CL-Decca Salon Portable--Vancouver, BC

[Lah Ca]

A nice looking Decca Salon portable, complete with record album.

Very ambitiously priced for the local market at $650 CDN.

But hey, it comes with "6 Glen Miller classics worth around $50 each on their own."

https://vancouver.craigslist.org/van/cl ... 24130.html

[Curt A]

It should be priced accordingly without the records...

[Lah Ca]

It should be priced accordingly without the records...

Should? Modal verbs are so tricky. The sad tale of the Scotsman who had never learned to swim: on holidays in London, he fell into a pond in Hyde Park; floundering about, he called out desperately, "I will drown and none shall save me!"; so the Londoners just watched him drown.

If by should, you mean that if we subtract the $300 worth of Glenn Miller classics from the asking price and then that the remaining $350 would be a more realistic starting point for negations, I would say that you might be correct.

[jamiegramo]

This might be a better deal if you happen to be near Enfield, London. A Decca 130 for just £20 buy it now! According to a learned forum member, the Decca 130 is one of the best portables ever made.

£20 UK pounds = $25 USD = $35 Canadian

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/226151959403 ... R-iD8uH5Yw

[Lah Ca]

This might be a better deal if you happen to be near Enfield, London. A Decca 130 for just £20 buy it now! According to a learned forum member, the Decca 130 is one of the best portables ever made.

£20 UK pounds = $25 USD = $35 Canadian

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/226151959403 ... R-iD8uH5Yw

Nice. But has been discussed here previously, the laws of supply and demand .... Well made UK portables command much higher prices here because they are comparatively scarce.

However, at £20 UK pounds, one could afford to pay the shipping to the west coast of North America, plus any duty that might be charged, and come out considerably ahead.

[epigramophone]

The $650 portable is a Decca 120. The only significant difference between it and the 130 is the motor. The 120 motor is a single spring and the 130 is a double.
Both machines advertised have non-original soundboxes. The 130 is missing it's record album and is not known to be in working order, so although temptingly cheap it will need time and money spent on it.
The reason why the 120 and 130 are so highly regarded by collectors is their bifurcated horns, as shown on my 120 which I purchased from the family of the original owners, whose Golden Wedding Anniversary present it was in 1929. In untouched original condition it bears the lid transfer of the supplying dealer, H.G.Millier & Co, Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, and now lives with me just over 20 miles away.

[Lah Ca]

The $650 portable is a Decca 120. The only significant difference between it and the 130 is the motor. The 120 motor is a single spring and the 130 is a double.
Both machines advertised have non-original soundboxes. The 130 is missing it's record album and is not known to be in working order, so although temptingly cheap it will need time and money spent on it.
The reason why the 120 and 130 are so highly regarded by collectors is their bifurcated horns, as shown on my 120 which I purchased from the family of the original owners, whose Golden Wedding Anniversary present it was in 1929. In untouched original condition it bears the lid transfer of the supplying dealer, H.G.Millier & Co, Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, and now lives with me just over 20 miles away.

Thank you. Both interesting and informative.

[jamiegramo]

I have been impressed by the look of the bifurcated horn on the models 120 and 130 and hope to hear one playing someday.

I did write to the seller of the 130 in case they had the record album as they seem a little clueless. They don’t but it still seems a reasonable price.