The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Could someone with a Cliftophone portable with autobrake please show me a photo of the motorboard layout with turntable removed?

I have recently acquired one of these machines but I think a part might be missing and I would like to identify it if possible.

Many thanks!

Coincidentally a friend bought one of these just days ago and asked me the same question! Hers is missing the lever and friction assembly attached to the tonearm base, hence more photos of that. Let me know if you need any more Steve.

Thanks, Andy, that's much appreciated! Okay, so it appears nothing is missing but simply a bit "adrift". I was also thrown by that solitary screw in the motoboard which didn't appear to do much. Now I know it's the limit of travel for that lever.

Thank you for your help!

There's also a leather covered one of these on Ebay at the moment but its £375. The condition is a bit rough but its salvageable. Are these rare and worthy of such high prices or is the seller simply a chancer?

Steve wrote: ↑Tue May 11, 2021 11:40 am Thanks, Andy, that's much appreciated! Okay, so it appears nothing is missing but simply a bit "adrift". I was also thrown by that solitary screw in the motoboard which didn't appear to do much. Now I know it's the limit of travel for that lever.

Thank you for your help!

There's also a leather covered one of these on Ebay at the moment but its £375. The condition is a bit rough but its salvageable. Are these rare and worthy of such high prices or is the seller simply a chancer?

Very much the latter in my opinion, I really don't think they're worth much, even with fancy features such as the auto brake! Personally I doubt that one's worth more than £75 to £100 on a good day - though maybe I underestimate the 'red' factor slightly!

The auto brake is unusual, effective and satisfying to use, but Clifton's many gramophone inventions seem to have been a bit of a blind alley, sadly. I also posted it in another thread, but here's a list of some/many/most (?) of his patents.

Orchorsol wrote: ↑Tue May 11, 2021 1:18 pm

Steve wrote: ↑Tue May 11, 2021 11:40 am Thanks, Andy, that's much appreciated! Okay, so it appears nothing is missing but simply a bit "adrift". I was also thrown by that solitary screw in the motoboard which didn't appear to do much. Now I know it's the limit of travel for that lever.

Thank you for your help!

There's also a leather covered one of these on Ebay at the moment but its £375. The condition is a bit rough but its salvageable. Are these rare and worthy of such high prices or is the seller simply a chancer?

Very much the latter in my opinion, I really don't think they're worth much, even with fancy features such as the auto brake! Personally I doubt that one's worth more than £75 to £100 on a good day - though maybe I underestimate the 'red' factor slightly!

The auto brake is unusual, effective and satisfying to use, but Clifton's many gramophone inventions seem to have been a bit of a blind alley, sadly. I also posted it in another thread, but here's a list of some/many/most (?) of his patents.

All very interesting! I think the biggest potential pitfall of any Cliftophone today is the celluloid diaphragm.

You mentioned the red example which I have also seen but I was referring to the green crocodile grained leather one at £375. Its tatty and although with gilt fittings, the tonearm is bare metal. Is it aluminium or some nasty pot metal?

The red example is £245 and faded glory rexine. Its nickel plated and intact but the soundbox has started to crumble a bit!

This leads me to thinking that I've never seen a Cliftophone soundbox sold separately. This renders the red rexine example almost redundant, surely?

The leather one can be had for £175, a £200 discount!

I agree that the celluloid diaphragm is the Achilles heel of the Cliftophone sound box, probably because it has hardened with age. But the weird stylus-bar suspension also has a lot to answer for; it appears designed to be as rigid as possible without actually being screwed together! These sound boxes are seldom seen on their own, I suggest, because they are non-interchangeable with any other tone-arm, and vice-versa.

Many years ago I meant an elderly gent in Orpington who recalled his first job after the First World War, turning out eccentric brass rims for Cliftophone sound boxes at their factory in Nottingham. His lathe was in front of a window with a fine view of Nottingham Castle; it was clearly a fond memory for him. Later sound boxes were diecast in pot metal, though in my experience not as unstable as some.