The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Dear all,

Which books would you recommend for a beginner? I'm interested both on the models, their shape/characteristics/features, but also on the technical/mechanical aspects of the machines.
Some of you are able to readily distinguish false models from original ones, just by examining a few parts. Where did you get all that info? I'm amazed.

Regards,
António Grilo

Not all information will come from books necessarily. There is no substitute for getting out there and looking and learning for yourself. It can't really be taught, not all of the knack of differentiating between fake and original anyway, it comes from your instincts and gut feeling.

For example, would you not consider a bright shiny undented brass horn slightly suspicious on a horn machine with very rusty metalwork and battered cabinet? If you don't, then you need to pack it in before you spend (lose)any money. Seriously. Books are ok but the problem I've found is that as beautiful as some of them are to look at, they focus on a lot of esoteric machines, the likes of which you and I will NEVER find in the wilds. The kind of humdrum machines you might find, will not be elaborated on in any great detail in any book published to date.

Coming from the UK, my favourite book to date deals with such typically mammoth, elitist and incredibly esoteric stuff: EMG and Expert ("The EMG Story").

The new HMV book is okay but offers scant information apart from pricing and numbers sold, hardly that interesting. It also excludes all the Victor cross-over history which is important, the HMV exported models, both to Europe and Australia, but also the so-called colonial models. There is not another book about HMV though so............

Fabrizio and Paul books are uniformly excellent but deal predominantly with machines sold in the US. The last one called "A World Of Antique Phonographs" obviously expands the field considerably. There's nothing wrong with books about US machines of course, the US made some of the best machines out there, but if you don't live in the US...........

The other problem with books in general is that they can date quickly when new information comes to light. That's why fora such as this one are crucial for collectors to share on-hand and readily accessible information with each other.

Books are good for pictures. Nothing replaces years of collecting, repairing, buying, selling, and discussing with other collectors.

Steve

Sometimes I have some difficult with understanding the nomenclature of the parts. Is there an online document/website which describes (and depicts) the mechanical parts (standard ones, of course) of a gramophone and the way that it all works together?

Regards,
António Grilo

I forgot to add a positive vote for one of the older books which is still available on Ebay and the like: The Illustrated History Of The Talking Machine by Daniel Marty. Sure, it's dated and not entirely accurate but there has not been a better book about European machines to date. Some of the pictures are really good, if the text is a bit lacking in places.

Browse thru the various parts pages on websites (google phonograph parts). Below is a link to parts pages. They give the original manufactures terminology for the parts which is generally used today.


http://www.wyattsmusical.com/CoverINDEX.html

Steve

If I could add regarding books......George & Tim's books are some of the best. However, their refferance to European machines is somewhat limited. Another "must" for the beginner that is also a hands on collector that also wants to learn more about the various parts and runnings of machines,etc is "The Compleat Talking Machine" by Eric Reiss. These books and more are readily available on Ebay. Hope that helps.

Thanks a lot to all of you!

Very best regards,
António

Steve wrote:I forgot to add a positive vote for one of the older books which is still available on Ebay and the like: The Illustrated History Of The Talking Machine by Daniel Marty. Sure, it's dated and not entirely accurate but there has not been a better book about European machines to date. Some of the pictures are really good, if the text is a bit lacking in places.

The Marty book is pretty good, lots of full page color images. BTW, I'll take a 1906 Phrynis No 10 if you have a spare one . "His Master's Gramophone" is good for the HMV line.

I do wish there were more up-to-date books documenting the Euro machines. Here in the States we have the North American machines well covered. Paul & that other guy do a great job covering machines from around the globe in "A World of Antique Gramophones".

BTW, I'll take a 1906 Phrynis No 10 if you have a spare one

Join the queue, pal! I've been looking for one of these with the asymmetrical horn for 20 years! I'm beginning to believe they are either the rarest machines in existence or they never existed, only in faked photographs. I've never even seen one example for sale anywhere, even on the internet and collectors who claim to own an example are considerably guarded about their possessions and will never part with them. To the Swiss, these are like the Crown Jewels.