Yet another Crapophone

[Blimpy]

http://cgi.ebay.com/Rare-and-Splendid-H ... 726wt_1040

I'm not even an amateur, and my first reaction was "fake!". There's no brand/model identification in the title, just a "rare and splendid huge phonograph w/ music disc 34"H". The way the horn and needle arm is set up is outlandish.

I'll post pics later,

[OrthoFan]

Yeah, those have been around for awhile.



It's easy for some collectors to immediately spot the Columbia Plano-Reflex type tonearm. There are some others like this Crap-O-Phone that are actually fitted with two horns!

BTW, The Gramophone Co., in the UK DID have a similar models in the late 1920s that perform very well -- the HMV 32, for instance, is shown on this page of this forum -- http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewto ... 5&start=10

It's fitted with the thin, tapered swan-neck tonearm, and running between the base of the tone arm and the base of the horn is a gradually expanding conduit.
It uses an HMV No. 4 sound box.

There was a similar model equipped with (HMV's version) of an Orthophonic tonearm and sound box featured in this video --

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jKg0uGQxrM[/youtube]

I believe these were made for the export market. (Steve or G.S. please confirm.)

[EdiBrunsVic]

Those machines are just awful! It just makes me better appreciate the genuine models and their history.
By the way, welcome to the forum! You will find lots of good information.

[Steve]

The Model 32 is awesome but very rare anywhere in the world, including in the UK. In 20 years, I've never seen a single one anywhere let alone for sale. I would like one though!

The Model 33 is, I believe, an export model as Ortho_Fan states. However, according to the new book on HMV, some of these alternative models to the UK Model 32 eg. 31,31A,33 etc were also sold in very small numbers in the UK. The 'litmus test' is the type of wood used for the cabinets. If they're teak, they were made for the Indian market. If mahogany or oak, they are probably UK items.

[Steve]

Back to the original post though, it is interesting to note that the elbox is a very slight improvement acoustically to the original 'cut and stitch pipework' we normally see! Is someone out there actually reading all our comments and taking note of how to improve a Crapophone?

Seriously though, with THAT soundbox and tone-arm (Columbia Plano-Reflex type) I bet it sounds great! Sadly!

[syncopeter]

I've seen ONE model 32 at Ko Noteboom's Zwarte Schijf shop over 25 years ago. It had a very badly 'restored' case unfortunately. It was a very handsome machine. I think he wanted around 800 guilders for it, which I hadn't freely available being a young father with a single income and a steep mortgage. The hardware was in beautiful condition though. It must be a very rare beast indeed.

[scullylathe]

That thing looks like something from a Tim Burton movie...

[syncopeter]

Yes it does. It has a bit of steam punk about it. Says a 55 year old