Tinfoil Alert!

[Zwebie]

Tinfoil Alert!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GRAMOPHONE-PH ... fresh=true

[gramophone78]

It's a modern copy that was made in limited numbers in the UK sometime in the 70's. They seem to come up for sale a lot. Most are made to look older and passed off as a 125+ years. Check some past posts that Rene made (with pics)on these. The only "alert" here is "copy!!"

[debndunk]

Thanks for the heads up, I have ask the seller for a buy now price will let you know what he says,

[TinfoilPhono]

Yes, this was made by Goodwin Ive in 1977 for the centennial of the phonograph. Reportedly 100 were made in total. It was well-crafted and nicely decorated, and works extremely well (I owned one in the 1990s). Someone has replaced the original base on the eBay example. Ive's base was much nicer.



It's not a reproduction of any original, but rather an adaptation of an apparently 19th century English machine by an unknown maker. As designed, the mandrel acted as a flywheel. A very peculiar design. Here is Goodwin Ive with the machine that inspired his:



He was not able to get the machine to perform well as originally designed so he adapted it to put the mandrel between two upright supports, which is how virtually every tinfoil phonograph was built. He did mimic the design of the speaker, and the gilt decorations.

[Nat]

For someone who has never seen one of these - how did you get the tinfoil onto them, without a big bump where the ends joined? Is there a video of the process someone can link to?

[VintageTechnologies]

I have that model by Goodwin Ive in excellent original condition. I bought mine in 1977 or 1978. I had no idea they were so rare. The mahogany base warped slightly on mine, but not enough to put the screw into a bind. They actually work pretty well. Since I could not find genuine tin foil years ago, I used self-adhesive aluminium duct tape, which isn't ideal (too thick and sounds raspy), but it works. I cut the foil long enough to allow an overlap of 1/16" inch. I used a rolled-up sock to burnish the foil on a smooth surface, then peeled the paper backing and applied the foil. I burnished the overlapped seam to minimise a clicking sound when the needle passed over. The fussiest part is laterally aligning the needle with the grooves on the mandrel; finer screw threads would have helped. Vertical adjustment is easy; lower the recorder until it just touches the foil.

Many original tinfoil phonographs had a slot cut across the cylinder to tuck in the ends of the foil, and a thin metal strip was wedged into the slot to hold the foil in place. As a result, there would be a slight gap in the recorded sound.

[Starkton]

Is this seller the same person who claims to have sold a similar phonograph for £9,500.00 on his "early tech" website? Doesn't he really know that it is a reproduction? On the other hand he knows enough about tinfoil models to described it as "Almost certainly of English manufacture, circa 1880, this tinfoil is very similar to one made by the London Stereoscopic Company and is offered in "as found" condition, located recently in an attic in Southsea, England." Wouldn't you clean such a treasure before offering? Look here: http://tinyurl.com/9at45vd

Now the ebay seller "early tech" claims to know nothing about this model or phonographs in general: "This is obviously some kind of hand driven device or instrument which you speak into but quite how it works or old it is I know not ..." Judge for yourself.

[debndunk]

Hi I've just got my reply and he says he's not sure what it's worth what did I think it was worth? I told him I don't want it now. I hate scammers.

[Steve]

Is this seller the same person who claims to have sold a similar phonograph for £9,500.00 on his "early tech" website?

The eBay seller is Dennis "Enigma machine" Yates! That should tell all interested parties what they need to know! Buyer beware, it is a 100% fake! Sadly this is not the first time he has done this and although a certain nameless UK dealer tried to contact eBay to stop a fraud taking place some years ago, that despicable organisation ignored it (maybe they saw the pound signs and couldn't resist the fees?).

I don't think Yates has a website BUT he is friendly with the proprietors of "early tech" and I do think the earlier dodgy example he sold also came from that site.

When I saw the "I'm not sure what it is" comment, I felt physically sick. These people know EXACTLY what it is and use psychology to persuade unaware buyers that they are onto the find of the century. Rest assured, you are not!

[epigramophone]

Another of these machines, correctly described as a Goodwin Ive, appeared at the SAS sale on May 23rd 2012. It sold for a hammer price of GBP£480.

Unlike the example currently on eBay UK, it appeared to have the style of base which other owners have pictured on this thread.