Gothic Pathé Actuelle Case help

[USlakeside]

I just stumbled on this today. I was rushed and my phone out of battery so this is really the only pic. The decal says Actualle, there are no guts, no horn, nothing inside. Its likely that the baseboard was replaced with a smooth piece of wood to make it a usable piece of furniture. The right side has a secret compartment that opens to reveal the crank and the left opens, presumably to let the sound out of the paper conical reproducer.

Can anyone help me out with idea of value for this? Its definitely unusual and its clearly hand carved, no pressed. Its a nice piece, even without the guts.

Thanks!

[USlakeside]

Found this in the forum archives. Is this the same???

[Amberola 1-A]

I think the operative word here would be "nothing." Unless you want to have this hanging around until you find the missing parts (read never).
And, there is also the nifty liquor cabinet.........

Bill

[gramophoneshane]

Certainly appears to be the Model I too me. Anything that ugly (& probably expensive) can't have sold well, so it must be a rare machine

I see no reason you couldn't restore it, but I think you'd be looking at buying another complete machine to do it. Your biggest obsticle sounds like the motor board, but if you're lucky they may have simply put a sheet of ply on top of the original? Even if only the motor board surround is still there, you might find the actual motor board from another model will drop straight in the hole, but then you're still left with finding a model in the same finish.
I guess the only other alternative would be to make a new motor board & match the finish to the original, but that could get expensive if you can't do it yourself, and you're still left with a non-original motor board which will effect it's collector value.
Another problem you might encounter is the crank. No doubt various models used a few different crank lengths, so finding a crank with the right reach could cause headaches too.

Personally I'd be very tempted to look at the machine if it were reasonably close, but what's left of the motor board & surround would be the descision maker for me, provide the outer finish is original.
I would have thought anything "Gothic" would be done in a dark or fumed oak finish, but then phono companies aren't known for their historical accuracy either.
With so many if's & but's, it's a bit of a gamble so I think the price would have to be very right (AKA dirt cheap) too.
I think it would be a nice unusual machine to save for sure.

[Starkton]

Congratulations for identifying a handsome and scarce phonograph cabinet in good shape. It shouldn't be too difficult to transplant the motor board and mechanism of a less attractive Actuelle. As a comparison, the value of the Actuelle model pictured above the "Gothic" is about $1000 in good condition.

[estott]

I'd be tempted if it wasn't too expensive. The regular Actuelle machines aren't exactly common but they turn up often enough that you could be justified in taking the parts from one to put in this cabinet. It's much more interesting looking.

[USlakeside]

I am probably going to pass on it, just considering its larger size and my lack of transportation etc. If someone in NYC wants the info on its whereabouts, send me a PM.

[Victrolaman]

Why is it when someone on this forum asks for help on something that's rare or nice and they always seem to respondvwith negativeness?
How can anyone say this piece is worth nothing? Even with the pieces missing this machine case is still rare..
I don't get that about this forum at all. Geesh be happy for someone on here for finding something like this instead of negative.

Good find here, casework looks great, if anything you can put another phonograph motor and turntable and make a machine.
Very nice find congratulations!

[brianu]

Why is it when someone on this forum asks for help on something that's rare or nice and they always seem to respondvwith negativeness?
How can anyone say this piece is worth nothing? Even with the pieces missing this machine case is still rare..
I don't get that about this forum at all. Geesh be happy for someone on here for finding something like this instead of negative.

Good find here, casework looks great, if anything you can put another phonograph motor and turntable and make a machine.
Very nice find congratulations!

did you even read the whole thread? the person who started it found this gutted cabinet and was wondering whether it would be worth his while to try to buy it and restore it, so he was looking for value information. but even if he owned this cabinet and had indeed bought it, how is it that you find the responses negative?

but I do agree though that this is a fairly rare cabinet (although I've seen at least two complete versions on ebay this past year) and definitely worth something... I mean, certainly not in the neighborhood of a true art model sonora, but nevertheless.

[Victrolaman]

I don't know brian, some of the responses to me came across that way. There are slot of nice fellow collectors on here and there are alot of jealous people who if they don't have it it's not good. Sorry but that's the feeling I get from this forum, hence the reason why I don't post as much anymore..