The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Steve wrote:Arh, that'd be old Sid then!

Well done getting that. I think you know already how well you've done by the sound of it, even if UK buyers on eBay were all sleeping when you bought it from under their noses.

I agree about the problem of buying a Monarch to get the horn. I did that with the intention of donating a better horn to the School Model but then decided to keep the Monarch anyway!!!! Such as it is being a collector.

You've got that right. I actually found the horn the old fashioned way. I contacted the CLPGS and started calling/emailing collectors/dealers all over England until I found it. Once I realized how hard it would be to find I abandoned the possibility of one showing up on ebay....

Oh dear, Sid must be losing his touch! I'm surprised ANYONE here would let an HMV MG horn go without a serious struggle or a King's Ransom being handed over

Maybe it's high time I bought another 202 from him. Now, HOW MUCH has the price come down on these?!!

Steve wrote:Oh dear, Sid must be losing his touch! I'm surprised ANYONE here would let an HMV MG horn go without a serious struggle or a King's Ransom being handed over

Maybe it's high time I bought another 202 from him. Now, HOW MUCH has the price come down on these?!!

It was a King's Ransom as far as I'm concerned (650 Pounds I think it was. I've purposely wiped it from my memory). Once he knew he was in the driving seat and that he was dealing with a desperate man ready to pay anything I knew I had him right where I wanted him.

£650? I trust it has the original paint AND transfer in immaculate condition for that? I can sort of agree with the philosophy that determines "value" here, namely the law of supply and demand. First of all, what supply? ONE horn and no obvious competition. It's certainly a sellers' market where this horn is concerned. And, not to rub salt in any fresh wounds, but I'm glad Sid HASN'T lost his touch!

At the end of the day, as you've already said, it's only money and you now at least have a complete machine. Trust me when I say that an awful lot of UK collectors would gladly have turned down that horn in your position and 35 years later would still have a worthless incomplete machine that they are looking for a horn to fit at every fair they attend. I've met them and I've been astounded that they turn down something they've been looking for for decades, even when it's right under their noses and possibly only a few pounds more than "the going rate".

I wouldn't say immaculate but nice and I love the green horns particularly, and yeah, I'm not one to miss an opportunity and I'd certainly buy several more at that price to be honest. They're just so hard to come by. Besides, and like you said, if I were to wait two years and save a few hundred Pounds I'd only remember the years I was forced to look at an incomplete machine. The 'get' is a much more exciting part of the hobby to me than the 'hunt'.

That all being said, I'm not entirely sure I'm going to keep this machine once it's together as I'm dealing with limited space but I sure am glad I found it and it can finally move out of the garage.

Thanks for the chat.

Bobby

Err...it wasn't me guv,honest

slippery wrote:Err...it wasn't me guv,honest

You must be 'Sid'? No it wasn't you. I just never corrected Steve. Sorry about that, I probably should have but I didn't know if that was a nickname for my guy I wasn't aware of. I bought it from DS in Hele. That's in Devonshire I believe?

Is "DS" David Smith?

Steve wrote:Is "DS" David Smith?

Yes. All this about the horn got me curious and I relooked at my wire info. I paid $850US so what's that? About 550 Pounds. The small picture is the one I bought and the large is from HMG. Both 23.5" MG.

I hope he sold you also the elbow, the schoolhouse uses a unique large diameter attachment, as far as I am aware was only used on the schoolhouse, the HMV32 and its sister colonials 29 and 31, which are almost as sparse as the HMV schoolhouse.