The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I was curious about this HMV horn machine on eBay. Intermediate Monarch type base with some replaced moulding. Obviously the winding handle and soundbox are not correct and the bracket lacks a finish but what else is wrong with it? The transfer looks oversized for this machine and the brass horn has no recess for the elbow and the elbow doesn’t look the right proportions for HMV. Also is this a period Indian machine?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/205557887893 ... &recoPos=2

I'm going to stick my neck out and say it's an Indian Intermediate Monarch in a teak case which has been very poorly stripped off its original claret colour stained finish. Note on the front panel with the HMV decal it is still intact. There are also traces of it to the underside of the motor-board. Whilst the winding handle isn't an HMV type, it has a slotted end which matches the winding arbor fitted to the motor.

The motor is a double-spring which for the usual UK market would date the machine to the Great War period, especially 1915-16. However, I suspect this machine is much younger than that. I believe the moldings are all original and correct but it has had a hard life with many obvious repairs and infill strips glued to it following heavy knocks and denting. I think the horn is a much later "reproduction" and yes, the elbow also has nothing to do with an Intermediate Monarch or any other Monarch for that matter. It would be interesting to see if the ends of the horn and elbow appear to have been cut-down or altered in any way. Certainly the connection between both is far more typical of Swiss / German machines than the HMV / Victor patent.