20 Inch Pathé Record

[John Svensson]

I won't post the link and I disavow any connction to it, but a search on Ebay will find one of these for sale right now.
No expert but the engraved "labeling" would lead me to believe it is a fairly early Pathé record and rare, but is the claim true?
Are these truly the largest phonograph records ever produced? For retail sale, not one-off joke records that is......
I'm curious as to what model of machines could even handle playing a disc that large? Wow, that's a monster. John

[SonnyPhono]

I have heard about these before but don't recall ever seeing one. I imagine most of them have cracked or broken over the years and I would guess not many were made to begin with.

[Orchorsol]

I have two of these, both English issues, one engraved and one paper label - and a machine that plays them (a late Pathé No. 12), but I haven't yet succeeded in getting the required 120 to 130rpm out of the motor!

[gramophoneshane]

Both Pathé & Neophone made 20" discs, and AFAIK they were the biggest discs ever recorded.
Pathé had quite a few early models that were capable of playing them, including the huge Concert coin operated model. Surprisingly, they still only ran for the same duration as a 12" disc (although they were recorded at around 120RPM), but they had a wider groove which was designed to give greater clarity & volume, making them useful in halls & restaurants etc.
I would consider them rare, although there seems to be a surprizing number of survivors in the hands of collectors.
The last one that sold about a year ago here in oz went for $600 on ebay, but a collector friend of mine has a few of them & is selling his collection due to health issues, and he was saying he expected to get around $200 each selling them privately, which I think is probably a more realistic value on the "world" market.

[52089]

There are a couple of videos of these on Youtube, just search for Pathé 20. I've seen a couple of these in person at the Wayne show, but I've never heard one in person. I think the asking price at Wayne was $150 each, but I could be wrong.

[John Svensson]

Thanks for the info, it seems that for most collectors these would be a "wall hanger". Still, I'd like to see one in the flesh, must make the next Wayne show. Given opinions, the opening bidder must be either a)highly enthusiastic, or b) highly cooperative with the seller.
I can see them being a specialized music hall item, can't be that common to stumble across. If only my pockets were considerably deeper.

[gramophone78]

What is the next size down...13 ¾ inch??. Shipping a record 20 inches would be a nightmare.

[estott]

Discs for the Vitaphone sound system are 16 inch, but they aren't for a home system. Victor briefly offered a 14 inch Deluxe disc.

[gramophoneshane]

Pathé discs came in 4 sizes, but if my tape measure is right, Pathé's 50cm disc is actually only 19 ½" diametre, so if Neophones largest discs were a full 20" diametre, that would make Neophone the manufacturer of the largest disc available to the public. With a duration of almost 10 minute, I guess they could also be classed as the first true long-playing disc too.
Anyone have a Neophone disc and tape measure handy?

[gramophone78]

Pathé discs came in 4 sizes, but if my tape measure is right, Pathé's 50cm disc is actually only 19 ½" diametre, so if Neophones largest discs were a full 20" diametre, that would make Neophone the manufacturer of the largest disc available to the public. With a duration of almost 10 minute, I guess they could also be classed as the first true long-playing disc too.
Anyone have a Neophone disc and tape measure handy?

Nice ad Shane. I guess I have one 35cm with sleeve. It is a center start. It came from a man I know in Montreal and I believe the shipping was more than the record.