Gramophone
Maker and role
The Gramophone Company Limited, Manufacturer
See full details
Object detail
Accession number
1965.46
Description
Gramophone, portable H.M.V. The unit consists of a solid brown square with a turntable on top to accommodate 78 RPM records. A gooseneck tuner arm protrudes from the back of the unit. The end of this arm is pivotal and has a speaker with a needle which rests on the playing surface of the record. There is a wind-up crank handle on the side and a pair of doors on the front which conceal some drawers (possibly to store spare records).
Marks
His Master's Voice / "Gramophone" / Trademark Registered / Model / Excello No. 3 Maker's Mark
Chas. Vegg & Co., ltd. / Manners St., Wellington. / Estd. 1861 Label
Chas. Vegg & Co., ltd. / Manners St., Wellington. / Estd. 1861 Label
Media/Materials
Credit Line
The Gramophone Company Limited. Gramophone, 1965.46. The Museum of Transport and Technology (MOTAT).
Public comments
HMV Excello No.3, oak cabinet. The "speaker" as you call it is the soundbox or reproducer. There are no drawers, those slats are simple oak slats and behind them is the "horn" which generates the sound captured by the HMV "Exhibition" soundbox and delivered the sound via the "gooseneck" tonearm tube that the soundbox is mounted on, to the internal horn and then out through those louvers. The doors are used to control the volume - the wider you open them the louder the sound. Various models had either a simple wooden or a cast iron horn, a single or a 2 spring motor and a HMV Exhibition or (possibly) a HMV No.4 soundbox. There is little information on these but they are most likely a rebadged version of the HMV No.1 model, possibly colonial versions, a not uncommon practise.
- Mike posted 4 years ago.