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Hi Everyone,

Would anyone on the board be able to help identify this Pathé?

It's in pretty rough shape, and it appears somebody painted and varnished over it a long time ago without preparing it first.

It doesn't have an ID plate and I don't have access to the machine now but from what I can see, the crank, speed regulator knob, and motor release lever all appear to be in the correct place. The triangular motor would be correct for a letter series machine (B, D, etc)

Things that puzzle me:

- I can't tell what kind of wood the case is made of; and it appears to be solid wood, not veneered.
- The base of the case doesn't have the carvings that are commonly found on Pathéphones of either the letter series or the number series.
- The simple corner columns are not quite like the ones typically found on those machines.
- The back bracket, although in the correct place and seemingly fitting well, doesn't quite look like a typical Pathé bracket. It doesn't have the curved piece at the top.

I'm kind of suspecting original Pathéphone guts residing in a homemade case, possibly made a long time ago, with the back bracket remaining a mystery.

What do you Eminent Connoisseurs think?

Thanks a lot in advance for your good insights,

Oliver

Tonearm ( I use the term loosely ) is infinitely too short. It wouldn't play anything !

pallophotophone wrote: Fri Apr 15, 2022 7:32 pm Tonearm ( I use the term loosely ) is infinitely too short. It wouldn't play anything !

On those machines there normally is a rubber connector that goes between the reproducer and tonearm; missing on this machine. Finding the connector would bring the tonearm back to correct length. The tonearm is correct.

This is one of the earlier French Pathé machines that predate the Pathéphones. Apart from the soundbox, everything, including back bracket, look original. As mentioned before, the arm length should be consistent with the use of the Pathé reproducer, that has a long rubber extension. The straight corner finish was reused in one of the later Pathéphone product line models.

CarlosV wrote: Sat Apr 16, 2022 5:00 am This is one of the earlier French Pathé machines that predate the Pathéphones. Apart from the soundbox, everything, including back bracket, look original. As mentioned before, the arm length should be consistent with the use of the Pathé reproducer, that has a long rubber extension. The straight corner finish was reused in one of the later Pathéphone product line models.

Thank you for the information. Do you know what type of wood the cases were made of?

I have seen the red rubber connectors for sale on ebay.fr, but was too impatient to wait for one to arrive. 1” o.d. automotive heater hose works well. I had to file it down a bit to fit in the ferrule, but it filed quite easily.
Your ferrule seems to be missing, so perhaps the unaltered hose will fit your tonearm nicely.

Hoodoo wrote: Sat Apr 16, 2022 9:30 am I have seen the red rubber connectors for sale on ebay.fr, but was too impatient to wait for one to arrive. 1” o.d. automotive heater hose works well. I had to file it down a bit to fit in the ferrule, but it filed quite easily.
Your ferrule seems to be missing, so perhaps the unaltered hose will fit your tonearm nicely.

Thank you for this tip, I appreciate it. I like your idea of the automotive heater hose and IMO it looks better than the red rubber. I once purchased a red rubber connector on ebay.fr for a little Pathé Diamond machine. Not only was it quite expensive for nothing more than a couple inches of rubber, I also found it cheesy and kind of hard to work with. I ended up reinforcing it with thin metal tape on the reproducer side (no sacrilege given the condition of the machine). It works well. Thanks!

oliver wrote: Fri Apr 15, 2022 7:43 pm

pallophotophone wrote: Fri Apr 15, 2022 7:32 pm Tonearm ( I use the term loosely ) is infinitely too short. It wouldn't play anything !

On those machines there normally is a rubber connector that goes between the reproducer and tonearm; missing on this machine. Finding the connector would bring the tonearm back to correct length. The tonearm is correct.

I'd never seen one of those. Glad it can be replicated !!