Leophon portable

[rfl]

Hello,
I've acquired a gramophone that used to be my great-great-grandfather's.

What do I know:
Under the lid there is a LEOPHON logo.
Motor is Garrard 20 with a broken spring – somebody tried to repair it a long time ago so I'm not yet sure if there is something else wrong with it. The case is missing a lot of screws and washers.
Reproducer is a brass No. 4, stamped with a "LEOPHON" logo.
There is "Made in Switzerland" stamped on the base plate of the tone arm where it meets the internal horn.


So…does anyone know more about the LEOPHON brand? I found only a handful of them online (including a huge coin operated machine), mostly claiming it is German.

[jamiegramo]

This machine would probably date to the late 1920s and is interesting as it's very much a clone of the HMV portable 101. The tonearm and deck are remarkably similar and even the soundbox is a good match of the correct HMV No.4 soundbox. I notice it even uses the same 'No. 4' name.

These parts may be made in Switzerland but the Garrard motor is made in England and appears to be correct to the machine. Due to a large stock of old 'Leophone' decal-transfers the name often turns up applied to many fake machines. It is nice to see an original 'Leophon' and a good 101 lookalike.

[nostalgia]

I don't know anything about the Leophon brand, but found a couple of decent photos online, for reference.

[Curt A]

I like your machine... it's an unusual family heirloom worth restoring. It is in above average condition and with a little work it should be back in working order. The wording on the above pictured catalog is German and I have seen other Leophon kids phonographs from Germany. I'm sure that someone can help you find a spring for the motor or even be able to service it for you.

Family pieces are cherished by most collectors - I would love to have one that my grandfather owned. Good luck and welcome to the forum.

[Curt A]

German Leophone needle tins were produced and apparently are rated extremely high on the rarity/value chart in the book Grammophon Nadeldosen by Horst-Dieter Linz. I don't know if this has any bearing on your machine's rarity, but it certainly is not a common brand.

[Curt A]

The Ultraphon record on the turntable in the picture would be interesting, if not broken. This type of damage comes from storing records in record albums and then opening them "flat" on a table or something. The record gets pushed down into the bottom of the sleeve, then breaks off a chunk when the album is opened. If you open an album, stand it up on edge then carefully turn the pages vertically, don't lay it down. The best thing is to remove all the records from albums and store them standing on edge. There is a possibility that your grandfather has some very good records... Did he come from Germany by any chance, since the Ultraphon record is German also?

[rfl]

I like your machine... it's an unusual family heirloom worth restoring. It is in above average condition and with a little work it should be back in working order. The wording on the above pictured catalog is German and I have seen other Leophon kids phonographs from Germany. I'm sure that someone can help you find a spring for the motor or even be able to service it for you.

Family pieces are cherished by most collectors - I would love to have one that my grandfather owned. Good luck and welcome to the forum.

New spring has arrived just this week, together with a gasket for the soundbox. The gasket I have is for the Exhibition model as I've read somewhere on the forum that it works well. It will look different but I think I can cope with that

I wanted to at least respray the horn, the paint is chipping and it is corroding a little bit. But now I'm kinda starting to like the weathered look. Leatherette cover is torn on the bottom, the metal hole where you put the crank in was replaced with some kind of plastic, and it all sort of adds character to the thing.

The Ultraphon record on the turntable in the picture would be interesting, if not broken. This type of damage comes from storing records in record albums and then opening them "flat" on a table or something. The record gets pushed down into the bottom of the sleeve, then breaks off a chunk when the album is opened. If you open an album, stand it up on edge then carefully turn the pages vertically, don't lay it down. The best thing is to remove all the records from albums and store them standing on edge. There is a possibility that your grandfather has some very good records... Did he come from Germany by any chance, since the Ultraphon record is German also?

Shortly after taking the picture, the record on the turntable broke in two halves. I have two more. One looks OK, another one has a radial crack. Grandfather was Czech and these are all Czech recordings made by Ravitas under the Ultraphon brand. Looking at local auction sites they do not seem to be very rare (yet ).

For example, the one that broke had these songs on it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0Ve6C2Xv9c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5ME7PdFp-g

[Inigo]

Yours is a magnificent heirloom. I would replace the missing screws just to make it work properly, repair the torn bottom rexine cover and do nothing more. I would prefer the machine working as a champion, as it will work when repaired, but showing its age and 'war wounds'... The missing screws are those attaching the motor board to the case? These can be easily obtained. Use aged good proper screws, round head single slot wood screws. If there are other screws missing, show us a photo and we can help you. Or if you have other non-missing screws in similar function in the machine, they serve as a model to find more of the same type. Garrard motors are common and readily available, so missing parts on that can also be obtained from UK dealers. Member soundgen in this forum has lots of parts, and could help you. Even the missing screws could be scrapped from old hmv 101 cases for parts or projects, which are abundant. Ask him...

[rfl]

From what I can tell, the motor board originally had countersunk wood screws with cup washers. I found one washer down in the horn and it fits exactly into the groove around the screw hole. Looking at the pictures, this is different from HMV 101.

As for the rexine cover, the holes are huge and I don't really know how to fix it, sans replacing the whole cover

[Inigo]

Countersunk wood screws : these are pretty common, and if not aged, you finally could look after modern replacements in a good tools store. HMV didn't use these cup washers, the screws going directly on the wood. But this I've found doesn't age well, and the surrounding area of the screw tends to sink down with respect to the surroundings. I've installed cup washers in my 101, and it looks better.
For the cover, if it wasn't for the spoiled edges and corners, I would suggest to install patches of a new black rexine of similar finish. This could be adequately blended with the original if the borders of the repaired sections are carefully blended with the original. But in corners I wouldn't dare to try this... Maybe it's better to renew all the cover. Our if you can fix the fluffy borders, securing them glued to the wooden case, you could try painting the peeled areas in black. I've read herein a suggestion for that treatment just yesterday. They suggested to use a thick patch of black painting, and impress the rexine pattern on the painting when it is half-dried, using a piece of similar rexine to provide the old animal skin pattern.
Or if you are going to the 'show the war wounds' approach, just patch the missing parts with new black rexine. Blend carefully the borders, for it not to peel off. Ialso read that someone suggested to cover the missing parts with old travel labels, of hotels and cruiser lines...
Here is the link
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=45829&p=271731&hilit=Rexine#p271121