Contact, Wanted, For Sale

Contact

Please contact me on bjrustic@aol.com
or
Barry M Jones,
Unit 2, Rustic Crafts Workshop,
Bixley Lane, Beckley,
RYE, East Sussex,
TN31 6TH

Payments

Payments may be made by Cheque or Postal Order in Pounds Sterling, made payable to Barry M Jones. Payment by PayPal is available at the Home Page.

Trading policy: English law applies at all times. We respect our customers’ privacy and data protection, including PayPal transactions. Returns accepted if package unopened or with printing/binding faults.

Postage rates are for the UK ONLY – overseas please ask!

FOR SALE – New home sought

The BRENELL Collection, plus “Guide to British tape recorders” Library

This is a truly unique opportunity to gain two important private collections. Due to ill-health, I need now to find a responsible body(ies) committed to take on and continue, long-term, in-trust both my Brenell tape recorder collection and the comprehensive British tape recorder catalogue, advert, technical and research Library. Both are the result of many years researching and writing the ‘Brenell – True to life performance’, ‘A Truvox product’, and the ‘Guide to British tape recorders’ histories. (See Brenelltape.co.uk).

It is important that this priceless collection is maintained as a central reference collection and NOT broken up for monetary gain. Price by agreement.

1: BRENELL: The almost complete ‘museum’ of Brenell’s products from their immediate post-war ‘Bren L’ tin toys, to over 45 Brenell tape decks and pre-amps (I can’t give an exact figure!) are now in a private collection. The collection of brochures, manuals, research correspondence, miscellaneous components etc. is still available along with

2: “A Guide to British tape recorders” Library. This comprehensive collection of research notes, correspondence, brochures, cuttings, adverts etc (excluding Brenell – see above) chronicles the development of the magnetic tape recorder industry, especially British. From these were written the condensed histories of 120+ companies and their products, published as “A Guide to British tape recorders” and “A Truvox Product” (Truvox, Thermionic Products and Racal-Recorders. See Brenelltape.co.uk). Condition is variable: some mint. Around 20 lever-arch files in 4 or 5 archive boxes. (There are around 200 ‘Wireless World’ copies (1940s-1970s) of ‘reading quality’).

LOGISTICS!

Important: Due to Parkinson’s Disease (it’s not contagious!) I am unable to offer much physical assistance in extracting these items from two separate buildings in East Sussex.

Some inaccessible (to me!) archive boxes in the attic need bringing down and a day or two for me to sift through and extract certain material that I need to keep.

You are therefore looking at around 1-1/2 tons in weight and will likely require two physically fit men at least two, possibly three visits.

SERIOUS enquiries only please via e-mail.

Dated: 20-8-2022; updated January 24 2024

Links

I can recommend the following links and websites:

Terry Martini’s superb history of Wright & Weaire and Ferrograph, “Built like a battleship” is available from his website, which also briefly covers Vortexion and Clarke & Smith. Please note George West’s excellent Ferrograph site has long closed.

For those who share a passion for Armstrong tuners & amplifiers, there is a superb site on Armstrong Audio at www.audiomisc.co.uk, & the Armstrong Audio official site.

Audiotools provides a brief history of hundreds of vintage and modern audio companies.

For re-rubbering rollers: Terrys rubber rollers (USA).

For servicing Brenell, Ferrograph and other quality decks:
Contact Geoff Kremer in Bexhill at ServiceSound.com. Geoff has serviced all my Brenells. He also makes to order superb valve amplifiers – details on his site