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I've come accross this listing on eBay. It's an "E.M Ginn Expert soundbox".

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/GRAMOPHONE-SOUND- ... lephony_SM

I was quite astounded to see such a high price tag - even new HMV 5a's don't seem to be doing as well compared to this one! I've never heard of the brand at all, is there anyone out there willing to enlighten me as to why people would pay so much for it?

JHolmesesq wrote:I've come accross this listing on eBay. It's an "E.M Ginn Expert soundbox".

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/GRAMOPHONE-SOUND- ... lephony_SM

I was quite astounded to see such a high price tag - even new HMV 5a's don't seem to be doing as well compared to this one! I've never heard of the brand at all, is there anyone out there willing to enlighten me as to why people would pay so much for it?

Whilst I'm not an 'expert' (pardon the pun) EMG were know to be the producers of arguably the best sounding acoustic gramophones/phonographs ever. The soundboxes are quite desirable and at 180 pound this one is still probably a bargain even though it is the 2 spring and not the 4 spring version.

As I said though my knowledge of the EMG companies is on the very lite side.

Mario

EMG gramophones are no real looker, some might even say they are downright ugly. But as with certain classical records, mostly involving string instruments, prices of EMG gramophones and accessories are heavily pushed by south-asian buyers. These are excesses of specialty markets operating quite separately from usual economy.

I'd agree with Starkton about the "downright ugly" but people say they sound excellent, a refinement of the acoustic phono in the UK, (mainly I guess)after the US had gone to electrical pickup.

Maybe Steve or one of the other "Expert Experts" will tell us a bit more.

Not a bad price imo. When you want the best, it's going to cost you- especially since these are not mass produced common items.
Im not sure how much influence Asian buyers have had on these machines & accessories. Even when my 202 was only valued at $325 in the early 80s, the big EMGs were worth a lot more, and I dont think the Asian market even existed then (certainly not in the sense it does today). They've always been known by collectors as the very best acoustic machines ever produced anywhere in the world, so naturally the price will reflect this.
Dont be surprized if the price doubles due to having the paperwork and box present.

These machines were manufactured well into the era of electric reproduction and a well adjusted one is stiff competition to any of the 30's-40's electric machines.

gramophoneshane wrote: Im not sure how much influence Asian buyers have had on these machines & accessories. Even when my 202 was only valued at $325 in the early 80s, the big EMGs were worth a lot more, and I dont think the Asian market even existed then

Indeed, the Asian market has grown very much since the early 80s. Perhaps they took pleasure to buy certain European and US models only after their own supplies dried up. Does somebody have a "Seikosha" open horn machine left?
http://www.shirakami.or.jp/~dfg567/gramoph.htm

speaking of rare machines, didn't you mention at some point having a gibson coin-op? the only coin-op I have at this point is a concert automatique. would you be able to post a couple of photos? I've never actually seen one.

The Asian market has NOTHING to do with the price whatsoever. EMG and Expert machines are even interesting enough to gain attention from the British collector, hence the price! EMG 10B's and Expert Senior's are, by some significant margin, the best sounding acoustic gramophones ever made by any maker anywhere. Like the rest of the machines, the soundboxes were all hand-made out of solid brass (not mass produced pot metal!). There were probably no more than 300 soundboxes ever made from both makers together, so they are not only extremely desirable from a rarity point of view but they are capable of turning a modest gramophone into something very good indeed.

At £180, it's still a bargain. If I needed it (I have two of this type) I'd pay anything up to £275 for the two-spring and maybe £400 for the slightly bigger four-spring variant. Oh yes, the box AND paperwork is included so at the current price it IS still a bargain.

If the maker's name is unfamiliar to you, might I suggest you look up a copy of Francis James' "The EMG Story". It is a highly recommended read.

HTH

Steve

brianu wrote:speaking of rare machines, didn't you mention at some point having a gibson coin-op? the only coin-op I have at this point is a concert automatique. would you be able to post a couple of photos? I've never actually seen one.

I see I have to obey the repeated demand.

On Monday I will reassemble the units, including the automatic start/stop, raising and lowering of the arm and locking of the crank during play which I took apart for inspection and superficial cleaning and take photos.