The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Looks like Jerry B. is trying to egg someone on to start a new thread that riffs off the popular/fun "favorite machine" thread. On that thread he's just said: "We've had so much fun with this thread. We should start another about our least favorite machine. It would have to be one that you, for whatever reason, could not sell, give away or trade."

OK. I'll take the bait.

HIGH standards, Jerry! I mean, one you couldn't even GIVE away? I don't know if I can equal that. But I'll make the first offering: my Pathé Actuelle Sheraton console phonograph (paper cone reproducer). Annoying things about it? Excessive record wear. Poor tracking (likelihood of stylus skidding). Thin tone. Automatic stop that rarely worked. I'll come up with a photo one of these days and add it here.

I DID give it away--to Ron Haring of Plano, IL.

P.S. Bill ("Coyote") recommends that I also alert you all to last year's "What do you regret buying? And why?" thread so that he and others who've already posted there don't have to post here. So here's the link to that thread; for those of you who are not afraid of taking an unflinching look at the painful side of phonograph collecting, THIS and THAT thread is for you!!!

http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewto ... =2&t=12990

Ralph

To all the Pathé people out there: I know that the French Pathé machines were much nicer. It's just those U.S. Actuelles that were conceptually cool but functional duds.

Mine works like a champ!

Another tough call but I'm going for the Portelec 'Phono-Cone'. It's far too delicate and flimsy to be transported anywhere. At the time I bought it there were several potential "buyers" asking questions which reflected a general lack of knowledge about the item and there might have been a thought that it was a rare survival. Consequently is was over-valued by all and it became one of my great "eBay follies". I've seen subsequent specimens (in rough condition) fail to sell for $13! In George Paul's books there ought to be a "NV" value rating as in No Value whatsoever!

It has no "dust over" and dust gets into the resonator. The stylus bar can't be repaired or even adjusted without butchering the resonator. It sounds pretty awful and there's nothing that can be done to change that. One man's "Americana" is another man's cheese!

It was sold exclusively I believe my Montgomery Ward's mail order chain? It's still a curio for me but out of my 77 machines, it is THE one I would part with and have no regret, especially if I recoup what it cost me - I'd be buying everyone in the Phono world a round of drinks with the money!

This one will be a lot easier for me ...

Don't even have to think about it:

Pathéphone VII upright.


Actually, the thing that frustrates me the most with it is the anemic Heineman "Flyer" motor that can't pull its way steadily through a 10-inch lateral record...

It has been banished to the cellar...

I thought that motor was supposed to be extremely powerful?

Steve wrote:I thought that motor was supposed to be extremely powerful?

I don't know... one of the knowledgeable gents here posted cuts from a Heineman catalog that displayed their various spring motors, and that is how I identified my Pathéphone motor as the "Flyer" model, which seems to have been one of their more modest offereings.

Someday I'll have enough time, and be irritated with it enough to get it worked-out.

If nothing else, it has taught me to appreciate Victor Talking Machine's high standard for build quality...


I WOULD be willing to take a chance with an Actuelle Pathé though...

...Okay, it's not actually mine, I pulled the picture off a Craigslist ad because I thought it was comical that the seller was looking for a couple hundred bucks or so for it. But if it were mine, I would despise it, revile it, and embarrass it in front of company. I might even put a potted plant on top of it.

Mostly I'm just stepping in to call dibs on any Actuelles that members are giving away. I love mine and find it entirely satisfactory. A well-tuned Actuelle is a fine, interesting machine. Maybe not a huge technological advance, which is how it was sold, but a very playable piece of history.

Oops...on preview, I see that Frank has kinda sorta beat me to it, but, well, he didn't say "dibs", so I'm saying it now -- DIBS!

I nominate this thread for Wackiest of the Year! But who knows, maybe it'll end up being a clearing-house for machines that aren't getting enough love...?

Cody K

Cody K wrote:

Beater.jpg

...Okay, it's not actually mine, I pulled the picture off a Craigslist ad because I thought it was comical that the seller was looking for a couple hundred bucks or so for it. But if it were mine, I would despise it, revile it, and embarrass it in front of company. I might even put a potted plant on top of it.

Mostly I'm just stepping in to call dibs on any Actuelles that members are giving away. I love mine and find it entirely satisfactory. A well-tuned Actuelle is a fine, interesting machine. Maybe not a huge technological advance, which is how it was sold, but a very playable piece of history.

Oops...on preview, I see that Frank has kinda sorta beat me to it, but, well, he didn't say "dibs", so I'm saying it now -- DIBS!

I nominate this thread for Wackiest of the Year! But who knows, maybe it'll end up being a clearing-house for machines that aren't getting enough love...?

Cody K

For a couple hundred bucks, i wonder of the Hudson sprayer comes with ... ?


I won't call "dibs", but if someone within 200 miles of Scranton, PA wants to dump an Actuelle, drop me a line...

I wasn't really that pleased with my Pathé Actuelle either. It was a very neat machine, unique styling (it was the Tudor period model), but the sound just didn't do it for me. I've listened to a few Actuelles, both with perfect original cones as well as re-coned examples, and there is just something about them I don't like, the sound is not pleasing to my ear. I ended up selling it to a collector in China who had it picked up from my home and shipped over there.

Other than that, I don't think I have a "least favorite" machine in the sense that I don't like them, but there are a couple I would certainly upgrade. For example, I love my Standard Model D, but I would ditch it in a heartbeat if I were to buy a Triumph or an Opera.

Here is a photo of the Pathé Actuelle: I ended up buying a Pathéphone Modèle N° 2 with the proceeds, and I am MUCH happier with it:

PeterF wrote:Mine works like a champ!

I have one that also works and plays fantastically, so this is mysterious to me. I owned another (smaller) one several years ago that I gifted to a friend and it too played perfectly.

Sean