The HMV table grand model 461

[Hogan]

MODEL:  HMV 461 Table grand 
 SERIAL #:   none visible
 YEARS MADE:  made 1926 - 1929
 COST:   Oak 27 £, mahogany 31 £
 CASE/CABINET SIZE  : 17.375 x 11 x 22.375 inch / 441 x 279 x 568 mm 
 TURNTABLE:   12" turntable

 REPRODUCER:   No. 4

 MOTOR: Double 11" spring motor

 
 HORN DIMENSIONS:   ---
 REPRODUCTION PARTS:   none
 CURRENT VALUE:  200 - 400 euros 
 INTERESTING FACTS:

 

The 461 is basically the 460 Lumiere reconstructed.

When the 460 failed on the market  (more than half of the 867 machines that were sold in oak were returned to the factory) His Masters Voice suddenly had quite a few cabinets on their hands that would never be sold – I´ve never heard of a another commercial gramophone failure like the 460, returned to the factory and accepted as a return, I wonder if were they offered the 461 instead or did they just reimburse them? I´d love to hear the whole story of how it happened, also who designed the 461 (and the 460) and so on, but I don´t know if there are any files or the like in the UK that could tell the story? Maybe UK friends can chip in...  Anyway according to His Masters Gramophone by Brian Oakley and Christopher Proudfoot, 461 sales were 615 in oak and 618 in mahogany and it was made between 1926 - 1929.

My machine I found in 2005 through an ad – it had belonged to the uncle of the woman who sold it to me and he had used it to play his records until he passed. It hardly needed any work – I greased and oiled the motor, also changed the rubber gaskets of the nr. 4 sound box, that´s about it... I was lucky to find the right kind of gaskets!

All of the 461 machines that I´ve seen (just a couple) have the oil/greasing instructions hidden by the new internal horn, as well as the cup for used needles in the place where the Lumiere diaphragm conveniently would have  have dropped them – which in my mind indicates that they made the 461 as long as there were surplus cabinets from the 460.

Anyway – the 461 is an excellent machine for electrical recordings with nicely balanced sound and its easy to use.

The only thing that it lacks in my opinion is great tracking (like most HMV machines of the era?) – but as long as you use fiber needles, that doesn´t really matter much.

Here´s a video showing how it performs with different kinds of recordings/needles: 

(The pictures of the catalogue are from the audiomuzeum.hu)

 

 

Edited 2 hours ago by Hogan
I missed adding the first part of the text

[RodPickett]

That's an attractive piece.

[phonogfp]

Not only an attractive machine, but an interesting story!

 

George P.

[Jerry]

Beautiful. Surprisingly good sound! Not quite as spectacular as the reviews printed in the brochure, however. 🙂

 

Thanks for posting!!