What's Your Rarest (or Most Peculiar) Phonograph?

[donniej]

This Pathé was the companies effort to salvage unfinished Actuelle cabinets and fit them with an internal horn. They were also sold under other naames but even those are rare, and this is the only one I've ever seen with Pathé bages on the lid and reproducer. There is no data plate.

[briankeith]

How about a little Ecco,,,,

[startgroove]

Here's our Pathé Diffuser. The slats in the lid rotate in unison, and are used to control the volume and to deflect the sound outward.

[Edison_Ranger]

I don't have one, but I just found out about Gilbert Gramophone company. Lasted only 9 years, 1922-1931. Here's a website.

http://www.gilbert-gramophones.co.uk/history.htm

Didn't know the company even existed. Although they have a claim to fame. If anyone has seen the movie Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Askaban, the phonograph Prof. Lupin plays is a Gilbert Geisha. Here's the movie clip

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doxxfXqpKYA

And here's an image/gif of the needle head.

https://media.giphy.com/media/vTYRa8KUKdyuY/giphy.gif

[Phono48]

I don't have one, but I just found out about Gilbert Gramophone company. Lasted only 9 years, 1922-1931.

I've had many Gilbert machines pass through my hands in the past, and in my humble opinion, they have little to recommend them. At first glance they do indeed look splendid, but closer inspection shows the cabinets of the large floor-standing machines to be made of thin plywood panels nailed to the corner uprights, the whole lot being covered in a heavy coat of glossy varnish. Under the motor boards, the supporting struts are very rough, and the motor boards themselves are often so thin that they flex as the motor is being wound. The saving grace with most of the models is the Garrard motor. Were it not for the impressive - looking "bugle" arm, and the mother-of-pearl fronted soundbox, there is nothing to otherwise distinguish them from the plethora of cheap off-brand machines that were around at the time. The "Geisha" models were of even less quality, as they were the "budget" range, using a lesser arm and soundbox than the standard range were fitted with.

[Gramtastic]

Most Gilbert machines are made of nasty cheap plywood but this one is really nice. The case is made of quarter veneered ply and is very well made and finished. It has an automatic light, the trumpet tome arm and the mother of pearl soundbox. Must have been a more expensive model .....

[CarlosV]

Most Gilbert machines are made of nasty cheap plywood but this one is really nice. The case is made of quarter veneered ply and is very well made and finished. It has an automatic light, the trumpet tome arm and the mother of pearl soundbox. Must have been a more expensive model .....

I agree, I have one of these, and its sound reproduction is very good - and loud, even with soft tone needles. The alignment of the arm is tricky, though, as its angle depends on the height of the disc/turntable/needle. If the total height differs from the optimum, the soundbox will be off is 90-degree angle, and risk damaging the record.

[phonodesbois]

Not peculiar but certainly rare...
At first, I thought it was some kind of book-shelve but it appeared to be a gramophone (special order I think). The only thing I found about Rexson was that it was listed as a gramophone manufacturer in 1930.

[MTPhono]

Very interesting machine!

Not peculiar but certainly rare...
At first, I thought it was some kind of book-shelve but it appeared to be a gramophone (special order I think). The only thing I found about Rexson was that it was listed as a gramophone manufacturer in 1930.

[Gramtastic]

How about a portable where the horn extends up through the lid ?