HMV 511, the machine that made me break my promise

[nostalgia]

My small house is over crowded with gramophones, and my rented storage too.
I my sitting room I keep my 163, and a Columbia 156A. The Columbia 156A has been serviced, but the Plano Reflex arm is destroyed, and after soon 3 years of trying to find a new fitting Plano Reflex arm, that all are too short for this machine, or has a wrong base, so... I have decided to put the Columbia in my storage locker, if I am able to fit it in there.
The decision was made yesterday, after seeing this machine for sale, a HMV 511 (oak), in excellent condition that was put up for sale here. The asking price was £ 490, too much for my recent budget, but I anyway made a call to the seller, and immediately the asking price was lowered, a lot.
This is the first time I have seen a 511 for sale here, and most likely I may never see another one here, at least not in this condition.
So, I broke the promise I made to myself a couple of months back, not to buy more floor models, and yesterday drove out to see this machine, and we all know how it normally goes when you get out to look at a nice looking machine, it ends in your car!
I share some photos, so you can have a look. The big 34 motor is removed for service, it should keep me busy for some time ahead. This time I will probably use paraffin ( if I can find it) to clean the springs, I have almost destroyed my fingers and hands when using more friendly stuff to clean the springs earlier on, but for the springs in 32 and 34 motors I find it very hard to use vegetable oil, something that mostly works fine for the springs in portables.
My kitchen is a mess, a plummer is coming here today, and I am in the process of preparing for his entrance, but...this beauty came along here yesterday, and well...made me postpone the tidying of the kitchen, at least some hours. The machine has been cleaned this morning before breakfast, and will soon also receive some nourismhent for the woodwork.

[Steve]

Congratulations on the acquisition! They are great, under-rated gramophones.

Yours is very presentable and appears to have been refinished on the outside. It's even got its key. Whatever you paid, it wasn't enough!

[nostalgia]

Thank you , Steve. Yes it's a beautiful machine, and also very tall, I had to remove the big lid to hardly make it fit into my car that has a 100 cm high entrance at the back.
Do you really think it has been re finished? Maybe the photos are lying, but it looks exactly similar to the finish of my 163.
I know the story of this 511, it has been with one owner since it was bought, in the foourth floor of a apartment building with no lift, and the owner died, 90 years old last year. He was highly skilled in creating fine metal works for the best known jeweller in Norway since decades, creating patterns for silver forks etc. (I know there is a name for such work, but I don't remember it.) The machine was discovered behind lots of cardboard etc in his flat last week, when his family started to clean out the apartment. It has for sure not been used for the last 40 years, and the records that followed it, looked like new. I doubt this gramophone has ever been used much, there are no signs of wear and tear on it, really.
Price paid...£ 226. I could not let that one go...really, and I really like the look of this machine, I feel it complements well my 163 in my sitting room.

[Steve]

Thank you , Steve. Yes it's a beautiful machine, and also very tall, I had to remove the big lid to hardly make it fit into my car that has a 100 cm high entrance at the back.
Do you really think it has been re finished? Maybe the photos are lying, but it looks exactly similar to the finish of my 163.
I know the story of this 511, it has been with one owner since it was bought, in the foourth floor of a apartment building with no lift, and the owner died, 90 years old last year. He was highly skilled in creating fine metal works for the best known jeweller in Norway since decades, creating patterns for silver forks etc. (I know there is a name for such work, but I don't remember it.) The machine was discovered behind lots of cardboard etc in his flat last week, when his family started to clean out the apartment. It has for sure not been used for the last 40 years, and the records that followed it, looked like new. I doubt this gramophone has ever been used much, there are no signs of wear and tear on it, really.
Price paid...£ 226. I could not let that one go...really, and I really like the look of this machine, I feel it complements well my 163 in my sitting room.

£226 is insanely cheap. Why did the vendor drop so far from £490 like that? You're not the first collector I've spoken to lately who has experienced vendors dropping prices like a hot brick. I must admit I've never been lucky enough to experience any such strange phenomena.

The finish looks a little uneven but it might simply be the photograph. If it's original and that clean and unfaded, I think you might have the best surviving example in the world! Lucky for you, the vendor was desperate which makes this one of the strangest transactions in history, especially considering the location!

[epigramophone]

You have the early 511 in a factory converted 510 cabinet. A very nice example at a very nice price. Congratulations!
My oak 511, which I restored from a state of neglect, was the later version. I sold it for lack of space to properly display it.
I would take a 511 over a 163 any day. One of HMV's more elegant designs it is so much better looking, and the owner of a cabinet gramophone usually spends more time looking at it than listening to it.

[shoshani]

Congratulations! The 511 is one of my dream machines, but I doubt I'll ever encounter one as I do not live in the UK and shipping one overseas would be prohibitive. Which is why I content myself with a 101 portable

[nostalgia]

Steve, Roger, Shoshani..thank you for the nice greetings. And Shoshani, a 101 is an excellent performer, I often use it myself in my kitchen:)
Nice to see your 511 too, Roger. I can see there is a different motorboard on this later version.

When I called the seller, they were immediately were very eager to invite me to come and see the gramophone. I told I would not be able to pay the asked price, but they just said..." I am sure we will agree about a price". A short half an hour later I was in my car, and an hour drive away they awaited my entrance. When entering the big apartment, I immediately understood what was going on, the niece ( and her husband) of the deceased man having owned the apartment had spent days trying to tidy it, before a company would arrive the next few days and carry out the rest, having bought the furnitures and everything in the apartment for a fixed price. They however wanted to sell the gramophone separately, for someone to care for it, and since noone else had shown interest, I made an offer, and it was immediately accepted.

This is for sure not a thing that happens often. It was a combination of good timing, the fact that they needed to get the gramophone out, they felt I could take well care of it, no one else had yet shown any interest, and that the gramophone was situated only one hour drive away so I could get there quickly.

[epigramophone]

You were fortunate to find sellers who were more concerned about the gramophone's future than it's sale price.
When buyer and seller reach an amicable settlement with no unseemly haggling, everybody wins.

[Curt A]

Beautiful machine... Congrats. I would have broken my promise too.

[nostalgia]

Thank you, Curt.
Yes, it is a beautiful machine, indeed.
I have yesterday applied Howards Restore-A-Finish (Dark oak) and later on waxed it with wax from the same supplier.
The wood has now received some nourishment. Photos attached to this message. Apart from some cat hair from my cats that are found everywhere here....I feel it looks good now
I will post some photos when the motor is installed, it will be a week or two before that happens.