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I picked up this Meltrope which was on an off brand cabinet advertised locally

Initially I thought it was a Meltrope II, but on closer inspection I'm thinking it's a Meltrope I instead?

Can't find much online of the difference between the two apart from the smaller compression fitting on the I. This one (left in pictures) definitely has a smaller 23mm rubber fitting, compared to the 28mm on my Meltrope II. It's a bit shallower as well.

Only other difference is the serial number stamped on the back, whereas my II example doesn't have one.

Any thoughts would be very much appreciated!

I believe that both the soundboxes you are showing are Meltrope II’s. This is mainly because of the angle of the needle screw and the flat area that the stylus bar platform sits on. You can read more on the difference on this post with excellent information, once again, provided by ‘emgcr’.

viewtopic.php?uid=1043&f=11&t=33157&start=0

jamiegramo wrote: Wed May 12, 2021 2:41 pm I believe that both the soundboxes you are showing are Meltrope II’s. This is mainly because of the angle of the needle screw and the flat area that the stylus bar platform sits on. You can read more on the difference on another excellent post provided by ‘emgcr’.

viewtopic.php?uid=1043&f=11&t=33157&start=0

Wonderful, thank you!

I'm still finding it peculiar that it has the smaller rubber, and the serial number (notice on Graham's post the I also has a serial number and the II doesn't)... I wonder if it might be an earlier iteration of the II perhaps?

Yes, perhaps they gave up on the serial numbers after awhile and yours is an earlier example with this still present.

If Meltropes were mainly sold to upgrade machines, surely different sized rubber compression fittings could be ordered to fit different tonearms.

jamiegramo wrote: Wed May 12, 2021 3:10 pm
If Meltropes were mainly sold to upgrade machines, surely different sized rubber compression fittings could be ordered to fit different tonearms.

Indeed! Sorry for not being clear, it's the actual housing for the rubber that's smaller in diameter and shallower than my other example

Ahmed wrote: Wed May 12, 2021 3:29 pm

jamiegramo wrote: Wed May 12, 2021 3:10 pm
If Meltropes were mainly sold to upgrade machines, surely different sized rubber compression fittings could be ordered to fit different tonearms.

Indeed! Sorry for not being clear, it's the actual housing for the rubber that's smaller in diameter and shallower than my other example

Indeed Graham shows this difference in diameter on the Meltrope I and II shown in his highly useful photograph.

In the same thread member HMV130 accounts for this variation. Different backplates could be ordered, large for the fat HMV tonearm or smaller for the normal continental type tonearm. However, the Meltrope III and IIIa could only be ordered with different diameter rubber collars.

If your latest Meltrope II is an early one, as suspected, then it seems more likely it would have the smaller fitting.