Pathe "The Ideal" Gramophone.

Here is an attractive and simple "Hornless" gramophone by Pathe Freres called "The Ideal".

The gramophone is designed to play "Phonocut" or "Hill-and-Dale" discs and is correctly fitted with a Pathe reproducer with a sapphire stylus. In this machine from the 1920s there was no need to change the needle each time as the stylus could be expected to last forever!

Another quirky feature of early Pathe discs is that they started playing from the centre and the tone-arm moved outwards to the edge of the record as it played. Later Pathe discs started on the outer edge as most other discs did.

At some point the machine has been re-motored and a good quality double spring motor fitted. Oddly the has been done so that the winder is now on the left hand side of the case. the top is hinged to gain access to the motor.

The gramophone plays very well and the sound is better than most Pathe machines I have restored. As is usual with Hill-and Dale gramophones, the machine needs to be carefully set up to prevent the stylus skittering across the disc. A slight slope to the right seems to help!