to part out or not to part out...that is the question

[soundgen]

then maybe he can pass it along, make some money reselling it to someone else who wants it as it is and has room, and then perhaps use the profit to buy the parts he needs from vollema, ebay or whereever. I don't know, we can go back and forth, I just always find it tragic when decent relatively complete machines, especially the less common ones, are parted out. but I know that not everyone feels that way.

I have and I know other dealers who have many cabinet gramophones , we can't sell them even for pennies , even on Ebay they fetch very little
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-Very-rare-C ... 1c35d332ce

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HIS-MASTERS-V ... 33848db7ba

Humm. Well L-doors still bring pretty good money here in the colonies--at least when offered in large population centers where there are buyers who don't have to drive long distances to acquire them. These are not just your everyday run-of-the-mill uprights. Now those do go begging more and more.

Clay

Yes that's OK if you live within driving distance of 6 million people !

[FloridaClay]

Humm. Well L-doors still bring pretty good money here in the colonies--at least when offered in large population centers where there are buyers who don't have to drive long distances to acquire them. These are not just your everyday run-of-the-mill uprights. Now those do go begging more and more.

Clay

Yes that's OK if you live within driving distance of 6 million people !

Well far fewer than that are required, but if you are in a remote area and don't take things to shows, selling can definitely be a challenge.

Clay

[alang]

I agree with what others said before, I would hate to see a decent L-door parted out for no good reason. There are plenty out there with rotten cabinets, so no need to destroy a good one. In the end only some of the parts will sell and the rest will be unusable. If you get it cheap then offer it for some profit, I'm sure someone will be happy to fix it. If I was closer I would get it, even though I already have one. But machines like that don't seem to come up cheap around here.

Andreas

[Valecnik]

I wouldn't part it out. We're not talking about a cheap 1920's pot metal upright here. It's a fairly rare early machine that sold along side horn machines like the Victor V & VI.

I also do not buy the often espoused, "it's yours, you can do as you please" argument. Society has placed restrictions on people's rights to do as they pleased with historical artifacts & cultural heritage for a long time and we are better off for it.

[gramophone78]

As a serious and dedicated collector, I can appreciate all the reply's. Some hit the nail on the head (sort of speak)...."logistics".....a major issue when dealing with a large,fragile and heavy piece. Located all the way up here and a $100 ferry ride to boot. After weeks for sale and no interest and the owners (moving) wanting it gone by Sept 30. Since it is not a machine I could afford room for.... leaves the only other alternative to offer parts of the machine to those that need them and scrap the cabinet.
In my opinion, it is better to save most than to loose the whole.

I am however happy to report that as of today......a person has now bought the whole machine. Maybe it was a member here...??. On can only hope. I would like to think that my thread created a spark.....who knows?.

[mattrx]

I, for one, am relieved. It would be a shame to have to part this machine out. I wish it were near me, I would have purchased it for restoration in all likelihood. I have the knob needed, and could find a crank and repair/replace the spring(s). Most of the machines I have now were in worse shape than this one looks from the picture. I just hate to see a machine that hasn't been totally destroyed parted out. I understand that it is sometimes the lesser evil however.

Matt

[soundgen]

Society has placed restrictions on people's rights to do as they pleased with historical artifacts & cultural heritage for a long time and we are better off for it.

That's a bit Utopian isn't it ? Where will you store all the stuff I can give you for free if you collect it ?

[brianu]

whether or not it's utopian, such governmental protection of certain cultural and historical artifacts is legal reality throughout much of the world. and just from a practical perspective, if you have no room or can't properly care for or store something of the sort, then why obtain it at all, let alone allow one to use one's inability to care for or store something they're going to obtain anyway as justification for destroying it.

again, the what's mine is mine, I'll do with it as I please, attitude will likely always exist as the counter-argument. it's just unfortunate to see that approach so prevalent in collectors' circles such as this one.