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What kind of GE Console Phonograph is this?

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What kind of GE Console Phonograph is this?
Feb 18, 2009 05:33 PM
Greetings! I picked up this GE Console Phonograph from a yard sale about 3 months ago. I've had it sitting outside my house for quite some time now. My dad is upset and considers it an eye sore. So I wanted to know to if it was worth anything or if I should just scrap it. (I have no knowledge of console phonographs.) I was hoping to find insight of someone knowledgeable with phonographs. From what I've learned from playing with this so far is: 1) When I plug it in radio still works and it sounds great! 2) I do not know if the stylus works :( 3) The previous owners appear to have attempted to have the phonograph serviced and I have taken a few pictures of what they gave me. 4) Phonograph appears to have been taken well care of. No clearly visible signs of neglect or damage. I was hoping to figure out if this phonograph is worth much or some type of history behind it if any (such as the date or rarity). Or should i just leave it on the curb and wait for someone to pick it up and possibly scrap it :( Thank you! Here are the photo's:




For larger more detailed photo's you can find them in this folder: http://tony.thomasacruz.com/phono/Full%20View/
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What kind of GE Console Phonograph is this?

(1 Reply / 707 Views)
What kind of GE Console Phonograph is this?
Feb 18, 2009 05:33 PM
Greetings! I picked up this GE Console Phonograph from a yard sale about 3 months ago. I've had it sitting outside my house for quite some time now. My dad is upset and considers it an eye sore. So I wanted to know to if it was worth anything or if I should just scrap it. (I have no knowledge of console phonographs.) I was hoping to find insight of someone knowledgeable with phonographs. From what I've learned from playing with this so far is: 1) When I plug it in radio still works and it sounds great! 2) I do not know if the stylus works :( 3) The previous owners appear to have attempted to have the phonograph serviced and I have taken a few pictures of what they gave me. 4) Phonograph appears to have been taken well care of. No clearly visible signs of neglect or damage. I was hoping to figure out if this phonograph is worth much or some type of history behind it if any (such as the date or rarity). Or should i just leave it on the curb and wait for someone to pick it up and possibly scrap it :( Thank you! Here are the photo's:




For larger more detailed photo's you can find them in this folder: http://tony.thomasacruz.com/phono/Full%20View/
Last Post
by a_c_green (1423 ) View Listings
(1 of 1)
Re: What kind of GE Console Phonograph is this?
Feb 18, 2009 06:29 PM
Well, I'd say it's a model A236m. :)

These were pretty common in the '60s, and there was a huge variety of models, since the innards were all the same (note how modular the inside is: turntable assembly and tuner/amp, dropped into two holes), and thus they were sold on the basis of which style of cabinetry matched your living room: Modern, Danish, Mediterranean, whatever.

Mechanically, yours appears to be a direct-drive automatic (stacking) changer. You didn't mention exactly what the apparent problem is with it; it would be interesting to just stack a couple of records on the spindle and see if it can drop them properly at the right time. It might be a little gunked-up from age. The mechanism could be swapped out in its entirety if a new one was needed, since its only connection to the rest of the unit is cabling (power, audio output, etc.)

You didn't show us what's under the right third of the top cover, but if it opens up, I would expect to find vertical storage wells to hold records. I'm not getting a sense that this is a really upmarket model, but it looks presentable enough and I can't see any scars.

Unfortunately, these are big suckers, and when found are often in near-mint condition because they've spent all their lives as the centerpiece of someone's living room, which means that they're not rare. (As an estate-sale regular, I am no longer surprised at how many of these are _still_ in someone's living room in the year 2009.)

I would suggest giving its cabinet a good cleaning for appearances, take some flattering photos of it, and list it at a low opening price for Local Pickup only. All you need are two bidders fighting over it, and you'll get a payoff.

If you put it at the side of the road, you _might_ unload it that way, but if it gets rained on out there, you will then have an albatross that no one will take, so leave that as your last resort. (One guy I know ran a classified ad describing the big old widget he wanted to give away, gave his street address and the date he would have it out by the curb. People were waiting on the street. :)
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