ANTIQUE METRONOME CRACK

Note the lack of lint and built-up grease and dirt on the close-up picture of my metronome movements that you might find on other seller's metronomes described as being in very good working condition (if you are lucky to even get a close-up picture of the movement).

The movement's condition is actually more important to a musician than the look of the exterior case. The all-metal movement was just cleaned, adjusted and oiled, saving you $175-$260 over other 'as found' metronomes. Only a classic mechanical metronome produces the solid and desirable 'wood block' ticking sound. Beware of other metronomes pictured with the sliding weight slid all the way to the bottom as they probably don't grip the stick.

The sliding weight glides smoothly over it throughout its whole 40 to 208 range. The sliding weight grips the stick firmly and stays up where it is set to. In addition, when I found ads for the French made metronomes in The Etude Magazine, they commanded premium prices over Seth Thomas metronomes. The bell strike and the ticking are a little louder than what you would normally find on Seth Thomas metronomes and ticks only a tiny bit softer right at the point it needs to be wound again. NO pressure should ever be applied pushing the top half inward towards the center, as that would strain the spring strip and cause it to lose grip. The weight should only be nudged up and down with pressure applied along the direction of travel. Note: To keep the weight gripping the stick, there is a thin spring strip that maintains pressure. It has a visual pendulum swing with its original sliding weight to adjust the tempo and a very even, loud ticking sound as it runs, and the blue steel bell sounds crystal clear and loud. It reads 'Metronome *** Maelzel France Paris' (and other names), and the original movement runs like new. Most are brass, but it is gold colored metal. It has a nice metal plaque on the front made of what appears to be solid metal. It has a mint condition, beat scale with a great contrast between the black beat numbers and the light background. Please see all pictures and notice how beautiful this piece is! I took lots of pictures of this metronome. Since this is vintage or even an antique, there are some very faint signs of age-related usage on the instrument as mentioned above. The nice decal on the front dust cover door is the original solid brass metal plaque with no scuffs. The front dust cover door is the original one, and it fits well over the opening, and it is a perfect match to the rest of the case. The pecan stained wood case is made out of solid wood, possibly some kind of fruitwood, I am not positive, and is a pretty and has uniform bands of lighter and dark brown grain throughout. The original finish on all sides shines up well and is stable with no alligator which you should be able to confirm in the close-up pictures. I have included 18 pictures of this metronome in the listing, and you can see how beautiful this instrument is! A video of this metronome in action is included in the pictures. Those sellers that do this detailed movement service will say so in their listings. You will probably not find another one of these in this nice of condition with the movement already serviced.

ANTIQUE METRONOME CRACK

There are a few finish touch-ups and scuffs in the wood finish, and a tight, nicely done crack repair (on the lower front panel - see last picture) as would normally be expected from one this old. It has a robust and solid wood case with no loose parts or splits - even the feet pads are solidly attached to the bottom to avoid loss. This is a very useful but rare option not normally seen on metronomes. The bell can also be set to not strike at all, so it functions as regular metronome. The unique bell chime on this metronome is a feature you can use to signal the start of a measure that has either 2, 3, 4, or 6 beats per measure. This fully serviced metronome runs strong like it was brand new. It is a real treasure to find and was made I think in the 1920s, but could be older, because many of these companies started producing metronomes in the mid 1800's. Possibly Paquet or J.T.L., but not marked as such. This is a fully restored, French Antique French Fruitwood Wood Metronome de Maelzel with Rare Bell Chime.

Antique metronome