The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Scratchin' on a Gramophone:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePaNx4ZLYF8[/youtube]



Somebody please clue this person to the fact that he is ruining the record, the sound box and (probably) the motor....

Is he actually playing the record in such a way that the needle is digging into the groove? That's bizarre!

bbphonoguy wrote:Is he actually playing the record in such a way that the needle is digging into the groove? That's bizarre!

That was the first thing I noticed. I've actually spotted a few others on Youtube, where people have the tonearm on the wrong side of the record with the needle pointing into the groove.

The part that really gets to me is when he starts jerking the turntable back and forth--like fingernails on a chalkboard to my sensibilities.

The gramophone looks like a late 1940s UK Decca model. I used to have one like it -- a Decca 50 model with a blue outer case and white interior -- similar to this:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5zpzWl-oWo[/youtube]

The sound quality was VERY good--close to the HMV portables. (I believe that Meltrope made the sound boxes for this model?)

OF

Meltrope soundboxes are excellent - and can be "Better than an EMG" - although a damaged one is best avoided as they're factory produced and cannot be satisfactorily repaired, they were used on fairly poor quality machines to make them sound fantastic - which they often do

BUT on UK Ebay only the other day one made £300 ($550) approx 7 times it's "Real " price

THAT made me cringe !

Someone must have really gotten on his case, because the video was pulled. (Death threats?)

Thanks GMEMG, that does seem exorbitant for a Meltrope sound box. I've heard from some collectors that, because of the pivot used for the needle bar--a flat plate pressed between four ball bearings, two on either side of the plate--they are harder on records than the Orthophonic/HMV sound boxes, but the one I had seemed every bit as compliant.