The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Retrograde wrote:Glancing at the His Master's Gramophone book, it states the 109 was introduced in October 1925 and that the slotted lid stay was used until September 1926. That narrows down the date of manufacture for your machine.

It should have a beaded edge turn table (similar to the orthophonic) with brown felt.

Question about the back of the machine, what is the purpose of the small slot?

The turntable does have brown felt, but nothing I would call a beaded edge.

The motor board wood surface is a slightly lighter color than the rest of the inside of the cabinet, implying the motor board might have seen more sunlight than the rest of the inside wood. Perhaps the motor and motor board was, for a time, replaced by an electric motor and the slot could have been to accomodate the power chord. The fellow I bought it from did not know what it was for.

Thanks for all the info! Now I'm looking for a No.4 reproducer,

Cliff

The springs were the crustiest I have ever seen. The grease had completely dried up and was caked on the springs and spring barrel. No wonder it was not running smoothly! After regreasing the springs, it runs smooth as silk and quite as a mouse. Has 2 10 foot long springs.

Watch the motor run on YouTube (only 46 seconds long):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thK7z4Fvbxc

This is a pretty cool machine!

CDB

What slot are we talking about? HMV cabinet models of this period do have two elongated slots just above the tone-arm board/rail at the back of the cabinet. No one knows what they were for although needles usually fall out of them when previous owners have allowed used needles to roll into the back of the slots, presumably after dropping them following their removal from the soundbox chuck!

I can't imagine why anyone would remove a motorboard long enough for it to fade differently to the rest of the inside of the cabinet. Are there any signs of electrical modification? Could it simply be a replacement motor/ motorboard?

CDBPDX wrote:You can see more pictures at:

http://78records.cdbpdx.com/TTHMV/

Thanks!

CDB

refer to the link in the first post for more pictures. Look at the back of the machine and then one of the inside for a slot on the left hand side. Unfortunately, there's not a good picture of the motor board or of the turntable.

FWIW, I've seen motor boards that didn't match exactly with the rest of the wood, doesn't always mean someone swapped parts.

I think I can explain the slot. You could buy electric pickups that fitted on the end of the arm and were plugged into a radio set. http://www.normanfield.com/pickups.htm I think someone cut that slot to lead the wires through so the lid would close. Here's a machine similar to yours with an HMV pickup in use, the wires are trailing over the side & don't look very tidy.

Very cool page describing the electric pick-ups! Something new to look for, though I don't recall ever seeing anything like those.

Here is a picture of the crusty mess I found in the spring barrel:

I think those add on pick ups were more popular in the UK and Europe than over here. I have a 30's Parlophone portable with a plug wired into the case.

Steve wrote:What slot are we talking about? HMV cabinet models of this period do have two elongated slots just above the tone-arm board/rail at the back of the cabinet. No one knows what they were for

i always assumed needle packets.

Cheers,
David.

i always assumed needle packets.

Lol! David, I think we are talking cross purposes here. The two long clips in the tone-arm board are indeed for Tungstyle (Tungstone) needle tins - they are held upright on end by a spring inside the clip. What I was referring to however was the very long cut-outs that exist with angled edges along the BACK of the cabinet, just above the tone-arm rail. If a needle rolls towards the back of an HMV cabinet, they do often fall straight out the back onto the floor. Was this the purpose? I cannot think of much else.

Steve wrote: What I was referring to however was the very long cut-outs that exist with angled edges along the BACK of the cabinet

Maybe since England is a seafaring nation, The Gramophone Company felt the machines needed a self-bailing feature. You never know when a rogue wave might come along and swamp your gramophone.