HMV Zonophone ???

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JeffR1
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HMV Zonophone ???

Post by JeffR1 »

Really ?

https://www.facebook.com/groups/9051401 ... &ref=notif

Not sure if the link will work.
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gramophoneshane
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Re: HMV Zonophone ???

Post by gramophoneshane »

It's an HMV.
If it was originally sold as a Zonophone it would have a decal as pictured below.
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JeffR1
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Re: HMV Zonophone ???

Post by JeffR1 »

Why then doesn't it have an Exhibition reproducer on it ?
I'm not arguing with you, I'm just trying to understand.

epigramophone
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Re: HMV Zonophone ???

Post by epigramophone »

I have not been able to access the link as I don't do social mediocrity. The Zonophone soundbox is a variant of the HMV Exhibition.
The machine is over 100 years old and could well have had the original soundbox replaced at some time in the past.

gramophoneshane
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Re: HMV Zonophone ???

Post by gramophoneshane »

It should have an Exhibition soundbox on it.

His Master's Voice was The Gramophone Company's prestigious record label, and their budget label was Zonophone, and the same thing applied to some of their gramophones.
My Zonophone "Compton" was identical to one HMV model except for the decal, and the soundbox is a rebadged Exhibition Junior.
IMG_20220614_172219.jpg
I'm not on Facebook so can't access the pictures you've linked to either, but if the soundbox is badged Zonophone then it's come off one of the Gramophone Co's range of Zonophone machines.
Judging by the different colour of the nickel plating I'd say this is the case.
The soundbox however is probably identical to an HMV Exhibition.

The Gramophone Company did have a Zonophone record label that carried the Nipper trademark as pictured below, but to my knowledge they never sold Zonophone machines with a Nipper decal.
Panis-Angelicus-Groenen-X-532236.jpg
Last edited by gramophoneshane on Tue Jun 14, 2022 4:19 am, edited 4 times in total.

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Marco Gilardetti
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Re: HMV Zonophone ???

Post by Marco Gilardetti »

I suppose because it has been replaced at a point in time with a Zonophone soundbox.

gramophoneshane
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Re: HMV Zonophone ???

Post by gramophoneshane »

gramophoneshane wrote: Tue Jun 14, 2022 4:09 am but to my knowledge they never sold Zonophone machines with a Nipper decal.
It seems I was wrong making this statement.

A friend in Sydney had a 1917 model Compton (mine is 1913) which had the Nipper decal plus the brass plaques as pictured below.
The "Compton" brass plaque was always used on all but the very earliest Zonophone Compton machines, but it appears at sometime between 1913-17 the Gramophone Co stopped using the Zonophone decal and started using the "Zonophone Model" plaque instead.

This same plaque design was used by the Gram Co on machines made for export to Australia like the Excello, Zealand, Melba (table grand) and Bungalow amongst others.

The lack of such a plaque or witness marks suggests to me the Facebook machine is actually an HMV and not a Zonophone, although sometimes these plaques were attached to one side of the machine.
The different plating also suggests the wrong soundbox.
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JeffR1
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Re: HMV Zonophone ???

Post by JeffR1 »

I forgot that the Facebook link is private, one has to join and be approved.
Thanks for all the replies, what I can do is post a link over there to this thread, I think that would be helpful to answer questions about its originality.

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