The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Hi Guys,

First of all , thank you all so much for your valuable inputs in all the threads. I have found so much information i wished i knew before i i made my last purchase. I guess u guys get these kind of threads popping up all the time, asking if the machine they bought are indeed Crap-o-Phones..

So, up till now i gathered from Le Blog TSF 36 is
1. There is no round cabinets on gramophones.
2. The elbow of the horn should be curved and not sharp edged.
3. There shouldn't be a threaded rod holding the stem up.

unfortunately, all these appeared in my newly accquired "Gramophone" from a reputable antique shop near my area.(if its really a crap-o-phone, i guess they're not that reputable after all!!)

Ohh did i mention what brought me to this forum is that i initially wanted to find a cure for it's wobbly "turntable"/ "Deck" and it's constant slowing down to a complete stop and when i lift the soundbox, it resumes speed spinning again? Now feeling all lousy that might have bought a fake for 300 bucks, i need all you kind souls to deal me the last blow and help me confirm that what i bought is indeed a piece of pieced together junk. Might fire up that anger within me to stomp down to the shop and demand my 300 bucks back.

Here's how my new purchase looks like.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28037072@N06/6075717095/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28037072@N06/6075717091/

Thank you all in advance.

Sorry, but it's junk. Jerry Blais

Yes, it's definitely a crap-o-phone. All of the features are there, as outlined in these links:

http://www.oldcrank.com/articles/crapop ... ction.html

http://www.mainspringpress.com/crapo.html

http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewto ... f=2&t=2852


If I were in your position, I would go back to the antiques seller, armed with a few printouts, and tell him that you discovered that this is not an original HMV gramophone as BOTH of you thought, but a "reproduction." If he's HONEST and reputable, he'll "cheerfully" give you a refund. If not, and tell him, "fine, but I'll have to post a review of this on Yelp.com" -- http://www.yelp.com/locations -- (Might work.)

HTH,
Ortho_Fan

It's a nice conversation piece - but yes,,,, it's a piece of,,, well,,,, you know what.

Guest,

Take the piece of junk back and hopefully you can get your money back. Tell them that it is not an antique anything , not even antique junk!

Andersun wrote:Guest,

Take the piece of junk back and hopefully you can get your money back. Tell them that it is not an antique anything , not even antique junk!

Yes, a typical Asian style crapophone of very recent manufacture. I agree with the others here - return it & get a refund. Maybe this page can help with your case: http://catalogs.indiamart.com/products/gramophone.html

particularly in the catalog page from Meenakshi Handicrafts, you see yours on the 2nd row, right side
http://www.indiamart.com/meenakshihandi ... ments.html

and these
http://www.indiamart.com/relishcon-mora ... ramophones

Troubling to see what other types of items are also being re-produced

Wow. That first link is troubling news. I did not know that they also made copies of internal horn cabinet gramophones, Decca trench portables and Columbia 165 portables. Some even pre-aged and rusted. Proper looking crank etc. Not that easy to identify anymore, at least not from a picture. For sure a reason not to buy unseen anymore...
Andreas

Like the other posters have said, I would bring this thing back and ask for a refund. If not, I would report them to the Better Business Bureau and your local Chamber of Commerce.
Harvey Kravitz

alang wrote:Wow. That first link is troubling news. I did not know that they also made copies of internal horn cabinet gramophones, Decca trench portables and Columbia 165 portables. Some even pre-aged and rusted. Proper looking crank etc. Not that easy to identify anymore, at least not from a picture. For sure a reason not to buy unseen anymore...
Andreas

Hi Andreas:

The internal horn and portable models they've illustrated look authentic. In fact, I recognize a few of them from other sites. I think they were simply put there to illustrate the types of gramophones the manufacture can create, probably on a custom basis.

I've seen a few cabinet model crap-o-phones over the years, and anyone with a bit of familiarity with antique phonographs would be easily able to spot the mistakes--much like your average Frankenphone with parts culled from a variety of different manufacturers' models, slapped together in a rather cheap looking, gaudy cabinet.

OF

thank you guys so much... called up the shop and give him a piece of my mind... and the reply i got was Ohh i know its a reproduction.. you mean you didn't know?

The shop keeper insisted that He didn't ever mention it was an original gramophone. Which made me even more pissed. Now the problem wasn't that he didn't mention it was an original but he knew it was a fake and didn't even mention to buyers like us with no real knowledge of antiques. So glad that we still have good willed people out there that help us spot fakes and not get taken for granted by these people.


I insisted that i want a refund but the shop keeper will only go as far as to do a return and exchange for something else worth the same retail value..
Now the problem is, whatever replacement i choose, i will have the feeling that it might be another fake antique they're trying to sell off..

Thank you guys again for your help.