HMV Library Bijou Grand

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epigramophone
Victor Monarch Special
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Joined: Mon Oct 24, 2011 1:21 pm
Personal Text: An analogue relic trapped in a digital world.
Location: The Somerset Levels, UK.

HMV Library Bijou Grand

Post by epigramophone »

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/333980679692 ... SwPPZgN4RO

This seller needs to proof read his listings before he posts them.
The title states that the machine has a broken spring, but the description states that it is in good working order.
Both statements cannot be true :? but even if it does have a broken spring it would be a worthwhile project at the starting price of £100.
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LB Grand.jpg

Phono48
Victor IV
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Joined: Sun May 27, 2012 2:38 pm
Location: United Kingdom

Re: HMV Library Bijou Grand

Post by Phono48 »

Just heard from the seller, who confirms that a spring is broken. This machine has three one-and-a-quarter inch springs.

Barry

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Steve
Victor VI
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Location: London, Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, New York, Evesham

Re: HMV Library Bijou Grand

Post by Steve »

The machine has been in the seller's possession for over 20 years so when it was originally listed he thought it was working fine. However upon further investigation they noted the springs had broken and reduced the price dramatically from £500 to £100, somewhat over-compensating for replacement spring(s).

I'm not sure what a Style 10 Library Bijou Grand is worth these days but if I had the space, time and capacity to take on another cabinet with broken springs I would have snapped this one up. Still, its no excuse for not properly revising your Ebay listing. I got the impression the seller was a bit half-a**ed about everything anyway.

Incidentally, this is the same seller as the gentleman who sold me my mahogany HMV 201 recently. Both machines have languished in a shop selling snooker tables and board games for over a decade!

I was told my 201 had its original finish but upon delivery it was revealed that it had been refinished 25 years ago, albeit with the correct materials and matching colour / finish. Whoever did it had done a reasonable job of tidying it up and its now become distressed and aged again due to being stored in less than ideal conditions since! I can never fathom some people out. They paid a pile of money to buy it and then to get it restored but instead of it getting pride of place somewhere it gets dumped unceremoniously in the back of a shop waiting to be sold at a great financial loss two decades later.

I'm not complaining though. My 201 is a stunning machine and probably one of the rarest I own. The sound quality is excellent.

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