The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

These are super cool, and although I've seen pictures of them, I've not seen one in person. Does anyone on here have one, or know anyone who does?

It would not be too difficult to recreate one of those, if you think about it...all one would need is:

- one big thick piece of glass, maybe from a junked coffee table off of craigslist, cut to replace the motorboard in a surplus off-brand cabinet

- one 12" diameter thinner piece of glass

- if the donor cabinet can accommodate, two more pieces of glass to replace the side panels.

- suitable (preferably no-name) hardware to fit

They had spruce horns.

So just to extrapolate a little...

I have a decent empty Edison A-150 cabinet, a trashed Starr console with that super nice spruce horn, a whole bunch of random tonearms, a few deck-mounted lamps, and several contemporary electric phono motors and switchgear - and summer is coming.

Who can give me the thicknesses of the Kurtzmann motorboard and platter?

Super cool idea. Maybe a business opportunity.

I think if a good acoustic phonograph went back on the market, more people than collectors would buy it. The hipster set, the audiophool set, the decorator set, folks tired of digital--everyone would do it. If there was something like a VV-IV with No. 4 then the off grid set would snap it up.

VanEpsFan1914 wrote:I think if a good acoustic phonograph went back on the market, more people than collectors would buy it. The hipster set, the audiophool set, the decorator set, folks tired of digital--everyone would do it. If there was something like a VV-IV with No. 4 then the off grid set would snap it up.

Like the ones made today in India!!!






(kidding)

Jokes aside, the Indian ones are a neat concept. If they weren't so terrible in quality I might still have mine. (Don't worry I got it for free.) If an American maker set up shop then there could be something quite nice. People aged below 50 seem to be looking for handcrafted gear these days. Look at the resurgence in mechanical watches and fountain pens, and the interest in restoring manual typewriters (even 1960s and '70s ones.)

I happen to carry a wind-up pocketwatch, write with fountain pens exclusively (and old-school typewriters), keep a 1940s bellows camera around with 120 rollfilm because I don't have a digital camera, and insist on hardbound printed books. And I'm 19. Oh, and I can't remember the last time I bought anything modern in the realm of audio--since age 16 I have indulged in the hand-cranked equipment which fascinated me from a very young age.

These people are out there.

VanEpsFan1914 wrote:Jokes aside, the Indian ones are a neat concept. If they weren't so terrible in quality I might still have mine. (Don't worry I got it for free.) If an American maker set up shop then there could be something quite nice. People aged below 50 seem to be looking for handcrafted gear these days. Look at the resurgence in mechanical watches and fountain pens, and the interest in restoring manual typewriters (even 1960s and '70s ones.)

I happen to carry a wind-up pocketwatch, write with fountain pens exclusively (and old-school typewriters), keep a 1940s bellows camera around with 120 rollfilm because I don't have a digital camera, and insist on hardbound printed books. And I'm 19. Oh, and I can't remember the last time I bought anything modern in the realm of audio--since age 16 I have indulged in the hand-cranked equipment which fascinated me from a very young age.

These people are out there.

Consider one day, the ultimate in hand cranked technology: The Model T Ford!!

Consider one day? I've been considering one of those flimsy little jokers since I was six or eight. That day's coming. I don't have a car yet but when the "young-white-man-overpriced-insurance" stage of life is over I'm going for either a Ford Model T or a Model A.

Check with Hagerty insurance for an antique car policy. They're very friendly to the hobby.

Yeah the antique/vintage car insurance is limited - low miles, garaged inside, high deductible etc, but usually dirt cheap. If you drive the old thing 200 miles in a year, the chance of running over somebody or crashing into something is lower. But with the lousy "brakes" on a lot of them, the chances rise back up a bit...

I used to pay like $200/year for 3 such cars. Quite reasonable.

PeterF wrote:These are super cool, and although I've seen pictures of them, I've not seen one in person. Does anyone on here have one, or know anyone who does?

Our buddy Tim has one. Dunno if it's electric, though.