The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Hello, I found two phonographs for sale, but cannot determine the exact model/manufacture:

The first one is from Switzeland as I see it from nameplate "Riccardo Petronio — Lausanne":

No ideas about the second one Thanks for your help

The front of the soundbox and the bottom plate of the motor are the most likely places to find a manufacturer's name, so pictures of these will aid identification. The plaque on the motor board of the first machine is that of the supplying dealer, not the manufacturer. Based on the present pictures, that machine is probably by Paillard or Thorens.

The very small horn mouth on the second machine also suggests a Swiss/German origin.

Yes, I think the first machine is a Thorens. All the running gear appears to be Thorens anyway, and the brass tag is definitely a dealers tag.
The second one I think is German, but the motor should help determine whether it's German or Swiss.
They're both quite nice machines.

The Swiss-supplied motor seems to run in an anti-clock direction---rather unusual ? Do we know of others with similar rotation ?

Lol, no it's simply shown with the soundbox lowered on the turntable in the wrong spot.
It would be placed at the rear edge of the turntable/record to play..
The soundbox should move from the back of the machine towards the front, not from the left side towards the right.

I'd bet the first one is far better... Have you seen that big horn? Also the finish and general looks of it are much better. I don't know how these German machines with the small horns sound like.... There are plenty of them, but I feel they sound tinny and not good compared to a portable or tabletop hmv or Columbia. If I were you, i would center my interest in the big first one (suspected Thorens).

gramophoneshane wrote: Thu Oct 21, 2021 1:21 pm Lol, no it's simply shown with the soundbox lowered on the turntable in the wrong spot.
It would be placed at the rear edge of the turntable/record to play..
The soundbox should move from the back of the machine towards the front, not from the left side towards the right.

Apologies for the rather idiotic confusion---I am cracking up ! I had a four year old crawling all over me at the time of posting !

With regards to the first one, the Thorens, I'd just like to express my admiration for how stylish so many Continental machines are. As for the second one, it reminds me of a copy of a Victor table top model, the kind sans external horn. Compared to the Thorens, it's rather heavy and uninspired, at least to me.

John