Gramophone - Back To The 20's



Now this is certainly one music player that’s unlikely to impair your hearing. Generally, these gramophones – also known as phonographs –  are  only capable of producing sounds at a relatively low volume compared to modern music players. Yes, this means that we can have Louis Amstrong blazing through the horn without our parents and grandmother shouting from the top of their lungs demanding us to keep the noise level down – although truth to be told, seeing those faces go tomato-red during the process might be an entertainment in itself J. 

If you’re expecting dolby surround sound – or whatever technology is available today – you’ll be gravely disappointed. I know, this is so sad – no hardcore bass beats knocking hard on our rather delicate ear drums... hahaha. But, let me tell you something. ‘Ancient technology’ does have its own remarkable qualities.

Have you ever observed an old person and paid attention to their facial features: the wrinkles; the long winding grooves around their eyes and foreheads as if time had done the incision itself; the scars, which mark every bitter-sweet moment in their lives; the murk cornea of their eyes which never stops them from looking hard into you, and you just think to yourself, “Wow, such charisma this person has!”

Well, this is exacly what the gramaphone does to our ears – the crisp tin-like melody coming out from the horn gives a hard-to-explain sensation. The only way I can explain it, is that it is as if I was reliving the early 1900’s although I was born eight decades later. Hhmmm, weird. And, I don’t think that even the best sound systems money can buy this time around can ever come close to producing the atmosphere created by the gramaphone. Click on video file if you don’t believe me.



I came across one of these antiques just recently. It surpisingly looked well-maintained. Every single part was original – or so the owner tells me – except for the box where the machine was placed in.

Nonetheless, the box was also made of old wood (teak, if I recall correctly). When I asked how old it was, he did not exactly know as it was given to him by his grandfather. But, he exlained the newer gramophones were produced during the 1920’s and came with aluminium horns. This particular one was made of brass, suggesting that it was produced at least two decades earlier.

 In addition, this gramophone used a winding system instead of electricity.

In need of money, he offered it to me for Rp. 20,000,000. As much as I’d love to bring ‘her’ home, I did not have that much money. And no matter how much I love music, if I had that much money, I’d rather buy myself an old Holden :p  

Picture this: an HK Monaro, pro street style with big fat Mickey Thompsons wrapped around 15x15 Welds at the rear, powered by a 705 Ci - that's 11 litres -  big-block V8 Chev topped up with a fuel-force-feeding  8/71 blower and... and... okay. I’d better stop now before I get too carried away. But I will share with you my ideas of my dream car. I promise it won’t be a bore. Besides, 25 K Rupiahs is  never going to get me that type of specs.

Note however, that this information is purely based on what the owner had told me. I do not know whether information regarding the specs as mentioned above is accurate or not. So please feel free to study the pictures here and let me know how good, how old, and how much it costs on the market. Meanwhile, I’ll do my own research during my spare time. If you happen to be a gramophone expert, I’d really appreciate it if you can contact me.

So, if any of you are interested please contact me at +6281213404973, or email me at lukasaswin@gmail.com, or lukas_aswin@yahoo.co.id.

The Gramophone goes to the highest bidder.

Cheers,

            Luc