Gakken Windup Premium Gramophone Kit for SP/EP/LP

For those of you who don't know already, Gakken is a firm over in Japan that produces scientific magazines and kits, ranging from steam engines to vacuum-tube radios, wind-up clocks, and other little gadgets suited for the tinkerer and the putterer in us all, and the Premium Gramophone kit is, in my view, their best offering yet.Basically, it's a DIY gramophone record player, just like the ones our grandads and great-grandads might've cranked up to listen to music back in the day. It all comes in a surprisingly small box (considering it's much larger when you've finally gotten it all together), and all the parts are neatly tucked into their own bags and plainly labelled/numbered to go along with the instructions, which are all in Japanese, but fortunately they're heavily illustrated with diagrams which plainly show how everything goes together, which makes it all easier, I personally got mine assembled and running in a couple hours with no trouble whatsoever (there are English operating instructions on the Ebay posts which are selling these, however). All the parts are made of heavy plastic, much of it decorated to match the antique 1900's gramophone this particular model is based off of, although the spindles in the gear train, the govenor, and other important parts are real metal, so all in all the build quality is rather sturdy, although I was a little disappointed that the actual clockwork motor comes already assembled, although the gears and cogs you have to put in yourself in order to link the motor to the turntable.Besides the parts themselves, you get a small supply of bamboo needles to play records with, a needle cutter which is used for sharpening/making the needles (it's worth learning how to make them from scratch yourself, bamboo's cheap and it doesn't damage the records), as well as a couple sewing machine needles for experimenting with recording your own records on the likes of an old cd (you should never use these crude needles to play a record with, they can destroy a record! Authentic steel gramophone needles are still being made and you can easily get them off of places like Ebay), as well as couple different diaphragms and apertures for the sound box to experiment with the sound, this making up the scientific part of the kit.Although it's advertised as being able to play 33's, 45's, and 78's, I've found it really excels at playing the 78's only, with an occasional 45 here and there provided I've got a bamboo (or fibre, as the old-timers used to call them) needle on, for steel damages vinyl. The drive belt is adjustable to be put on different pulleys to get the different speeds, although the motor does have a brake and a speed control as well.In operation, this kit works smoothly and sounds great, especially when you've got a loud-toned steel gramophone needle in it, I was most surprised when I spun up my first 78 shellac record that way (which is why I get a bit irked when people call this kit a "toy", it works just as good as a quote-unquote "real" gramophone for one tenth the cost). A little tip that will go a long way is that you should consider lightly lubricating the gears and their shaft bearings with a little bit of Vaseline/petroleum jelly to act as grease, for without it the workings make a bit of racket, and in general lubing it will help it to last longer and run as smooth as silk.In conclusion, I can't recommend this kit enough, it works great and looks even better, and even if you never ran the thing it would look very smart set up on a desk or in a living room to complement any other retro or steampunk bits and bobs you might have handy! I love mine dearly, and I use it regularly to play my 78rpm record collection, so if you like kits, and you like gramophones, you might consider looking into getting one of these. No batteries or plug-ins required, just wind 'er up and let 'er play!Cheers,Brendan O.

I've wanted this item for a couple of years. I have two other phonographs made by Gakken. The quality of the kit is very good. Mostly plastic, but good quality. Comes as a kit you assemble. All parts are sealed in plastic bags. The parts are sealed in order per the assembly instructions. Instructions are in Japanese with diagrams. I put the unit together in about an hour and a half, so the pictorial directions were good enough. The phonograph is probably based on Emile Berliner's gramophone of the late 1890s. The original had an upward facing winding crank. The completed phonograph actually has some weight to it. Other nice features: spring driven motor with a three weight governor, speed control and start/stop lever, reproducer with aluminum diaphragm. The instructions state you can play 33, 45, and 78 rpm records. This phonograph has three speed settings, but I would only play 78s on it. The needles and weight of the tonearm will tear modern records to shreds. The belt was very difficult to move from the 78 speed to the others - wheel too close to the motor housing. I played a couple of 10" and one 7" records. The spring wasn't strong enough to play the 10" record all way through. The player barely played the smaller record. I had to constantly adjust speed controller. In addition, the spring bumped all the way through, so the company skimped on the grease. You can also record your own records on this machine. It comes with a supply of blank white disks and a grooved disk, so the tonearam will track while shouting into the horn. Overall, I am satisfied with the machine. I would not pay more than what I spent. I own several original machines, so this modern incarnation will fit in well.