Pugh gramophone

[gregbogantz]

Did I miss the discussion already, or have you guys been asleep at the keyboards? Can you Brits tell us anything about this unusual Pugh gramophone?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0378900492

This certainly took a lot of effort to make that curly-Q tonearm. And that reproducer made of wood - including the diaphragm and needlebar - has got to be something to see. And the NINE FOOT ! sound path thru that curly tonearm, together with that fairly deliberate looking horn must be something to hear.

[MordEth]

It’s certainly an interesting and lovely machine, although I know absolutely nothing about this manufacturer. I wonder if the spiral tone arm is a gimmick, or if there was actually some science to it.

And if someone was going to jump on it, they’ve got about 11 hours...although I’ve no clue whether £621.99 (approximately US $897.69) is a good price or not.

— MordEth

[hr][/hr]

eBay Item #220378900492

Early English Gramophone

This is a rare early English Gramophone (1918 - 1920).
The features unique to this Gramophone are. The mahogany spiral tone arm. The sound box constructed entirely of wood including the Diaphragm, and the hand built Mahogany horn, the patents for which were applied for by George Frederick Pugh in 1918 see the photo of the application.
I have a copy of the complete application which will be included with the Gramophone.
The Victrola style mahogany cabinet is typical of many English Gramophone makers of the period.
But I would say that it has been adapted to suit the requirements of the Tone arm and Horn possibly by the Inventor himself who was an accomplished cabinet maker judging by the superb workmanship of the Tone arm.
The intention was to construct a Gramophone that with the Elimination of any metal in the reproduction process.
From the Fibre or thorn needle through the sound box the tone arm and the mahogany horn would give as described
in the patent application! a mellow and sonorous tone! (The Gramophone does produce a nice mellow tone.)
The motor is a large double spring early Garrard (without a number as the later Garrard motors have) described in an early Brown Bros. catalogue as a powerful motor to play 3 no 12" records with a single wind (at present it only plays 2) the turntable is the early type made from perforated cast Iron the turntable felt has been renewed The Gramophone has 2 large needle pots fashioned from single pieces of Mahogany these together with the Sound box Tone arm and Horn are in their original finish the Cabinet has been restored.
The total length of the Tone arm/Horn is nearly 9 feet contributing to the nice sound given by the Gramophone.
More Photographs are available if required contact me and forward your e-mail address
An opportunity to add a very rare Gramophone to your collection (Collection/Delivery can be arranged).

[phonophan79]

Wow, that is a crazy machine! It looks lovely, but crazy! Huge horn!

[Aaron]

This machine is quit strange but very beautiful!
Aaron

[gramophoneshane]

There's actually a thread on this machine, on Steve's UK board. It certainly is a unique design.

http://gramophones.proboards.com/index. ... thread=431

[MordEth]

Shane,

Thanks for linking that—I looked for it briefly there (because Richard mentioned it when I was talking to him earlier) but I didn’t find it; the search feature returned zero results for ‘Pugh’, which was the keyword that I used.

I’m surprised that the seller doesn’t lead off with a different first picture—on first glance at the listing I thought it was just a rather nice, but otherwise ordinary, cabinet made by a lesser-known company. It’s not until the second photo that you see that it’s more of a curiosity.

— MordEth

[wjw]

Very interesting machine.It almost looks alive! I wonder if Pugh had been aware of the Keenophone design similarity. I also wonder how many of these things were produced. Constructing that tone arm must have eaten some hours of labor!
It should allow for much better low frequency response than most anything on the market from its time. Too bad the stylus bar is so massive. It surely must limit the highs.

[Valecnik]

I would like to hear it. Appears that design might also cause undue record wear. Certainly very interesting. Bet they did not sell many of them.

[B.B.B]

And now it's going to China. For a neat sum of 1643 american dollars. Plus S&H (probably just as much )

This is a very strange machine. Looks absolutely lovely IMO.

[Steve]

And now it's going to China.

Or is it? I've already queried this. Something just doesn't quite gel with me about this auction. It is a stunning machine and at any other time and with a lot more space I'd have bought this and maybe been prepared to bid a lot higher on it to get it. My problem is that for me to buy it, I would have to sell one of my existing cabinets so the fun of getting something unique like this gets spoilt by losing another great machine in its place! Oh well, one day....

Incidentally this machine was bought by the current seller from Ebay about 2 years ago in a very poor state. If I recall correctly he acquired it for about £250? He's put some work into the cabinet and now been very handsomely rewarded for his efforts.

I obviously hadn't heard it but I can't imagine it would sound very impressive because the design is hopelessly flawed (and that's why it never took off) not to mention costly to produce. The long tone-arm will suffocate the sound and not allow it to expand due to its parallel bore. The designer nearly got it right with the additional length but nearly is not enough! The most successful aspect would probably be the wooden horn but the soundbox too is a flawed design. It has relatively little mass and seems to rely on the rigidity of the arm to keep it in place which, as Bruce says above, will result in serious record wear. As we all know (now) the mass of a soundbox is fairly critical and hence why the best handmade soundboxes like "Expert" used much heavier brass bodies.

It was bound to be better than a Duophone machine though and for my money it perfectly represents that fundamentally quirky post WW1 attempt to improve the gramophone by any means available which would spawn the 1920-24 period when many British "gramophone makers" came and went so quickly. Flawed concept? Certainly. Weird, wonderful and possibly unique? Almost certainly. Do I wish I owned it? Don't get me started!......