Pathé Concert A Phonograph - What's Original?

[Steve]

Good luck finding a motor! I know someone who has an empty case and has been looking for that particular motor for 36 years!

A year ago I bought a "complete" Concert Modele 'A' which had a broken spring that has taken us all this time to find someone in the world capable of re-manufacturing it. I've been promised the complete motor by the beginning of September (not holding my breath) so I hope to add some photos of the machine then. The horn is quite stunning.

I agree with Carlos in as much as I feel the only way to realistically get a complete machine is to buy one complete. The parts are not common with other Pathé models. That is why "collectorsmachines" has re-run that particular item on Ebay a few times and even with a damaged motor the base failed to raise over £800.

[Garret]

Steve,

If I may ask, where did you manage to get the spring remanufactured?

Garret

[Steve]

Garret,

I didn't actually. It was Phonogalerie that sorted it but according to the owner the company that made the springs has no intention of producing any more. They were incredibly expensive and produced strictly as a one-off.

Steve

[Garret]

Ah, that makes sense. Once you pay for the tooling, each unit produced is usually cheaper than the last. However, getting to that point is almost always a costly endeavor.

Garret

[CarlosV]

Garret,

I didn't actually. It was Phonogalerie that sorted it but according to the owner the company that made the springs has no intention of producing any more. They were incredibly expensive and produced strictly as a one-off.

Steve

I have a Pathé concert A, a Pathé 18 which has the same motor, a Pathé 12 that seems to have the same spring barrel, and a coin-op concert automatique with a huge spring, and to think that they all risk becoming silent for lack of replacement springs when the original ones reach their end of life is a grim perspective. I would have guessed that there must be some similar springs made for grandfather clocks, that could be adapted as a last recourse.

[Garret]

Garret,

I didn't actually. It was Phonogalerie that sorted it but according to the owner the company that made the springs has no intention of producing any more. They were incredibly expensive and produced strictly as a one-off.

Steve

I have a Pathé concert A, a Pathé 18 which has the same motor, a Pathé 12 that seems to have the same spring barrel, and a coin-op concert automatique with a huge spring, and to think that they all risk becoming silent for lack of replacement springs when the original ones reach their end of life is a grim perspective. I would have guessed that there must be some similar springs made for grandfather clocks, that could be adapted as a last recourse.

I would have to believe that a music box repair shop could make the required springs if no spare replacements were available.