HMV Table Grand Help Please

[1913Concert]

Hello, while I have collected Victors and Victrolas for years I have no experience with HMV products and unfortunately no access to a copy of "His Master's Gramophone." Recently I was fortunate enough to acquire this beautiful table top gramophone which reminds me a lot of my table top VV-X or an early VV-IX (1911-12) Searching on line this appears to be an HMV Table Grand type 8 or VIII? I'm unsure how the number ought to be written. Pictures follow. I am hoping one of our knowledgeable British or European members might be able to answer some questions I have about it: from what period does it date? What reproducer did it originally have (the HMV No4 that is on it or an Exhibition? Does it appear to have been altered from the way it was originally built? Thank you so much for any education you can give me on this! Bob

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[Steve]

Please see below

[Steve]

Hello, while I have collected Victors and Victrolas for years I have no experience with HMV products and unfortunately no access to a copy of "His Master's Gramophone." Recently I was fortunate enough to acquire this beautiful table top gramophone which reminds me a lot of my table top VV-X or an early VV-IX (1911-12) Searching on line this appears to be an HMV Table Grand type 8 or VIII? I'm unsure how the number ought to be written. Pictures follow. I am hoping one of our knowledgeable British or European members might be able to answer some questions I have about it: from what period does it date? What reproducer did it originally have (the HMV No4 that is on it or an Exhibition? Does it appear to have been altered from the way it was originally built? Thank you so much for any education you can give me on this! Bob
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It is a Style No. 8 from 1910 and should have a "Gramophone Company" Exhibition soundbox and a "G" key to operate its lid lock. It appears to be all correct and present otherwise. It is the first ever HMV "Table Grand" with sarcophagus lid, making it self-contained and fully enclosed when not in use. Prior to this HMV had produced the Pigmy Grands which were also "Hornless" but didn't have lids. So you have a historically important model there. I also have one of these in my collection.

There was a No. 9 in an identical mahogany cabinet which had added decoration around the top edge of the cabinet (a row of small square cut outs). Later versions of the latter introduced the full cast iron horn with wooden louvred grille, identifiable by the larger spacing between each "blade" of the grille and the winding hole position being moved closer to the rear of the cabinet to clear the horn which was suspended below the motor rather than enclosing it similar to the No. 8. Interestingly these early cast iron horns have a flat pinched area in the top of the horn to gain the necessary clearance for the motor in a cabinet designed for the simple wooden flare arrangement so acoustically speaking, they are not that much better!

[Oedipus]

Yes, it is a Model VIII (written thus, not '8' until the Autumn of 1913). This one clearly dates from 1912 (the date is stamped, upside down, on the label on the bottom board -- I can't read the day and month in the photo. The Nipper transfer in the lid is the early (1910) pattern, so the cabinet may have been in stock for some time when the complete machine left the factory. Cabinets at this time were made by various outside firms, and there are variations. For example, some model VIII s have a flat bead round the top of the case, thinner uprights at the corners and simple flat louvres, while yours has a vertical bead projecting above the sides slightly (to keep dust out, in theory), thicker corner pieces and, probably, louvres with an an angled shape (like a half-flattened letter L).

[Inigo]

27 SEP 1912...?

What a beauty...