Phonoland

Hi,

First of all i´really sorry for any mistake or inaccuracy in my english and many thanks to anyone who can help me.

I want to buy an antique (but perfectly working) gramophone with a horn... very easy so far... but i want to do a decent purchase and i´m have been dealing with a lot of contradictory information. I have been visiting many sites like ebay and others of that kind, contacting owners, shops... but i´m still with a lot of questions and doubts

- What are the main differences between a Gramophone, Phonographs and a Graphopone? (in my language is Gramofone, Fonografo and Grafonola... i found the Grafonola/Graphopone translation in wikipedia but i´m not shure of it).

I´ve seen itens with a engraved cylinder wiht horn, without horn... itens working with a vinil disco, with and without horn... people name it freely i guess!

I asked in shops for a Graphopone with a horn, and shop´s employes answer was "oh, that´s a gramophone, what do you want exactly?" Big mess...

- Which details bring value to the item? And how much cost a medium graphopone?

- I was suprised to see (in this forum topics) that there are electric gramophones/phonographs... is it better to buy something like that? Are they more modern with an easier maintenance and bigger longevity?

- Those that work with a vinil disc, is it any vinil disc (those we can buy in every music store?), or is it a special disc?

- Is it possible to use this kind of equipment in a daily basis?

Many thanks and, again, i´m sorry for any mistake or weak explication.

Regards,
Catarina

In America, everything that plays records tends to be called a phonograph.
In the rest of the world, a phonograph plays "cylinder" records, and a gramophone plays "disc" records.
Graphophone & Grafonola was just a brand name used by one company "Columbia" for their cylinder & disc players.
Electric gramophones (for disc records) are usually called "record players" or "turntables". These can be bought to play either old shellac 78rpm records, or newer vinyl 33/45rpm records, or some will play both shellac and vinyl records. Vinyl records can not be played on old wind-up gramophones.
Soon after CD's became popular, vinyl disc records were no longer made, but some companies did keep making them in small numbers, and you can still buy these new today at some special record shops who mainly supply them for night clubs.

If you want to play cylinder records, you will need a phonograph (or Graphophone)
If you want to play old flat disc records, you will need a gramophone (or Grafonola)
The price will depend on who made it, and how rare the model type is.
A phonograph can cost from $100 to about $30,000 depending on model.
A gramophone can cost from $20 to about $25,000 depending on model.
A common model with a big horn should cost between about $200- $1000 for a phonograph, and between $500-$1500 for a gramophone.
You can buy "new" horn gramophones on Ebay & other places cheaper, but these are made in China & India, and they are no good. They will damage your disco.
These 2 pages will show you some of the new gramophones NOT to buy, and tell why.

http://www.oldcrank.com/articles/crapop ... alog-1.pdf

http://www.oldcrank.com/articles/crapop ... ction.html

You can use a phonograph or gramophone every day.

Do you want to play cylinder records or flat disc records?

Catarina wrote:(in my language is Gramofone, Fonografo and Grafonola... i found the Grafonola/Graphopone translation in wikipedia but i´m not shure of it).

Are you Polish?

Thanks for your interesting and complete explanation!

I was really needing some help to define what to look for.

So, it will be a gramophone for flat disc records, with the horn (not a huge one)... and certainly not a fake, for the newer vinyl records!

I will keep looking...

Thanks again
Catarina

PS - i´m portuguese, not polish

Caterina,
He was pretty close--both "Polish" and "Portuguese" start with "Po"--at least in English--
And your written English is very easy to understand-- Good luck ! Ron Rich