Welcome

Welcome to my page and my first blog post. I set up this site not necessarily as a blog but as a tool to build on from the Facebook group I established nearly 3 years ago - Gramophone and Phonograph Collectors Downunder.

The main reason I set up the Facebook group and now this site is share my hobby. I also wanted to connect with other collectors and grow the hobby in Australia. I saw an opportunity to share and learn from like-minded people who love their vintage machines and music.

How it all began

I have always had a fascination for vintage and antique items, particularly those which are functional and have moving parts. I am particularly interested in items that have a history and where there is a connection to my family. It was therefore no surprise that one item in particular always grabbed my attention from childhood.This item was a small black suitcase / picnic style HMV (His Masters Voice) gramophone manufactured by The Gramophone Company LTD. 

I don’t remember at what age I first saw it, but I do remember being fascinated by it when it came out of whatever cupboard or storage space it occupied. It was dirty, dusty, battered from years of neglect and barely functional but I loved it all the same. 
Over the years I only saw it on a few occasions as it remained in storage and was never put on display. With work and life getting in the way I guess it was forgotten for a number of years. It wasn’t until I had moved from Tasmania to Queensland, married and had my 2 beautiful girls that the gramophone resurfaced.

I was back in Tassie visiting my family when my mother and I were sorting through a few things that belonged to me when we came across the gramophone again. I remember saying to her at the time ‘mum you know I will never ask you for anything (referring to items to be handed down), but I want this.’I’m sure she would have given it to me there and then as my brothers didn’t share my interest in vintage or antique items. For whatever reasons (most likely due to the fact I was flying home) the gramophone was left behind.

It was only couple of years later that the opportunity arose for me to get the gramophone. My father and stepmother were driving up from Tassie to Queensland (we were about to embark on an 8 week fwd camping trip around northern Queensland with my brothers family and an aunt). Mum asked me if I still wanted the gramophone and I jumped on the offer suggesting that Dad could bring it with him (along with a few other items).

So back in 2011 I finally had the gramophone. I remember how excited I was and wanted nothing more than to play it again and again. Unfortunately only one record had survived and it was so badly warped that it wouldn’t play. With regret I binned this record without recording what it was removing any hope of one day replacing it. I also remember that the only needle that came with it was worn down so much that it was about half the length of what it should have been. 

Gramophone needles are disposable and are supposed to be replaced after 1-2 plays. They are purchased in packets of 100 or more unlike modern record play needles / stylus.So my hunt for records and needles began. I must admit that I knew next to nothing about gramophones, 78's or gramophone needles back then. The day after the gramophone arrived I went to work and spent my lunch time and after work looking for 78's. I remember paying way too much for a small stack of records from a local record store. I didn’t find any needles but went home happy none the less.  When I arrived home much to my delight I was presented with another stack of records and a vintage record tin full of needles that dad and my stepmother had bought for me. 

One of the records was Fats Domino’s – Blueberry Hill with Honey Chile on the flip side.It was this record that I played on the gramophone. One of my fondest memories is watching dad and my stepmother dancing around my kitchen floor belting out the lyrics to Blueberry Hill. This record still holds a special place in my collection.

My next job was to get the gramophone working correctly again. It basically died after playing the Fats Domino record. Not surprisingly finding people who specialise in servicing hand cranked gramophones is quite a challenge. Google put me onto a local business who could do the job and $220 later the motor and spring had been re-greased and the sound-box had a new gasket. At the time I assumed this was a reasonable fee to service these items. I was to learn a couple of years later that my service price was 2-3 times what it should have cost.

The result none the less was very pleasing as the gramophone played through a whole side of a record (approx. 3 minutes) without needing a rewind and sounded great. I remember making videos of it playing and Skype-ing with my mother and with dad to share how good it played. 

So there you have it. This is the little gramophone that started it all. It still holds pride of place in my collection alongside the more striking horn and table top gramophones in my collection. It still gets played regularly and quite often with Fats Domino – Blueberry Hill!

My record collection

Over the past 7 or so years I have bought and sold approximately 6000 gramophone records.  It sounds like a lot and I guess it is. Early on I was fortunate enough to buy 3000 in one lot for the princely sum of $130. I spent many months sorting through them and on-selling those which I didn’t want to keep. I guess only 500 of that initial 3000 remain in my collection. 

Back then I didn’t have a good understanding of the music contained on them or their potential value. Nor did I have an easy way to play them. This meant that I was pretty ruthless in selecting which ones I kept. Today I play every one that comes my way to make sure I keep the right ones.  Even so today I probably keep only 1 in every 5.
I would guess that I have less than 2000 gramophone records on my collection. Only about 1/3 of these are cleaned, housed in new covers and stored appropriately. The rest are still dirty and stored mostly unsorted in crates and boxes. 

I have started offering my gramophones and records for hire. They have been played at a Hens night,birthday parties,weddings, been on stage - a local production of ‘My Fair Lady', and appeared in student films. I have DJ'd some of my vintage HMV horn gramophones. This has required me to have a good stock of music from all styles and eras (teens – 1950’s).

This leads to my taste in music. To be honest I had little understanding of music prior to 1960. I grew up listening to my mother’s Elvis tapes and developed a love of early rock n roll from there. While I was familiar with artists from earlier periods I hadn’t played or owned much of their music. I am happy to say that this has changed. 

I like all genres of music; big band, swing, blues, boogie woogie, some country (Hank Williams) and of course rock. I have a small selection of classical (eg Wager), children’s songs and stories. I can’t abide yodelling (common in early Australian country records), opera or Hawaiian / ukulele music. 

My gramophone collection

For about 12 months I happily owned the one gramophone I inherited from my mother and focused on collecting more records.  This was until a good friend of mine asked me to find him his first gramophone as a 50th birthday present.  I bid on a Columbia portable gramophone and got it relatively cheaply for him. This opened my eyes to the variety of gramophones that were readily available. 

The gramophone had some issues so once again I sought out someone to service it. Luckily I now had a lead from a fellow 78 collector I had met through my hobby. He put me onto a well-respected gramophone collector who had been servicing and restoring gramophones for over 25 years. He is now a good friend.  

Greg (I will respect his privacy and not use his real name) is very passionate about his hobby and an encyclopaedia of gramophone / phonograph and record knowledge. What I respect about him is his honestly when it comes to providing his services. He works hard, but charges very little and is more than happy to pass on his knowledge to that those who leave their beloved gramophones in his hands.

I call myself his apprentice and have started to service and restore gramophones myself. I don’t have the skills or patience that Greg processes, but I get buy. I still take every opportunity to go see him when I can, take down a project or two and learn.

Thanks to his help and advice I have acquired a nice collection of gramophones without taking out a second mortgage. I now have external horn gramophones, internal horn table top gramophones, portable suitcase / picnic gramophones and a good collection of gramophone related accessories (dusters, needle tins etc). 

My inherited suitcase / picnic style HMV gramophone circ 1927

The gramophone I inherited belonged to my great grandparents on my mother’s side (Graham). It is a portable suitcase / picnic style gramophone - HMV model 101.  This model was manufactured by the Gramophone Company Ltd in Middlesex London between October 1925 and 1930. The gramophone was originally introduced with the winding handle on the front, in late 1926 / early 1927 it was moved to the side (as per this version).  Other subtle changes were also made throughout the period.

While the 101 is considered a quality example of portable gramophones which produces a good clean sound, it was let down by the poor quality of its spring motor which was considered under powered for the day. This particular example has a HMV 410 single spring motor (this was replaced in later models by the HMV 59).

The sound-box is an HMV No. 4 which employs a mica diaphragm and gasket. It has a record storage compartment incorporated into the lid (which can hold approx. 6 10’ records) and a slide out corner needle tray.

Incredibly the steel needles of the day (and their modern equivalents) lose their point as soon as they are used. Therefore the needle has to be replaced after each play. 
Gramophones from this era also had no volume control. The native volume was based on the design of the gramophone and the recording itself. This gramophone is quite loud. 

The only way to reduce or indeed increase the volume is to use different types / sizes of needles which come in Soft, Medium, Loud and Very Loud tones.

In 1927 a black portable like this one retailed for ₤7 which was approximately 4 weeks’ wages at the time, a considerable investment. 

Other colours then became available such as; green, blue, red, or camel and attracted a higher price (up to ₤11). The fabric used to cover these machines is called Rexene and was used as a substitute to real leather. A deluxe model in red leather and gold fittings was also produced.

See the page "My Collection" for videos and images of more of my gramophones.