Another Unusual local find! - Cliftophone

Discussions on Talking Machines of British or European Manufacture
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nostalgia
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Re: Another Unusual local find! - Cliftophone

Post by nostalgia »

It is very good to know I am not the only early Genesis fan in here:)
I would really have loved to play early Genesis on a 78 rpm, but I understand that is quite a challenge, in several ways...

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Re: Another Unusual local find! - Cliftophone

Post by Inigo »

Epigramophone,
Didn't British Parlophone issue Supervia recordings under the Odeon-Parlophone RO series label? I thought they issued many of her records.
You can ask Earl Okin, he is a good opera collector and may know about this.
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Re: Another Unusual local find! - Cliftophone

Post by epigramophone »

Inigo wrote:Epigramophone,
Didn't British Parlophone issue Supervia recordings under the Odeon-Parlophone RO series label? I thought they issued many of her records.
You can ask Earl Okin, he is a good opera collector and may know about this.
They certainly did, but by no means all of them. Many of the Spanish Odeons never reached the UK, and neither did the French Ultraphones.

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Re: Another Unusual local find! - Cliftophone

Post by Orchorsol »

Inigo wrote:Epigramophone,
Didn't British Parlophone issue Supervia recordings under the Odeon-Parlophone RO series label? I thought they issued many of her records.
You can ask Earl Okin, he is a good opera collector and may know about this.
Earl Okin is a mine of information and a fascinating and charming chap - not to mention astonishingly talented! We visited him a couple of years ago when I bought some records from him (he usually has 78s for sale on his website) and enjoyed his company for several hours. A real treat.
BCN thorn needles made to the original 1920s specifications: http://www.burmesecolourneedles.com

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Re: Another Unusual local find! - Cliftophone

Post by Inigo »

He's a long time friend, although I've never visited him. A long time project was a visit to him in London, but it had to be indefinitely postponed due to personal circumstances.
We nevertheless used to chat by email, and sometimes traded records; I looked for Pathé and opera 78s for him and he used to buy British dance band records for me at Mike Child's, just near his front door at Portobello Road.
Once it happened that I was in the South of France for work, and he was performing near there, but we didn't talk by then and I missed the opportunity of seeing him.
Now my circumstances have changed, so any of these months I will visit London and will try to see him, and attend one of his marvelous performances at comedy clubs. His music is enormous, and he's a very clever and talented artist.
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Re: Another Unusual local find! - Cliftophone

Post by Orchorsol »

Here's my very large and very stately Cliftophone cabinet gramophone, kindly sold to me by emcgr of this parish some years ago.
Attachments
IMG_3075.JPG
IMG_3073.JPG
IMG_3071.JPG
IMG_3072.JPG
BCN thorn needles made to the original 1920s specifications: http://www.burmesecolourneedles.com

Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCe4DNb ... TPE-zTAJGg?

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Re: Another Unusual local find! - Cliftophone

Post by Orchorsol »

And for good measure, my Cliftophone portable. These do turn up fairly regularly over here, but this one has a very clever and unusual autostop mechanism.
Attachments
IMG_3076.JPG
IMG_3077.JPG
BCN thorn needles made to the original 1920s specifications: http://www.burmesecolourneedles.com

Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCe4DNb ... TPE-zTAJGg?

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Re: Another Unusual local find! - Cliftophone

Post by kirtley2012 »

Orchorsol wrote:Here's my very large and very stately Cliftophone cabinet gramophone, kindly sold to me by emcgr of this parish some years ago.
Wow, that comparatively makes mine looks like a bit of old tat, very grand, I wonder if any owners in the 30's had a cliftophone converted by EMG, the cabinet styles seem to suit the idea

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Re: Another Unusual local find! - Cliftophone

Post by Valecnik »

A lengthy thread but nobody, explains that unusual reproducer design. Looks like it's set up for vertical records but apparently not?

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Re: Another Unusual local find! - Cliftophone

Post by Orchorsol »

Valecnik wrote:A lengthy thread but nobody, explains that unusual reproducer design. Looks like it's set up for vertical records but apparently not?
The needle bar has a right angle at the pivot (where most are straight) so lateral modulation of the needle is translated to up and down at the diaphragm.

Picture from internet (needle would be sticking up at the camera):
Attachments
Cliftophone soundbox.jpg
Cliftophone soundbox.jpg (31.11 KiB) Viewed 1314 times
BCN thorn needles made to the original 1920s specifications: http://www.burmesecolourneedles.com

Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCe4DNb ... TPE-zTAJGg?

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