The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Dear All,

I was wondering if it is an original German DGAG HMV Gramophone?

It looks like a Cockleshell Monarch, although the decoration is different. I would change the back bracket and tonearm (it does not seem to me the correct one, although always HMV) and a speed regulator screw needs to be changed.

Thanks for looking,
Enrico

Yes, it is.

The speed regulator screw looks right to me but I think the back-bracket might be wrong.

Steve wrote: Mon Mar 01, 2021 8:47 am Yes, it is.

The speed regulator screw looks right to me but I think the back-bracket might be wrong.

Thank you Steve.
A screw to fix the speed controller is not correct in my opinion, it has a flat head.
Also in my opinion the back bracket is not correct. It can also be seen from the height and the fact that the tip of the soundbox does not go to the spindle.

Enrico, yes, one of the woodscrews isn't original but I thought you meant the actual adjustment screw was wrong. My apologies.

I wouldn't worry too much about the needle meeting the spindle as they rarely do on these early machines. However, the back-bracket is the type for a drop-in elbow which is a later variation (post WW1?). I don't know the German Market that well but I'm not sure this model existed then.

With that said the arm looks a little too high.

Don't worry absolutely, I didn't explain myself well!

Thanks again,
Enrico

I should perhaps qualify one comment I made earlier. The drop-in bracket arrangement did exist in 1910 on the Intermediate Monarch in the UK but it was more commonly used in the later models produced post war period (again, these comments refer to the UK patterns).

Thanks for the clarification. In fact I have a couple of English Intermediate Monarchs that have the drop-in bracket arrangement, but the narrower version. The one mounted on my German HMV seems the larger and more recent one.

It's a very nice machine, no matter...

Yes, I like this machine a lot too, with its rounded corners etc.