Opinions on parting out good, complete machines

[ImperialGuardsman]

Last month or so there was an Edisonic machine being parted out. I thought the case looked to be in good shape but it has been a while since I saw the auctions. I'm not sure if it was these same seller mentioned above. Such a rare machine too...

[phonoman-antique]

I have examined neelams offerings and I don't believe he is trying to
make a big profit from parting out.Eg, a whole Standard Edison motor for $99.
This is not price gouging.And he offers many,many machines as complete machines.
And we all don't want those rare parts not to be put on the market do we?
So cut the guy some slack here.I don't personally know the guy.But I appreciate his offerings.
Also its an illusion to think you can actually sell all the parts at a great profit.
Some parts do sell but many just sit there.And can sit for years.The profit margin
just dosn't exist because if prices are too high many of us will just buy a whole
machine and remove the part we need.Its a complex topic.

[CarGuyZM10]

I actually went to look at a Brunswick 207 from someone on Craigslist which looked like a basket case. I was going to buy it to part it out, as it appeared to have several issues (broken grill, volume control missing, could not find the motor with the crank. When I got it home, I pulled out the motor, and saw that everything was there! Well, with a little work, I got it running, and it sounded good. As for the grill, it was just the cloth that was shot, and hanging over the pieces in spots, and the grill was just split in some places. I couldn't bring myself to part it out. I guess that officially makes me a part of this hobby!

[Starkton]

To me an unmolested original machine is worth more than the sum of it's parts.

You are right. I wonder how many machines are still in their original condition.

What about the modern "upgrade" of machines with gadgets (Polyphone attachments, Mobley reproducers, collapsible or glass horns, repeaters, ...). At the end all Edison phonographs in pristine shape and/or with special decoration (flower painting, gilding, nickel plating, mahogany case) are equipped with Bettini attachments. We are more or less all guilty with that, but strictly spoken it is historical falsification.

[Valecnik]

To me an unmolested original machine is worth more than the sum of it's parts.

You are right. I wonder how many machines are still in their original condition.

What about the modern "upgrade" of machines with gadgets (Polyphone attachments, Mobley reproducers, collapsible or glass horns, repeaters, ...). At the end all Edison phonographs in pristine shape and/or with special decoration (flower painting, gilding, nickel plating, mahogany case) are equipped with Bettini attachments. We are more or less all guilty with that, but strictly spoken it is historical falsification.

I generally agree. If you find a special phonograph, with no horn, no reproducer, adding the appropriate complementing equipment is a must but if you find something that's complete, in the wild and it's pretty clear it was purchased that way, I think it should be kept together.

But where do you draw the line? More than 15 years ago, I found three storage boxes for the Amberola III. That's a story in itself. They were about half full of blue amberols, with boxes and matching lids. I've never removed any of the cylinders from the storage boxes.

More recently, I found an A250 Diamond Disc machine. The original owner had bought a lateral attachment and with the phonograph were about forty mostly Victor Operatic discs from 1907-1910 or so. The family who owned it said that their relative was an audiophile. It also came with more than a hundred diamond discs, obviously later, mostly from 1914-1918 era. That tells a story. Arguably they should all be kept together but...

[Steve]

Now we have a dilemma. Us "collectors" appear to suffer from the same mental block - we believe that if a machine was assembled and sold in a certain way 100 years ago, then generally it should automatically stay that way now if it has not been "molested". However there are two problems (at least) with this puritanical approach: firstly, how can we ever be truly sure that something hasn't been messed with before we get to it, and secondly, if the same machine contains a "standard" generic part that would have matched countless other contemporary machines from the same stable, why shouldn't we swap it in order to enhance or preserve something a little more interesting? Dealers must be laughing at us because I KNOW they all do this from time to time. Horns especially get swapped around dozens of times before we ever get to see the machine.

The French do this all the time judging by continental eBay. The G & T Junior Monarch from 1905-1910 turns up far too frequently for my liking on French eBay sans back-bracket, horn, tone-arm, elbow, soundbox etc. This is obviously because those parts are being used on bigger horn models with grander cabinets (the "Junior" shares the same hardware as its bigger siblings).

This weekend I have to confess that I purchased a perfectly good horn machine with the intention of it donating its horn to a much rarer contemporary horn machine I have. The latter has the same identical horn but in much poorer state and sans original horn paint. However, as I suffer from the same delusions as most other collectors, I now look at the "doner machine" and think it is a marvelous survival in its own right and feel as though I'm wrecking something by swapping the horns over! As the horn is an HMV MG type with perfect transfer I can't exactly buy another "spare" one on any given day (I haven't seen a good large example for sale in over 15 years), hence why I bought a machine to donate a part to another I already had.

With the collectors' dilemma taking over, I have now decided that instead of selling off the residue (albeit as a "complete" machine, not dozens of tiny spare parts), I will keep BOTH machines together and let them both share the good horn!

All it means is, I have now have even less space and money BUT my conscience is clear!

On the subject of eBay seller "neelam", he has a couple of parts I need but won't buy at his prices. They have sat in my eBay watch for nearly two years. I'm not budging. I will not buy until the price falls or one of us pegs out!

[welshfield]

I have been watching this Neelam with disgust for some time. I watched him try to sell a Columbia AT and when he didn't get his ridiculous price, then parted it out with starting bids totalling his original asking price. Being in a particuarly bad mood that day, I asked him a "question" pertaining to the lid from that machine. I suggested that if he steam off the veneer from the lid and sell it separately he could make even more money. He replied, "hey that's a good idea. I never thought of that." Admittedly a smart-ass answer to my smart-ass comment. But still, I strongly agree with the most of you who find this practice deplorable. The only consolation we have is that all those dishes in the background of Neelam's photos never change, meaning that his antique-store business isn't doing very well. Maybe he will give up and go out of business, saving many future old historical artifacts from being destroyed by him.

[briankeith]

You guys must be referring to Seth's Antiques I assume on EBay?

[welshfield]

Yes, Seth's Antiques