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I went to an antique store in a nearby town today, and found this mangled thing for sale. I wish I would have looked at the price tag for curiosity's sake, but I guess I was too busy "marveling" at it. I guess somebody wanted a phonograph with an auto-change mechanism, and they certainly made that happen:

Heinous!

As horrible as this is, it's not the worst I've seen. I ran across a Pathé
cabinet completely gutted, and windows [with glass] cut into the record compartment doors. It was just being used to hold things the antique mall couldn't put anywhere else. The one upright Pathé I did run across, that was intact [in the same mall about ten years earlier], had a broken pot-metal tone arm. The pivot was broken, so epoxy wouldn't have helped it. Doing this sort of thing to old cabinets was common in the 1950s.

I did this to one of mine
It now has a Garrard 301 turntable up top, with an old HMV 78 pick-up, and a Philips midi-system in the record compartment, with RCA plugs for the speakers on the underside of the cabinet.
It's the only electric reproduction machine I use these days- not that I use it much. I still prefer my wind-up machines, but it does sound great, and UI still get to use steel needles

gramophoneshane wrote:I did this to one of mine
It now has a Garrard 301 turntable up top, with an old HMV 78 pick-up, and a Philips midi-system in the record compartment, with RCA plugs for the speakers on the underside of the cabinet.
It's the only electric reproduction machine I use these days- not that I use it much. I still prefer my wind-up machines, but it does sound great, and UI still get to use steel needles

I also have plans to create an electric "crap-o-phone" for those times I am too lazy to crank the handles. I have an ugly (but rebuilt soundbox) Brunswick Ultona tone arm, electric "flyer" motor (was on my XVI when I bought it), and a spare XVI platter. Now I just need a suitable box for it, maybe an old small chest of drawers, etc. I will make a featured "crap-o-phone" thread once I get it put together.

Shane wrote:I went to an antique store in a nearby town today, and found this mangled thing for sale. I wish I would have looked at the price tag for curiosity's sake, but I guess I was too busy "marveling" at it. I guess somebody wanted a phonograph with an auto-change mechanism, and they certainly made that happen:

So Shane, are you going to buy it anyway, or are you going to Pathé'?

antique1973 wrote:
I also have plans to create an electric "crap-o-phone" for those times I am too lazy to crank the handles.

I have an electric Victrola for that purpose now


That's the most respectable way

Heh! I left that thing right where it was!

SignatureSeriesOwner wrote:

antique1973 wrote:
I also have plans to create an electric "crap-o-phone" for those times I am too lazy to crank the handles.

I have an electric Victrola for that purpose now


That's the most respectable way

It's ok, I know its just a matter of time before a pristine VE falls into my lap.
The crap-o-phone is just a toy for my amusement in the mean time.

Horrible! Who would do that to an innocent machine? Do they really expect to sell that? "Oh, dear come over here, look at this very nice original phonograph from the 20s! What an excellent example of early sound production!"."I can't figure out where the crank is though!"