Columbia 612 floor gramophone, a real beauty !

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nostalgia
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Columbia 612 floor gramophone, a real beauty !

Post by nostalgia »

I also have to show you this gramophone, it is for sale in Japan, and the minimum bid is € 3800 ! Adding shipping and import costs, etc..it will be an expensive gramophone, and for sure not for my wallet.

It is a really beautiful gramophone though, and I am sure you will appreciate the photos.
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epigramophone
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Re: Columbia 612 floor gramophone, a real beauty !

Post by epigramophone »

This is an American machine. Nice as it is, it is overpriced. There were bigger and better models in this Columbia range.

Phono48
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Re: Columbia 612 floor gramophone, a real beauty !

Post by Phono48 »

I agree that it's a lovely machine, but why, oh why, when people re-cover turntables, do they glue the felt or velvet down into all the depressions? It looks dreadful!

Barry

VanEpsFan1914
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Re: Columbia 612 floor gramophone, a real beauty !

Post by VanEpsFan1914 »

If you want to get one of these gramophones, you might want to have one imported from the United States (where it's from) or get an English-made one which might be nearer to where you're at.

Then again, 3800 yen would be do-able, as that's right around $28. If it was 3800 euros it's nearly four thousand dollars, which should let you get a whole barn full of gramophones.

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nostalgia
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Re: Columbia 612 floor gramophone, a real beauty !

Post by nostalgia »

I mistakenly thought this was a Japan built Columbia gramophone, since there are varieties in Japan that are not found in the USA/UK both from Columbia and Victor.
I uploaded the photo to show the high price of the machine, a price I would never pay for such a machine, even if it is beautiful. The price shown is the correct price, if it was in Yen, I would have got it for sure ;) That said, I can't fit in more cabinets in my house, even if I two days ago bought a Norwegian made cabinet gramophone that I currently am restoring.

I have the biggest UK made Columbia gramophone cabinet, and I restored it totally two years ago. However, the tonearm has shown itself to be a BIG problem, Columbia built PlanoReflex arms of different lengths, and the length of the tonearm on this machine, model 156A, is really hard to find. There is a metal fatigue in the tonearm, and as we can see on the photos, it does not hold the correct angle. This is really weird, since another forum member with the 156A, also had the same problem with his machine.
I even bought a cheap smaller Columbia cabinet last summer, the second biggest in the range, but the Plano Reflex tonearm was too short. I have now concluded, with inputs from a gramophone friend in my area, that the only way to try to do this...is to use gas and try find the soldering/welding points on the tonearm, and then try to re solder it with help from someone into such. I upload some photos, so you can see both the cabinet and the problem tone arm, as well as the substitionional tone arm, that proved itself to be too short.
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Inigo
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Re: Columbia 612 floor gramophone, a real beauty !

Post by Inigo »

Maybe heating the bent elbow you could reshape it... A good ironsmith could do it for you... someone who knows how to handle brass, a brass instruments repair shop... try a band instruments supplier.
Inigo

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nostalgia
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Re: Columbia 612 floor gramophone, a real beauty !

Post by nostalgia »

That is a good advice, Inigo, thank you, and also what my gramophone friend told me. I was able to find a ironsmith not too far away, I will contact him. I will post the results here later on, so we can see how this ended. :roll:

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Re: Columbia 612 floor gramophone, a real beauty !

Post by CarlosV »

nostalgia wrote: Mon Jun 20, 2022 3:22 am That is a good advice, Inigo, thank you, and also what my gramophone friend told me. I was able to find a ironsmith not too far away, I will contact him. I will post the results here later on, so we can see how this ended. :roll:
Most plano reflex arms are made of pot metal, which disintegrates under heat. Please double check before applying any heat that yours is not pot metal.

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nostalgia
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Re: Columbia 612 floor gramophone, a real beauty !

Post by nostalgia »

This is an interesting topic for sure, if the Plano Reflex arms are made of pot metal or not. I talked to another collector some days ago, who have been collecting for 50 more years, and he says they are not made of pot metal. Myself I have no idea, is there a way to see if it is of pot metal or not?

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Re: Columbia 612 floor gramophone, a real beauty !

Post by CarlosV »

nostalgia wrote: Wed Jun 22, 2022 2:50 pm This is an interesting topic for sure, if the Plano Reflex arms are made of pot metal or not. I talked to another collector some days ago, who have been collecting for 50 more years, and he says they are not made of pot metal. Myself I have no idea, is there a way to see if it is of pot metal or not?
I know that the portable plano reflex arms are pot metal - because two of them broke down in my machines and then their composition became evident (I replaced both with spare arms). I have also a large cabinet with a similar tone arm to the photo, but it is stable without distortions. I am not aware of a method to identify the pot metal unless it is visually detectable, either by cracks or shape distortions. When the pot metal is well manufactured, as is the case of these Columbia arms (and similarly the HMV 5a/b soundboxes), it is not easy to discern, but the shape distortion in yours may be an indication of pot metal, as brass would not distort without external pressure.

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