Your Best Find For 2014

[gramophone78]

Since there seems to be more and more unbelievable items coming out of the woodwork and with the new year approaching, I thought a thread like this would be fun.

In fact, if really popular, a member could continue with a thread like this near the end of every year forward.

In the meantime, lets see how this one takes.

-As the heading states, a member will need to select one item "they" consider their best find this past year. It can be anything Phonograph related. For some members, it will be very hard to choose that "one" item.

-A brief description as to how your item was found and a photo(s). If applicable....before & after pics (if restored).

Lets have fun with this and see what we managed to discover.... .

[winsleydale]

My greatest find for the year is an easy choice -- it's my first machine. Although the Edison H-19 is neither rare nor high-end, I think it's a wonderful machine. (This is my Hepplewhite! There are many like it, but this one is mine!) I am not at home at the time of this reply so I have no pics, but I can describe it: Mahogany cabinet, missing some veneer from long ago, as it appears, on the bottom of the left side; nearly completely gone is the gold plating, and the turntable felt is yellow and poorly cut; the linkage is superglued together; the gold grille cloth was replaced hastily by an inexperienced person; but Lord almighty, when she starts singing Alabamy Bound, I feel like hoppin' a train myself...

Yeah, it's in mediocre condition, but I can't help but love it. After all, without it, I wouldn't even know what a phonograph really was, outside of a vague notion!

[Curt A]

My best find of the year, is my best find ever... my Victrola XX. It was found in an antique shop 5 miles away from home. So far, I have rounded up all of the missing parts - key escutcheon, wreath key and my luckiest find is a set of all 10 albums in good condition...

[Victrolaboy]

My best find of the year is my Edison Triumph. I found it at the local flea market and paid only $450 dollars for it in playing condition. (the belt is not on in the picture)
-Nick

[schweg]

Rather than be shamed into silence by the magnificence of the XX, I decided to post the Edison "A"'s because after all two "A"'s trump one XX, right?? OK, perhaps not, but I'm bored and just sitting around today...

These two Edison's were bought weeks apart at sales run by the same auctioneer not too far from home. The first time, I felt like it was a good deal, so when the a-250 was advertised, I decided to go have a look and brought it home too..

That Triumph is lookin' pretty good too.

[Retrograde]

I posted this earlier this year after the Union show...

This is about my Union find, since everyone else seems to get a Union find story.

I've become selective (disciplined?) in my collecting and since I couldn't find something I really needed at the Union show, I decided to buy a horn that needed some restoration. This horn was among a bunch of derelict horns offered for sale on the back porch at Union. The attraction for me was the fact that it was designed for a European mount (the locking slot is in the horn rather than in the elbow, opposite of Victor horns), and I have a machine that it will fit. To give some perspective, the horn is about 21 inches across.

As you can see in the first picture that it's painted off-white. This paint was obviously not original, so removing it was the plan from the start. What I found was that this was some really stubborn paint. Citristrip did little to it, so I went for the dangerous cancer-causing chemical stripper from the mega-home improvement store which also had a tough time softening the paint.

To my surprise, the underlying finish was nickel! Not perfect, but still it's nickel. A little Flitz polish & lots of elbow grease has it looking pretty good. Still needs some work on the small end, but not bad for 20 bucks!

I'm using it on a Rifancophone. I bought the machine a couple of years ago. It came with a quarter-sawn oak horn that did not match the mahogany case, so I've been searching for the right horn to match to it. This nickel horn works perfectly. (The oak horn was another restoration project)

The gramophone with the new horn sits atop my bog standard, but immaculate HMV 157

See Pictures below.

So that's my Union 2014 story (and my best find of 2014).








Original thread...
http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewto ... =2&t=17575

[Tpapp54321]

Well this isn't much compared to any of the other machines but I consider my Edison L-19 for $200 my best find. When I bought it it also came with a 78 adapter and a couple 78's but those are with other machines.






I found it off of craigslist for $250 but once the women I bought it learned how far me and my parents drove and that I was only 13 she said take it for $200 it'll go to a good home
-Tom

[Torjazzer]

Stunning machines all over.
Here is my new pride and joy: a 1909 Victor III with 22" horn.

[tinovanderzwan]

i'm a low budget collector and as many of you i'm constantly with my nose glued to the screen when i am on ebay (or more likely on dutch market place site called marktplaats) just like a kid at a candy shop window
all those goodies!! what to choose???
saving up my pennies and going on line its like christmas every time
budget is a problem but... i have someting a lot of sellers don't have and that is intimate knowledge of phonographs
i can pretty much predict what could be wrong with a phono,
f.i. on the dutch site i saw a hmv 87 portable in this case a red one and.. it had seen better days
the case was a bit tatty with the covering coming loose at the corners it lookede dry as a bone it also was a bit out of my price range at 200 euro's
i wanted it what now??
well i mailed the seller i said 200,- could be a fair price for this machine if it where mint its not as common as the 101 and 102 machines and red is an appealing color that sells well yet... this machine is not mint
in the coment you said that you haven't tried the machine out well here are the things that could be wrong with it
1 : the base of the tone arm it made of pot metal 9 out of 10 times it will be stuck as a house
2 : dry rot is a problem with hmv's the glue gets eaten away by micro organisms the wood parts holding the motor board get totaly de-glued and in a lot of cases you can lift motorboard-machine and horn out without unscrewing
3 : the graphite grease in the spring barrel can be totally dry in that case its more like dried graphite cement! and when playing you'll hear loud rumbling noises
try it out!

i got a responce
i tried it out and all you said is true
the arm is stuck and the machine makes noises when turning what price are you willing to pay?
well i mailed back
well all things concidered i think 50,- would be a more likely price for a machine that needs a lot of tlc
50,- wasn't enough i'm not selling it for 50,- no sir!
well i thought thats it lets go on the lookout for another phono,..
one week later...
eh are you willing to pay 60,- the man replied
well 60,- i thought was ok with my train fair and a bite allong the way that would come close to 75,- euro i think thats a fair price for a hmv 87 in direstrait but repairable condition

$_82.JPG (22.04 KiB) Viewed 3159 times

(sorry the pic is small)
i picked it up last week and indeed all my predictions as to contition where as i said
the potmetal arm was totally fixed in position i got it out and filed and sanded the inner tube untill it would move smoothly in its cuff
i cleaned the spring and re-greased it
its working fine now
to-date i think its my best find of the year not only because i always wanted a hmv 87 (i don't really like the 101 & 102's their so plentiful!!)but also because knowledge can help you greatly in your search

hmv 87 black + blue version portable.jpg (51.96 KiB) Viewed 3157 times

these are hmv 87's in a good state (evendough the black one seems to have some dry rot going on in the lid)


tino

[Nat]

O/T and probably exposing me to the wrath of some, but my finds are records - some 1902 Caruso G&T's. Not in great shape, but what a thrill! As far as machines, winter is the time to play them. My all-consuming find/project/ticket to the poorhouse is a partly restored 1946 Willys Jeep that I'm finishing, Almost as primitive as my Victor IV!