The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Could it have been one of those machines which had a spring driven turntable but had an electric pick up wired to a radio? We know the arm is a replacement, the sound passage might be an addition to turn it into a false HMV 32. It could be something made for a small distributor in India.

Curiouser and curiouser...

Bill

OrthoFan wrote:The sound box and tonearm are from a circa late-1930s RCA Victor portable phonograph. The slightly tapered conduit which connects the base of the tonearm to the horn's mounting is interesting. The flattened bends are like the ones they used on the (UK)Columbia Plano-Reflex models, like this portabe:

The attachment Capture.JPG is no longer available

I'm wondering if it was fitted with a similarly designed tonearm. I don't know if the Plano-Reflex design was licensed to other manufactures.

(QUESTION FOR THE UK COLLECTORS: During the mid-to-late 1920s, did Columbia offer an outside-horn gramophone similar in design to the HMV 32 Gramophone???)

OrthoFan

They certainly did. Here is my 1929 Columbia Horn Model 2a, which I regret selling :

OrthoFan wrote:QUESTION FOR THE UK COLLECTORS[/b]: During the mid-to-late 1920s, did Columbia offer an outside-horn gramophone similar in design to the HMV 32 Gramophone???)

OrthoFan

As far as I know Columbia never offered a machine like the HMV 32 with internal conduit. Apart from the 32 I only know of the smaller colonial HMV variations with single or double spring motors.

It's possible that this conduit was inspired by Columbia Plano-Reflex design especially if this was made in India or the Far East where they would not have been so bothered by patents. I wonder what the wood is? It might help in identifying origin. The photo is a bit blurry but the conduit looks too well made to be something that would normally be clumsily put together in a faked-up machine.

epigramophone wrote:
They certainly did. Here is my 1929 Columbia Horn Model 2a, which I regret selling :

Many thanks! It's a shame they didn't take it a step farther and add a foot or so to the tone chamber as the Gramophone Co. did with the HMV 32.

jamiegramo wrote: As far as I know Columbia never offered a machine like the HMV 32 with internal conduit. Apart from the 32 I only know of the smaller colonial HMV variations with single or double spring motors...

Thanks for confirming! Most of the UK/European models are still a mystery to me.

OrthoFan