is off the listing. Congrats to the buyer!

The one still on ebay is uninteresting in comparison.
I agree, it is a rare and well done machine, and indeed quite rare with that specific case and a lid. There is another dual turntable model with a simpler case and without lid, quite similar to the dual arm model being sold now by Guido, which is less scarce, but not so attractive.

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