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I have seen the usual things done to HMV163's, such as drinks and hi-fi cabinet conversions, but this......

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Gramophone-an ... 1813563092

Well, that certainly is an horrific bodge.

I've seen some well done vintage jobs, but this is hideous

I wonder if the original re-entrant horn is still there? If so, it looks like it would only require a new fret and fabric, in which case it's a bargain at that price, surely?

Barry

Phono48 wrote:I wonder if the original re-entrant horn is still there? If so, it looks like it would only require a new fret and fabric, in which case it's a bargain at that price, surely?

No, the horn isn't still there. How could it be, if you think about it, with the curvature of the re-entrant horn and the central horizontal "fold", that radio unit is smack bang "inside" the horn. They would have had to cut a huge chunk out of it to fit that radio. With that said, assuming it had a perfect horn, where would you get identical grille cloth from, let alone an original fretwork? Buying another 163 to complete this would be a complete fools errand and how often do you see an empty cabinet with unmarked original grille and cloth? No, at £230 it's just over-priced junk and typically suitable material for UK eBay these days.

Unless I'm much mistaken, there is also a circular electric radio loudspeaker below the radio fascia panel. See the shadow behind the cloth?

For the same money you could just buy a GENUINE and EXTREMELY RARE HMV radio-gram, the 551:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/281756513941

I know what Jerry Donnell would say."They messed it up with a damnradio! edisonplayer

Pictures:

A revenge attack when they realised it wasn't a 193?

It wouldn't be the first time a 163 lost it's horn to "make up" a 193.

Anyone contemplating the purchase of a big HMV Re-Entrant gramophone should always check that it has the correct original horn. I have even seen one for sale on UK eBay with no horn at all, and the seller got quite shirty when someone pointed this out.

Clicking on the link brought a weird pop up Virus Alert