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Iv'e been given 1 of these & it lacks any instructions, although it doesn't look too difficult to fathom how it works, wondered if anyone has a digitised copy of the instructions please & what type of needle needs to be made with which angle to cut a sound onto the surface of ....What ? Aluminium ? Thanks.

I have a broadly similar Mivoice Speakeasie set, which was the brainchild of Captain Ramsay after he left Burmese Colour Needles apparently under a cloud or two. It used aluminium discs. Here's another example: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/5281573 ... ng_details

With your Fay set, the Meltrope thorn needle sharpener is very nice to have, although not the most user-friendly of sharpeners.

I think really these were little more than toys, even at the time they were produced. Still fascinating though! Ramsay displayed the Mivoice Speakeasie at a model engineering exhibition, in 1931 if I remember correctly . They seem not to have sold well, all the stock being sold off to a wholesaler only a year or two later and retailed at half price.

Thanks Andy . Wonder if Aluminium discs are an easy thing to make from annealed Aluminium sheet ? worth a try & I think I may have an odd diamond tipped 78' needle to try a recording with., thanks for that ! I've got another one of these by Kingston which has a much nicer looking soundbox.....that unlike the Meltrope doubles as a play-back soundbox. The screen guarding the diaphragm looks like a symbol from a secret society....nice design.

I'd love to find a set like those. Here is a more recent 'version' that I have built and used:
https://youtu.be/HjD-gLKj71w
Thanks

that's really good ! thanks for the share, I wondered if an old cd would work. Cheers.

herrickpickups wrote: Fri Jul 04, 2025 1:14 pm that's really good ! thanks for the share, I wondered if an old cd would work. Cheers.

Thanks . Glad you enjoyed it!
I based it on a very short video of someone demonstrating a Speakeasie, so there is an element of guesswork.
It does work quite well, though I always seem to get some of the music from the underlying tracking record coming through. I have done some more experiments and I also plan something a little grander (as I discuss towards the end of this video):
https://youtu.be/8bsseBF7FuM

herrickpickups wrote: Tue Jul 01, 2025 8:09 am Iv'e been given 1 of these & it lacks any instructions, although it doesn't look too difficult to fathom how it works, wondered if anyone has a digitised copy of the instructions please & what type of needle needs to be made with which angle to cut a sound onto the surface of ....What ? Aluminium ? Thanks. DSC_0014.JPGDSC_0013.JPG

Did you get this to work in the end? It’d be great to see how if so. I also have one of these but I think there may be something missing or incorrect. I can’t figure out how the tone arm works in conjunction with the part that fits on the spindle to guide it properly.

Any additional pics or info greatly received!

Thanks

herrickpickups wrote: Tue Jul 01, 2025 8:09 am Iv'e been given 1 of these & it lacks any instructions, although it doesn't look too difficult to fathom how it works, wondered if anyone has a digitised copy of the instructions please & what type of needle needs to be made with which angle to cut a sound onto the surface of ....What ? Aluminium ? Thanks. DSC_0014.JPGDSC_0013.JPG

I have a set of these too - I sometimes wonder if I could 'over-write' a 78 record.

Anyway, here is (I think) a link to the patent - (the third one down). The actual instructions do not add any user information to that which is in the patent description etc.

Interestingly, it states 'The metal or other disc' and 'the stylus being a stout hard steel needle fitted in the usual way to the sound box, or a sapphire, diamond, or other gem stylus'.

Link:

https://worldwide.espacenet.com/patent/ ... 0recording

poodling around wrote: Thu Jul 10, 2025 6:30 am

herrickpickups wrote: Tue Jul 01, 2025 8:09 am Iv'e been given 1 of these & it lacks any instructions, although it doesn't look too difficult to fathom how it works, wondered if anyone has a digitised copy of the instructions please & what type of needle needs to be made with which angle to cut a sound onto the surface of ....What ? Aluminium ? Thanks. DSC_0014.JPGDSC_0013.JPG

I have a set of these too - I sometimes wonder if I could 'over-write' a 78 record.

Anyway, here is (I think) a link to the patent - (the third one down). The actual instructions do not add any user information to that which is in the patent description etc.

Interestingly, it states 'The metal or other disc' and 'the stylus being a stout hard steel needle fitted in the usual way to the sound box, or a sapphire, diamond, or other gem stylus'.

Link:

https://worldwide.espacenet.com/patent/ ... 0recording

That's really helpful thanks! I was able to see how the central boss worked. It had totally seized (part of it being the dreaded potmetal), but I didn't realise that I'd only freed up the bottom section, so more work and it looks like its spinning as freely as it can. Also the small ball bearing to hold the bar is missing along with the spring, but that should be easy to replace.

As for re-writing an existing 78, I think you'd need a needle that could "cut" the record. A normal steel one probably wouldn't as theyre designed for playback, but I expect a regular steel needle is able to etch the aluminium disc and "record" the person speaking into the sound directing trumpet!!

Thanks again for the link, much obliged.

I remember as a kid a school friend and I put a 78 record by a blow heater and heated or even melted the surface of one side then quickly placed it on an HMV 145 and put the needle down and I shouted into the horn. When the record had cooled down and hardened my voice was ‘barely’ audible but still there together with the distorted original audio of the record.

I was impressed by mrrgstuff’s recording on a CD! Certainly much better than the Gakken kit phonograph recordings I’ve heard done on CD.