06.

STATE OF THE ART 1967

Revox A77 MK I was made by Studer-Revox; Schweiz

Two tracks HiFi Stereo open reels tape recorder. Heavily built (15 kg) and well designed for professional use by many music studios etc. It contains 3 motors, so capstan and both reel motors are direct drive. (Replacement of worn-out rubber belts in other machines was a common problem.)  So this work horse was exceedingly reliable and performed beautifully for a very long time.

Technology marched on. New updates came rapidly, like Dolby B etc. After a decade this machine was obsolete and I got it for free. I loved the sound very much and enjoyed the possibilities to cut and edit the tapes.

REMAINS OF THE ART 1897

                                                                            “...& TAPE CARE KIT”??

This is a quite a leap in time. But obviously HMV needed to follow the trends in sound recording and provide the market with all kinds of accessories.

The world famous His Masters Voice logo was based upon a fake story about a dog called Nipper listening to his “deceased master’s" voice. Note that the machine on the picture was made by The Gramophone Company in UK already in 1897!

NOT MY GRANDPA’S DOG

  

The HMV dog Nipper looked exactly like my grandfather’s terrier. That one however could not stand gramophone music at all. So as a child I admired Nipper for his patience. 

This ancient picture was extremely popular and used on every product from HMV, needle tin boxes, record dusters and even on the sound-box.

This still working green HMW Portable Gramophone with automatic brake and record carrying turntable was made for export by The Gramophone Company Ltd Hayes Middlesex UK about 1938.

The model was called no 87. 

TRADEMARKS

Not every company had such an eye catching logo as HMV. Still they were as anxious to point out the necessity to use “software” of their own very special trade mark. Needles were worn out and had to be changed often. They were sold in a variety of nice looking tins. Those from Columbia were not as fancy as needle tins from HMW and other makers.