Vintage sound

Celebrating my 28th birthday wasn’t supposed to be all that. However it was a perfect weekend. A great birthday party at Barbeint on friday, out with my best mates on saturday and then a perfect sunday in the park and later with family and my girlfriend. Sunshine all weekend. And to top it all, one of the best presents I can remember getting – A state of the art gramophone player.

This phonograph was first spotted at an antique store at Sagene. Walking through the city on a lazy sunday with my girl, we spotted this through the window. The owner, although peak hours for an antique dealer, was out and the shop closed. Knowing I had been talking about this for a while, she went back for it, wrapped it, and made it the perfect gift.

As far as my research goes it is made after 1909 by The Gramophone Company, a Camden company that introduced the legendary “His Master’s Voice” label that year. The label was painted by Francis Barraud and pictures a dog (“Nipper”)  listening to an early phonograph. The U.S. rights to the label and name was licenced to Victor Talking Machine Company in 1929, and that company was later sold to Radio Corporation of America (RCA). The Gramophone Company later opened the HMV record store on 363 Oxford Street, London.

It is handcrafted from the finest dark pinewood for the eight cornered box casing, and the best quality brass for the horn. The piece looks like the original  - but I have not yet been able to verify if it is an original or a reproduction. It features “Nipper” in a stamped logo as he listens to “His Masters Voice” (printed) along with “The Gramophone Company Ltd”.

I am now in the market for a quality needle, and look forward to appreciate the vintage sound.