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HMV 163 Oak Gramophone is in California Facebook Marketplace. Wha do you think of it?

Are you going to rescue it? Depending on the price and distance, it could be a good deal...
New grill cloth, no5 a b soundbox, speed screw, and no one knows what more inside.. but it could do.

Depends on price. Put it this way, a 163 is a very good machine but were this one to be in the UK, it would struggle to find a buyer over £100 in the present market, if more than £75? It needs too many parts and work for a machine that you can buy in pristine condition for £250-300. IMHO, common machines are no longer worth restoring, sorry.

The hand lever for the automatic brake and the additional bracing inside the doors identify this as a very early example. It would probably have been supplied with the No.5 soundbox, but most of them succumbed to metal fatigue and were replaced with a No.5A.
None of this will make much difference to the selling price. Cabinet gramophones, even of the Re-Entrant variety, are depreciating in the UK. This example in California may do better because of it's comparative rarity over there.

epigramophone wrote: Fri Jan 23, 2026 4:33 am The hand lever for the automatic brake and the additional bracing inside the doors identify this as a very early example. It would probably have been supplied with the No.5 soundbox, but most of them succumbed to metal fatigue and were replaced with a No.5A.
None of this will make much difference to the selling price. Cabinet gramophones, even of the Re-Entrant variety, are depreciating in the UK. This example in California may do better because of it's comparative rarity over there.

Talking of re-entrant depreciation, whatever happened to Paul Collinette's 203 that he donated to the CLPGS? Do you know? Admittedly, it had a few issues but the last I heard about it, it was advertised in "Off The Record" without a price? I wonder if anyone bought it and what the person elected to make such decisions, agreed to sell it for.

With AI bots being increasingly used to monitor everyone's business (from personal life, social media activity, bank accounts, mind thoughts), with regard to taxation issues, I'd imagine the society is relieved to at least have charitable status, making it exempt from all such concerns. However, as generous as the gesture was, I don't doubt bequeathing such large objects to a society without premises, must have given someone a headache.

Fortunately some of our members have the space to store items securely pending their sale.
The 203 had been partially repolished by Paul, who was a keen amateur French polisher, and for some unknown reason the stretcher was missing. This stretcher design was exclusive to the 203 and would be difficult to replicate.
As the 203 was only advertised for sale once I assume that it sold, but to whom and for how much I do not know.

Inigo wrote: Fri Jan 23, 2026 12:01 am Are you going to rescue it? Depending on the price and distance, it could be a good deal...
New grill cloth, no5 a b soundbox, speed screw, and no one knows what more inside.. but it could do.

No, I am not. It is listed for $800.00. It takes about 10 hours to get there by car. The cabinet looks nice. I already have a 163 in Mahogany and a 202.

epigramophone wrote: Fri Jan 23, 2026 9:58 am Fortunately some of our members have the space to store items securely pending their sale.
The 203 had been partially repolished by Paul, who was a keen amateur French polisher, and for some unknown reason the stretcher was missing. This stretcher design was exclusive to the 203 and would be difficult to replicate.
As the 203 was only advertised for sale once I assume that it sold, but to whom and for how much I do not know.

The problem is the 203, similar to many other HMV mahogany models after 1925 was not french polished but instead, spray applied, nitrocellulose lacquered. The difference in appearance and texture, not to mention aging, is very noticeable. So a "partial" repolish, irrespective of his skills, would only serve to highlight the restoration carried out.

Steve wrote: Fri Jan 23, 2026 4:23 am Depends on price. Put it this way, a 163 is a very good machine but were this one to be in the UK, it would struggle to find a buyer over £100 in the present market, if more than £75? It needs too many parts and work for a machine that you can buy in pristine condition for £250-300. IMHO, common machines are no longer worth restoring, sorry.

Can you imagine the shipping cost from the UK to California? It is a very good deal for a California-based buyer.