EMG Sales booklet.

[ALVES]

I have purchased the what I presume is the Xa sloping lid model in the picture s and am in process of restoring the cabinet .The cabinet is of solid oak except the top which is veneers ply with a quality oak veneer .The horn is just over 28 inches width , but 29 inches vertically .I intend to repair and repaper the horn .

[emgcr]

Fascinating and congratulations on your fine purchase. You have immediately disproved our thoughts that the case may have been made from cheaper materials---the top veneer is extremely classy and most attractive---almost like a satinwood but photographs can be deceptive. The other interesting point shown clearly in your photo is the fact that the internally-threaded nickel-plated brass exit ring securing the conduit to the case is not rebated into the case as with the larger models. Good luck with the horn repapering. Do you know about Shepherds, the fine paper specialists ? Here is a link: http://store.bookbinding.co.uk/store/de ... ive-Paper/

[ALVES]

Thank you .
Yes I think I have done well its a lovely original machine .The veneer is I think a special cut of a type of oak .I will post more picture s a the weekend when I reassemble .
There isn't much info that I can find as to what machine is what etc. I didn't realise that this cabinet was smaller for e.g. .
The horn is pretty good condition other than painting (was gold before ) and the edges to the flair being a bit ropy .So i need to work out a way of repairing small tears in the edges, and building up creases .
There is one discrepancy that doesn't make sense to me . It could mean the horn is not original to the machine . Do the horn fittings vary in size ? It seams doubtful that would be the case unless the biggest horns had bigger fittings? But even then that isn't the case here .The horn has an unscrew able base part that houses into the fitting in the cabinet back . But the whole fit is rather loose .You can push it back and forward quite a bit .Some sort of shim would improve it , but this cannot be right?
I tried the horn from my VIII and that maybe was slightly better fit , but even that was slightly loose .Saying that its also slightly wobbly in it own machine , but it is an early horn before they improved the fitting .
So any knowledge on that would be much appreciated .

I had to send for some replacement gov springs as i stupidly broke them when i was de greasing the motor !So i hope it will work when i fit them.

Thank you for the link .I had come across it already . Any advise of types of paper and pattern would also be much appreciated .

Paul.

[ALVES]

While trying to glean as much info about my machine as possible recently .,I pinched pictures of sloping cabinet models from the net ,so apologise if I have one from anyone here . These all appear to have Oak cabinets. The also do not have locks to the cabinet lid. They also as pointed out do not have the housing socket rebated into the top .
I assume the wilson own is not practical with this cabinet for obvious reasons of not being able to open the lid unless its positioned inconveniently .The other one appears to have a smaller earlier question mark horn.

The measurements of my cabinet are .
20 and three quarters
17 and half
11 inches high .

How does this compare to the larger cabinets ?

[ALVES]

One other observation .
The underside of the motor board and the cast iron tube conduit board ,both of which are solid oak have chalked XII
The rebate in the front of the cabinet is also stamped XII

[Loudbass]

Congratulations on your wonderful find! I love the veneer work on the top side. Comparison with the other cabinets shown makes me wonder whether this was an added extra requested by the purchaser? I believe I saw the machine shown with the Wilson horn in Bonhams auction a few years ago. It seems highly unlikely they were originally paired as, as you point out, the horn would have to be swung way round to open the lid and the acoustic system was designed with the later question mark style horn in mind. Good luck with the restoration, Graham is definitely the chap to converse with if you need any advice.

[emgcr]

Thank you .
Yes I think I have done well its a lovely original machine .The veneer is I think a special cut of a type of oak .I will post more picture s a the weekend when I reassemble .
There isn't much info that I can find as to what machine is what etc. I didn't realise that this cabinet was smaller for e.g. .
The horn is pretty good condition other than painting (was gold before ) and the edges to the flair being a bit ropy .So i need to work out a way of repairing small tears in the edges, and building up creases .
There is one discrepancy that doesn't make sense to me . It could mean the horn is not original to the machine . Do the horn fittings vary in size ? It seams doubtful that would be the case unless the biggest horns had bigger fittings? But even then that isn't the case here .The horn has an unscrew able base part that houses into the fitting in the cabinet back . But the whole fit is rather loose .You can push it back and forward quite a bit .Some sort of shim would improve it , but this cannot be right?
I tried the horn from my VIII and that maybe was slightly better fit , but even that was slightly loose .Saying that its also slightly wobbly in it own machine , but it is an early horn before they improved the fitting .
So any knowledge on that would be much appreciated .

I had to send for some replacement gov springs as i stupidly broke them when i was de greasing the motor !So i hope it will work when i fit them.

Thank you for the link .I had come across it already . Any advise of types of paper and pattern would also be much appreciated .

Paul.

Very interesting you say the horn was painted gold before the top-coat you have inherited and I wonder if you know the history of where it came from ? Tom, another member of this forum (Loudbass)---and I should probably let him comment separately---recently kindly forwarded a photo of a gold-painted horn which he mentioned came from The Gramophone Emporium in Edinburgh. I have attached the photo below. Maybe it is the same animal ? It also has a bit of work to do around the horn mouth.

Regarding the fit of the bronze spigot onto the conduit, these do often become quite worn over the years and can tend to “rock” as you say. EMG only ever built one standard spigot size as far as I know (and have experienced)---shown in the drawing attached below. It is quite possible that horns get swapped around over the years and the fit of the spigots can consequently vary slightly. The size of the spigot is small in diameter (and potentially weak) when compared with the larger equivalent found in the Expert range so strong bronze, and not brittle brass, was used. The internal dimensions are also tapered to follow the increase in flair throughout the acoustic system.

Solving the problem of the wear can be tricky. You may find that the conduit hole or the spigot (or both) have become slightly oval due to being used in one particular position. Careful use of abrasives can correct this, followed by electro-plating of the removable spigot---say with nickel---but please be very careful not to make matters worse. The alternative, of course, is to make a new spigot. In actual fact, unless the situation is very bad, it is only important to have a good-fitting joint from the point of view of being air-tight. If air can escape, bass resonances, in particular, can be lost. Use plenty of grease to make up the difference.

[ALVES]

Thank you for the diagrams ,much appreciated . I wont rush into that .I wonder whether a spline could be fitted as it did occur that there may be sound loss if there was such a poor join.

Yes its the same machine I recognise the marks on the cabinet ! .I would love to know more about it .see photo of a couple of weeks ago when i did a dance locally with my neighbour using my machines . I had literally only just got the Xa. You can see the same markings on the rear panel.
I also found a picture of it on line which was an auction photo . There scratches on the font panel tie up ...There was no mention of what money it made at the auction , but it was a few years ago .

I added another pic of thence too

[Damfino59]

The Mark VIII in the photo looks like the one sold recently on UKEbay. I remember the added lift knob and horn support. Both nice machines. But I'm partial to the Mark VIII as I own own myself.

[Loudbass]

It looks pretty conclusive yours is the EMG shown in the picture I shared with Graham. This was taken from an article on the Gramophone Emporium in Edinburgh. The shop has now sadly closed, but I believe it still operates online and has an eBay presence as gemporium12. If you contact them they may be able to give you more history of your splendid gramophone?