Portables to identify and discuss

Discussions on Talking Machines of British or European Manufacture
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nostalgia
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Portables to identify and discuss

Post by nostalgia »

I thought it maybe also could be an idea to open a general thread with portable gramophones to identify and discuss, outside the range of the well known brands. It feels like a natural follow up to the "soundbox to identify and discuss" thread opened a couple of weeks ago.
Everyone who feels like it is of course welcome to add portables to the thread. I am starting with this Alto that is new to me.
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AZ*
Victor IV
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Re: Portables to identify and discuss

Post by AZ* »

The style mimics HMV of course. Two questions:

1. Is the soundbox original to the machine?

2. Does the horn wrap around the motor as on the HMV 101 and 102?
Best regards ... AZ*

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nostalgia
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Re: Portables to identify and discuss

Post by nostalgia »

I forgot to tell, this is not my machine, even if I possibly may consider buying it since it is for sale.
I don't know anything about the portable, all I have is the photos.

Update: July 15th, 2020
I did not buy this machine, the end price was €60 excluding shipping and taxes.
Last edited by nostalgia on Thu Jul 16, 2020 5:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.

soundgen
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Re: Portables to identify and discuss

Post by soundgen »

nice machine , never seen one , if the price is reasonable and it works it is an interesting buy and research item

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nostalgia
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Re: Portables to identify and discuss

Post by nostalgia »

I did not buy the red "Alto, the price went somewhat higher than I was comfortable with.

This thread was started to discuss and show portables outside the range of the well known brands, and the portable I am now showing does not really meet that criteria, but it is also not too often we see these portables on the forum, so instead of opening a new thread, I post it here.

This Paillard will forever have a special place in my life, since it was the first gramophone I bought after 30 years in hiatus from showing a real interest in our hobby. Bought together with a repolstered HMV 101 one year ago, it did not really attract my attention much, since I at that time knew absolutely nothing about acoustic gramophones, apart from having in 1990 bought and exported a HMV 145 from the UK. The repolstered HMV 101 became the learning station for servicing motors, and cleaning springs, and have later on also worked as a donor machine. The Paillard though, has been neglected, when realizing last autumn that it hardly would be a wise decision to use it as a learning station for my initial gramophone work.

Two days ago it however caught my attention again, almost begging for attention, and I thought why not, I now feel reasonable confident with servicing my gramophones, so there was really no excuse for not showing mercy on the Paillard portable. When disassembling the gramophone, I was impressed by the build quality and the sheer quality of the metal parts used in the motor. There is if course a reason why Swiss watches for decades have been associated with high quality, and so also here...the gears, the spring container, it smells high quality. This made it also very easy to clean up the parts, by far the easiest clean up of a motor so far in my service work. I did not even remove any of the parts inside the motor, since the governor and all gears were running like a charm. I discovered late though that one of the main springs is broken, so I will disassemble it again in the next few days to install a new spring. I took some photos for reference, it almost shines through that the motor has quality components. Look at the worm gear !!
Yes, I have the soundbox somewhere ( I hope!!), but could not find it yesterday when the photos were taken. The soundbox is also gold colored, and has the Paillard logo on it. I will add photos of it, when I find it.

Still, as every gramophone, it has its negative and positive sides, of what I have relized so far:

Positive:
Very good polstering of the case, very solid build material, including carrying handle!
High quality metal/components in the motor

Negative:
The gold plating is rusting/ disintegrating on the manual brake, tone arm and speed control

Missing parts on my Paillard: Tone arm support, winding shaft escutcheon
Attachments
Paillard 8.jpg
Paillard 7.jpg
Paillard 6.jpg
Paillard 5.jpg
Paillard 4.jpg
Paillard 3.jpg
Paillard 2.jpg
Paillard 1.jpg

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nostalgia
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Re: Portables to identify and discuss

Post by nostalgia »

I am adding another one, it maybe look generic, but I would like to dig a bit deeper..
Does anyone know the brand " Corona Electric" ? In 2020 it would not be the best name for introducing a new brand, but 95-100 years ago things were very different, of course.
I was able to find a record with the Corona Electric name on it, and on the German forum ( https://grammophon-platten.de/e107_plug ... .php?45250 )they talk about a connection between a company named: Menzenhauer & Schmidt ( Kalliope) and Corona records, that could be a export brand by the same company. I know nothing about Kalliope yet, but found some interest in trying to nail the manufacturer of this portable, (even if it is maybe not the most exciting machine to look at) if the name is just coincindetally similar or not, or if the machine after all turns out to be a generic machine.
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Corona Electric.jpg
Corona Electric.jpg (61.72 KiB) Viewed 2773 times

SPOONMAN19
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Re: Portables to identify and discuss

Post by SPOONMAN19 »

Here is a Indian portable I came across.I've seen a few horn models of this brand but this was new to me. Looks like a copy of a 102!
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p1.jpg

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nostalgia
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Re: Portables to identify and discuss

Post by nostalgia »

Thank you for adding another interesting machine. The more machines that are added, the better it is for future reference.

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nostalgia
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Re: Portables to identify and discuss

Post by nostalgia »

I am adding another portable, because it looks quite interesting. A Caruso portable with crocodile cover, and with a strong resemblance to HMV 101. Anyone know more about this brand? I was not able to dig out much from google, of course because of the brand name that is well chosen, but also makes it more troublesome to find some info on the brand online.
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Caruso portable 1.jpg
Caruso portable 2.jpg
Caruso portable 3.jpg

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nostalgia
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Re: Portables to identify and discuss

Post by nostalgia »

Breaking the rules of the thread, I am also adding a curiosity that is easy to identify, but the transfer is very different from what we know. I had to open the "Bible" (HMG book) to check, and it is stated in the book: " Nipperless transfer, found in a blue 101, assumed to have been sold in territories where dogs were not in favor"
Now here comes also a black 101, with the same transfer. I thought it could be of interest to share it, since it for sure is a rarity.
( I don't own this portable, and it is not for sale, photos were found online)
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transfer.jpg
transfer.jpg (10.54 KiB) Viewed 2403 times
HMV 101.jpg
Last edited by nostalgia on Thu Oct 08, 2020 9:06 am, edited 1 time in total.

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