Heads up..$20 Ebay listing for a Granada near Middletown, PA

[a12548]

eBay Item #290834553787

grrr..im in Florida

[Edisone]

600-mile round-trip, for me. Maybe you could get him to send you the motor/board/crank assembly, the tonearm & repro, and let him toss the rest.

[Bill Cahill]

Same here. I was ready to buy on the spot, and, asked him two days ago if he would part it out, and, ship to Florida. He said flat out NO. He wants to sell the entire thing.
I need the parts for my Orthophonic project that I've had for twenty years. It's a shame when a dealer won't be reasonable.
He really screwed up when he moved that thing.
It's pretty buxted up, and, to top it off, the reproducer is junk.
Sheesh, some people are rough on things.
Bill Cahill

[a12548]

All I keep thinking is me driving on Interstate 75 and a victrola lid flying over my car. Id have to swear I wasnt drinking as I related that story.

[Bill Cahill]

Are you the seller?? If so, too bad it happenned. Bit, I still need those parts.
Bill Cahill

[gramophoneshane]

Lets hope the machine ISN'T parted out.
Doesn't George at Great Lakes have the parts you need Bill?
I think one of the worst things we can do as collectors is encourage sellers to destroy already complete machines, or machines like this that just need a lid, so we can complete wrecks we've picked up over time.
Surely there's enough Granada's out there with missing legs etc that parts can be salvaged from, without raping basically complete restorable examples?

[Bill Cahill]

So, who want to go there to pick it up?? I cant, or, I would have.
And, the machine I have is a .little rarer, I think.
Mine is jury rigged, at best. Yet, my cabinet is totally there. Isn't it better to fix one machine, than none?
Bill Cahill
I believe in saving machines, but, yuou know as well as I do that if George has them they will be far more costly than I can afford.
Heck. There's been the tone arm for mine on ebay for a year, but, at nearly 140.00 I can't afford that.........
I have saved basket cases that people would think me insane for.
I have totally rebuilt a model B Edison home, and, have a cygnet horn on it. It was parts in a box when I got it.
I have totally restored a model A fireside starting with an empty bedplate.
I restored a model B Standard starting with a rusted out wreck.
But, sometimes you have to bite the bullet.

[pughphonos]

Shane and Bill, for what it's worth I agree with both of you. Shane, in an abstract sense I do agree that we should try to avoid scavenging whole machines. But that isn't an absolute virtue. The Victor Granada is quite common and oftentimes it is easier to find one more or less intact for less than you'd pay for the parts. It's important to restore machines and have them in loving homes, even if it means recreating whole machines from different sources. I'm sure Bill intends on eventually selling the spare parts he'd produce in the course of restoring his Granada.

I vote for Bill going ahead with his purchase and project. We don't want to get so committed to abstract principles and standards that we cease to do what we can do to get as many functioning and well-tended phonographs out there again.

Ralph

BTW I am also a Granada owner; late model (serial number 64084), meaning it has the grille and folded horn; also the "4-4" designation instead of "Granada." Bill, you mentioned that yours might be a "bit rarer" than the semi-junked one you've considering buying for $20. Whether rarer or not, I can see why you would want to use an earlier model Granada to restore a later-model one. Let us know how it turns out.

[Bill Cahill]

Thank you. I will let you know. I won''t be throwing parts out. If anyone needs parts I don't, I'm more than willing to help.
Mine isn't as good as the granadq, ture. But, it's worth saving. It had the pot metal tone arm base, and, it was in a million pieces.
Right now I have a gold plated arm in it in usable condition so I can play it.
I want to make this thing as close to original conditon as possible, and, hate pot metal.
I'm also missing screws, knobs, etc... I want to complte it because it is also an important machine.
I love the granada. I just see that one as needing hard to get parts, and, it's better to help save mye worthy machines.
I have Edison Cylinder machines that were basket cases that you probably would have laughed me to scorn over. But, I have resurected them, and, they are now useful exellent playing machines that also look good.
I'm sure you do the same thing.
In this case we have to use parts we find.
Where do you think they came from?? Other machines, of course!
Some machines are just too far gone.
So, you might ask, why did you save basket case machines, then?
Simple.. I can't affopred a good original, and, I don't mind working a little at a time to bring them back to life.
I've been on my Orthophonic now for over twenty years. Isn't it time I start getting this machine finnished?
Bill Cahill

[pughphonos]

Bill, good for you for saving "basket cases."

One thing that makes this forum interesting is that it includes a wide range of interests, practices, experiences and resources. Some people on here are obviously very wealthy and can afford top-of-the line machines in great working order, with original finishes, etc. Those are the guys I joke about who have their butlers polish the chrome on their phonographs. Then, on the opposite end, are guys with limited budgets--but who enjoy doing the work themselves anyway. They want to know how their machines work and enjoy the chance to disassemble and reassemble. I'm somewhere in between. I am not wealthy, but I do have some resources and therefore can pay to have some work done; can buy some things ready-made. But if it's simple, I do try to see if I can work on it myself.

Even the wealthy purists on here will "stoop" to having replacement pieces made if it's virtually impossible to find the originals. I smiled when a few weeks ago some of our Pathé brethren were cooking up a custom order for needle caps. Needle caps! The poor Victrola owner back in the day never thought of such a nicety as needle caps. My God, you don't want dust collecting on your needles when the phonograph isn't playing!

So, Bill, restore away. Do let us know in your next post what the serial number is on your Granada. Does it have the older, uncovered straight horn, or the folded horn behind a grille?

Ralph

P.S. You know of course, Bill, that the poor and powerless are held to higher standards of morality than the wealthy? Just a simple fact of life. Look, I'm no socialist; just a "cloth coat" Republican with working-class roots (Nixon all the way). So go ahead, buy that $20 Granada off e-bay, use its parts, and DON'T feel guilty about it.