Pulled the trigger

[slammer]

Yesterday, just finished work near Dachau and went one village over and popped into Michael´s Gramophone Werkstatt. Believe me when I say it is like candy land in there.
I swear I was not looking for anything, just like to browse and fondle the goods, a HMV 102 caught my eye and i pulled the trigger on it.
So next week I can pick up a worked over 102 to add to my collection.
Black real leather coating and hardly a blemish on the machine, sadly the original soundbox is missing but Michael has a Russian built copy which fits just fine and should sound great.
For 80 Euros there isn´t much pain and we will see how the 102 stacks up against my 109.

[epigramophone]

I think you will find that the case covering of your post-war 102E is leathercloth, not real leather.
The only version of the 102 to be covered in real leather was the pre-war red machine with gilt fittings.
It was withdrawn from the catalogue in about 1934, being simply too expensive.

[slammer]

I think you will find that the case covering of your post-war 102E is leathercloth, not real leather.
The only version of the 102 to be covered in real leather was the pre-war red machine with gilt fittings.
It was withdrawn from the catalogue in about 1934, being simply too expensive.

I now see the leather cloth, however I believe it to be from the early to mid thirties.

[Orchorsol]

I think you will find that the case covering of your post-war 102E is leathercloth, not real leather.
The only version of the 102 to be covered in real leather was the pre-war red machine with gilt fittings.
It was withdrawn from the catalogue in about 1934, being simply too expensive.

I now see the leather cloth, however I believe it to be from the early to mid thirties.

It's from 1954! The 'B' prefix was introduced in 1936; to that year, add the 18 underneath. viewtopic.php?t=51757

[slammer]

Wow! I am in total star-struck awe right now.
Would that make it one of the last gramophones built before electric went on the rampage and is the 80€ asking price in the correct envelope?

[Orchorsol]

They finally finished selling them in 1960 (the same year that commercial shellac 78s disappeared here in the UK).

Yes, even with the missing soundbox and a bit of tidying needed, that was a bargain in my opinion!

[epigramophone]

Wow! I am in total star-struck awe right now.
Would that make it one of the last gramophones built before electric went on the rampage and is the 80€ asking price in the correct envelope?

The majority of post war 102's were exported to countries without a universal mains electricity supply.
The very last batches were assembled from existing stocks of spare parts.

[slammer]

They finally finished selling them in 1960 (the same year that commercial shellac 78s disappeared here in the UK).

Yes, even with the missing soundbox and a bit of tidying needed, that was a bargain in my opinion!

1960, the year the elite was born to Blackburn.


Ahhh! The sixties, we did things differently back then didn´t we?
I remember my mum taking me to a Beatles concert, must have been early 60ties, and just a few days ago my six year old grandaughter proudly announced that she had found a great group of singers.... they are called "The Beatles" and have I heard of them...?
I got to tell her: "Do Not Cite the Deep Magic to Me, Witch. I was there when it was written."
I love being a grandad.

[Inigo]

You'll greatly enjoy the 102, and for that price! Even if you decided to buy a real hmv5b soundbox for it, the cost is good. Try to get the real thing, they are unbeatable for clarity, warm and deep sound, but crisp at the same time... I cannot find anything sounding so well. The small case sound is really powerful!

[slammer]

Whelp, went to pick the 102 up this afternoon but was greeted by a sad Michael who told me that there was something not quite right with the gramophone, seems that the motor has a problem with worn gears and that he would break it down for parts and would I be interested in another 102. This one has a 9 under the B, so that makes it a model from 1945
Had a look and it would seem that this is in an even better condition than the previous one, it has a few more dings and ouches than the first but nothing that can´t be done up with a bit of TLC and shoe polish. I don´t like the handle, seems to be a welded Frankencrank, so if anybody has a handle for sale I would be in the market. Some bugger has cut out the HMV from inside the lid, but Michael had a spare lid from a broken down machine so I got that with me to take out the leathercloth and paste it into my machine. And now I have a nifty little original HMV letter tray for my desk.
The motor runs smooth with hardly a clunk and it sounds great. Way louder and clearer than I had expected, regardless of the Russian knockoff sound box.
I´l keep posting on the progress and I am quite exited to get started.
So here. Feast your eyes on the newest member of my Gramophone family.

By the way, can I upload video?