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Old 13th Mar 2023, 2:12 pm   #21
paulsherwin
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Default Re: Surprised at sale price

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Old 13th Mar 2023, 4:45 pm   #22
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I find the drawl of some presenters tiring, and the tuneless repetitive plinking sympathy piano dreadful ! Closely followed by the "upbeat music". It's on programmes and adverts and is getting worse! I have taken to muting the sound and putting on the subtitles on some programmes!
I was at the antique fair at the East of England showground (soon to be destroyed for housing) when they were filming a few episodes of BH. One of the presenters was doing take after take beside one of the stalls. The stallholder made a few comments when they finally moved on, none of which I can repeat here!
He also told me, and I don't know if it is true, because he certainly wasn't a fan of the programme, that "It's all fake" When I asked what he meant he said they record the transactions, the buyers get a discount on camera then after the contestants have moved on someone from BH pays the difference to the stallholder.... I do wonder if this is true because sometimes the discount does seem large and if we tried as a punter we would probably get a refusal!
I went to a recording of the Graham ***ton show some years ago and after seeing how it is done I no longer believe anything that is supposed to be 'reality' on TV...
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Old 13th Mar 2023, 4:50 pm   #23
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Default Re: Surprised at sale price

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Originally Posted by David Simpson View Post
If common or garden record players like dansettes are worth 200 quid in good nick to some folk, then what are Pye Black Boxes making these days ?
It isn't common or garden players, it's specifically Dansettes.

Dansette occupied the cheap and cheerful end of the market and were the dominant brand in their day. Young people with very limited incomes found they were the best they could afford. Certainly, Dansette made some better models with higher prices but they did not sell in the huge numbers their cheapest ones did. Also there were other firms in the cheap record player market, but they were often plasticy and seemed shoddier than the Dansettes. People bought Dansettes because their friends had them and the Dansettes didn't fall apart.

So we have a generation of people who grew up with a Dansette and it's an easily remembered name not confused with lots of other types of products. Enough of these people are having wistful memories and thinking about having a Dansette again or younger people inheriting their parents' records are feeling curious and mum/dad said they needed a Dansette to play them.

So there is strong market demand today for functional Dansettes in dood cosmetic order.

The ubiquity of the things back in the day, and human, nature mean that they are more sought after now than even far superior players from the same period and that means higher prices.

Back in the day, the PYE Black Box was the one a musician was likely to have at home. They got their name into those circles. Seen from today, the Black Box has common failures showing it was a bit marginally designed in some respects. Some Bush players were better, and the Hackers better still. But the Black Box name is more durable than the Black Box player.

If you wanted better back in the day, the next step was a 301 and a Leak amp.

If, nowadays you wanted the best bang per buck for playing your records, something Japanese, sold as separates in the mid eighties would be my suggestion. This stuff is sometimes given away free.

So the whomped up prices fetched by Dansettes aren't so much paying for the name as buying a cloud of reminiscences floating around the name.

Back then, you could buy players a bit better than the Dansette, but it would have cost you more money.

Today, you can buy players a lot better than the Dansette, but it will cost you a lot less money. You just need to know

David
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Old 13th Mar 2023, 5:24 pm   #24
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Default Re: Surprised at sale price

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He also told me, and I don't know if it is true, because he certainly wasn't a fan of the programme, that "It's all fake" When I asked what he meant he said they record the transactions, the buyers get a discount on camera then after the contestants have moved on someone from BH pays the difference to the stallholder.... I do wonder if this is true because sometimes the discount does seem large and if we tried as a punter we would probably get a refusal!
BH is a carefully crafted programme, as is normal for reality TV, and I've no doubt that plenty of off-camera shenanigans goes on. There have been lots of stories about various 'experts' actually hating each other's guts, and even fights breaking out.
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Old 13th Mar 2023, 5:45 pm   #25
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BBs are less fashionable, so fetch lower prices.

The Dansette name has become synonymous with the best of record players in the public mind - even the BH 'expert' implied this was the case, and may have actually believed it. We all know most Dansette models were very undistinguished and there were much better performers.
With the exception of the Hi-Fi, most Dansettes were garbage!
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Old 13th Mar 2023, 6:56 pm   #26
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In defence of the Dansette I have to say it served its purpose, it was affordable,it played the latest hits, it pulled the girls, so forget hifi all you wanted to do was dance, drink and have a good time, so the Dansette name stuck.
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Old 13th Mar 2023, 11:59 pm   #27
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Old 14th Mar 2023, 9:27 am   #28
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In defence of the Dansette I have to say it served its purpose, it was affordable,it played the latest hits, it pulled the girls, so forget hifi all you wanted to do was dance, drink and have a good time, so the Dansette name stuck.
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The Conqueror was a damn good record player. A nice warm sound and surprisingly loud with its twin speakers. It was the only one though IMHO.
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Old 14th Mar 2023, 9:28 am   #29
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One has to accept that there's a helluva difference between a record player sold 'as is' that almost certainly will not play records properly if at all, and one that has been properly restored. And the huge price difference reflects that.

On an purely observational note I never cease to be amazed (and entertained) at how we hate (often intensely idiosyncratic) aspects of these programmes. If I don't like a programme I either switch it off or accept the bits I don't like for what they, and enjoy the rest. Chill, enjoy and ignore the gaffs. I think a lot of us chose electronics as the wrong career, we should have been programme producers.
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Old 14th Mar 2023, 12:23 pm   #30
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Is it going to go the same way as the Bush Dac 90a . The market gets saturated .
I’m not up to date with Dansette models but I know it was a older type. a guy at a amateur radio rally had one for a couple years ago. Not perfect but he wanted £20 for it. At the end of the day it was still there. I was tempted . I could of probably got it for less if I haggled.
Going back to the Dac 90 they are often £30 or less at radio rallys . I can remember when they were 3 or 4 times that. Hence the Dansettes could end up the same. Just my thoughts Andy
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Old 14th Mar 2023, 12:23 pm   #31
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Default Re: Surprised at sale price

Quote:
Originally Posted by Radio Wrangler View Post
People bought Dansettes because their friends had them and the Dansettes didn't fall apart.

So we have a generation of people who grew up with a Dansette
...

Back then, you could buy players a bit better than the Dansette, but it would have cost you more money.

Today, you can buy players a lot better than the Dansette, but it will cost you a lot less money.
The cheaper Dansettes were definitely built down to a price, but they did their job adequately, and did it for a respectably long time.

I particularly like RW's summing-up there

All that being so, the sale price as quoted in post #1 - starting this thread - does seem remarkable!
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Old 14th Mar 2023, 1:07 pm   #32
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Default Re: Surprised at sale price

Talking of record players, I have a NOS Bush in its box, possibly faulty stock and wonder what that would fetch/ Model RP73 (I think). 1970,s era
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Old 14th Mar 2023, 3:07 pm   #33
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When I chat to family and friends about Record Players of old, they will invariably say “ I remember Dansettes …” but in fact when I enquirer further what they had was some other make RP, not Dansette. It’s a bit like saying I’m going to do some “Hoovering ”, but of course today it’s likely not to be a “Hoover.”.
Back to the auction price, #1, all the comments or most, are valid, and at the end of the day it’s up to you what you are prepared to pay.
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Old 15th Mar 2023, 12:04 pm   #34
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My remarks about Dansettes & their ilk stem from the fact that back in the mid '60's, as a recently qualified RAF Junior Tech they were the bane of my life, workbench-wise. It would've the same for other guys on all RAF Station's Wireless Bays.
Scenario - Monday morning - an officer approaches the Chief Tech's office with a record player under his arm - ' I say, Chief - could one of your chaps have a look at my wife's record player - we had a garden party at the weekend & someone knocked it over/spilt G&T/the turntable started to run slow/or whatever'. Sometimes it was domestic radios or portables, or even heffing toasters.
Black Boxes - I've had about 3 over the years, and like them for their lovely Sapele or Mahogany veneers & their jolly good sound reproduction when placed in the corner of a room. Not for any DAC90-like cult attraction. Note - if you didnae ken - the term "Black Box" stems from the fact that Pye did sell a superior version "Jappaned" in black & the name stuck for all ordinary versions.

Regards, David
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Old 16th Mar 2023, 9:07 pm   #35
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A few years ago our (adult) younger son bought a totally refurbished Dansette Bermuda on legs from Dansette Products Ltd. When I say 'totally refurbished' I mean exactly that, both cosmetically and electronically. Cabinet re-covered, new badges, new handle and hardware, new volume control, electrolytics, cartridge, idler wheel. Just as it had left the factory.

He didn't say how much he paid for it and I didn't ask - I didn't need to, I had a good idea:

https://www.dansette.com/product-pag...uda-royal-blue

That's for a record player with the most basic amplifier, consisting of a single EL84 valve, two resistors, two caps, three electrolytics, a metal rectifier, a tone control, volume control, output transformer, mains transformer, and speaker.

Even at £25.00 Dansettes start to look expensive. The electronics won't give much trouble, as there's next to nothing to them. But it's unrealistic to expect to just pretty up the cabinet and expect them to work. You can get spares - exchange refurbished idler wheel (£24.50), new switched pot (£9.95), cartridge, (£35). Cosmetic parts: Handle strap (£12.95), handle fittings (£9.95), turntable mat (£24.95), set of legs (£29.93), four mounting plates (£14.95), and so on it goes:

https://www.dansette.com/2-spare-parts

But then, it is a hobby and all hobbies can be expensive, so if it makes people happy in these rather miserable times, that's no bad thing.

'The only difference between men and boys, is the price they pay for their toys'.

Said the late Liberace.
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Old 18th Mar 2023, 2:42 am   #36
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Default Re: Surprised at sale price

What are the dimensions of those Dansette legs? I'm thinking they might look better than the thick table legs I've got on the Pye G63.
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Old 18th Mar 2023, 9:09 am   #37
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What are the dimensions of those Dansette legs? I'm thinking they might look better than the thick table legs I've got on the Pye G63.
The spare parts list at the link states 15” and 18” are available in the colours illustrated.
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Old 19th Mar 2023, 11:38 am   #38
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Oops, missed that! Thanks David. I'll measure up photos of the G63 to find the height of the original legs. As a rule of thumb, gram legs needed to be long enough to fit a wire rack of LPs underneath, otherwise it's wasted space. 15'' is about the minimum for canted legs.

(I've done the measuring. Pye's own photos show the G63 with 15" legs.)
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Old 20th Mar 2023, 12:59 am   #39
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David p35 [font of all wisdom in my opinion] although there are challengers
You've had a lot to put up with but remember that 60's song "Silence Is Golden" The Tremeloes. It's a good move to do nothing We knew nothing about Dansette inferiority when my dad bought a [different] portable record player in the sixties. I tapped in a socket for the front room of our new semi [there was just a hard wired electric fire and nothing else in the late fifties]. I was playing Jeff Beck [sadly deceased] doing the solo on Shapes of Things [the Yardbirds]. Dad said "Have you got it on the right speed? It was a new era and the player even smelt exciting. Hackers are a very good for choice for example but it was all about mega teenage sales then, design and price. You are wise to stay out of it all. Nobody will understand or care except on here maybe/possibly I'm not sure Liberace was just talking about toys but then, who knows

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Old 20th Mar 2023, 5:51 pm   #40
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As a record player, the Dansette wasn't up to much, but as a 'match-maker', in my case it was beyond compare.

I never owned one, but back in 1960, my then girlfriend did.

She lived in a small village to the east of Nottingham (Burton Joyce). Like me, she’d just bought a Lambretta and had set off from home for her first visit to the Lambretta Club in Nottingham. Easy enough to follow the road signs into Nottingham, but then it dawned on her that there were no road signs back to home and it was dark by 6pm. I offered to be her ‘pathfinder’ and within weeks, I was chauffeuring her to the club, with her riding pillion.

Before long, to use the quaint term of the era, we were ‘stepping out’, which was a prelude to 'courting'.

That's just how it was back then.

On Friday evenings, having collected my pay-packet, I’d buy a couple of 45s on the way home from work, then after tea and sprucing up, off on my Lambretta to my girlfriend's house. Her father was a muscular ex-Army PT instructor and was prison officer - not a man to be trifled with. I'll swear he had muscles on his eyelids and ear lobes. Suffice to say that I called him 'Sir' - 'Mr Williams' sounded far too familiar.

No sooner had I taken my coat off, out would come my 45's at which point he’d say: "If you're going to make a racket, take that thing (the 'Dansette') into the parlour – we don’t want it blaring out in here". We dutifully complied, but the prospect of the door flying open without warning did rather dampen my ardour.

Then a neighbour asked if my girlfriend would babysit for them on Friday nights, so we happily obliged, and took the Dansette with us. It's surprising what mischief you can get up to in the time it takes for a stack of 45s to run their distance. A year later, aged 21, we became engaged, at 22 we were married and 61 years later, we still are.

How times change.

Here's the hit parade for 1960:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...ingles_in_1960
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?

A few that come to mind:

Marty Wilde ' Bad Boy':

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gW44ttFfKQI

Johnny Tillotson - 'Poetry in Motion':

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjjMH_PdCvI

Eddie Cochran 'Three Steps to Heaven':

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q...2E26&FORM=VIRE

While on tour in the UK he was killed in a car crash which Gene Vincent survived.
A taxi being driven at excess speed by a 19-yr old driver.

His record was a posthumous No 1.

My son snaffled all my collection of 45s for his Dansette Bermuda.

I blame the parents.
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