Classic Gramophone

This is my 4th "wooden puzzle" (I don't know why they're called puzzles as you simply assemble a finished product from gazillion small pieces, wood, plastic, metal, some electronics components, and whatever else). It's a record player (for those of you who don't know what gramophone is). It includes a vinyl record which sounds like it was recorded in the 19th century (another point for authenticity!).There are many different variations of this product as they tweaked the design quite a few times. I think there're different companies making this one too (unless they created multiple brands for marketing purposes). The one that I have you can make work by either cranking it or plugging into USB power source and then it plays by itself. There's a small switch which allows you to switch between the 2 modes. Cranking arm is very short and the thing itself is very small so it's difficult to crank without having the gramophone vibrating and jumping which leads to the needle flying all over the record, sometimes damaging it. When you plug it into power source it sounds better but I guess it's technically not gramophone anymore :)It can only play small records (there were 3 or 4 different diameters for vinyl records, it can only play the smallest one due to its small size). The one included with the set includes 3 musical pieces.There is a way to make it play the records at different speeds by changing one or two parts, the gramophone has a small compartment where you keep the replacement parts. I haven't tried it though as I only tried the one record it came with.I typically gift myself one at New Year and then spend most of the year putting this together. This one is the most challenging of all the ones I've done, and it took me until December (it was a busy year too though so it's not like I put in 2000 hours). I got stuck a few times but there are plenty of videos on YT on assembling it which helped. In the end it somewhat works and you can hear the music even when cranking, and when you plug it into power source it works fine. I never had a gramophone or even heard it but I would imagine it sounds very authentic, ie very staticky and noisy :)I highly recommend this set for adults or very advanced teenagers with plenty of free time and close to unlimited amount of patience :) Assembly requires a lot of attention and can be frustrating at times but putting the thing together and watching it work is very rewarding. I always try to work on these while my kids are around so that they can see how things work on the inside.Looking forward to getting a few more of these, they are very well made and work and look very good.

One of the larger pieces, this one takes up some room on the shelf. The “leaves” of the -phone part of the Gramaphone are a bit tricky to set right but you don’t notice unless you specifically look for it. Some of the pieces are very delicate to be careful popping them out. Took about 4-6 hours to assemble while watching tv (this is like my 20th one of these so you may take shorter/longer).

I've done about 6 of these models and this is a great challenge. It looks gorgeous and does play.Part J1, however, is next to impossible to install. It's purely decorative, so it is unnecessary functionally. It is designed to wrap around the middle of the horn, but the very slender pieces that allow it to wrap around the eight corners just snapped no matter how carefully I worked and I was REALLY careful.

ROKR makes models of precision, with good quality materials. The Victrola and Vitascope are my favorite. As with all of their models, there were no missing pieces, directions were clear concise and easy to follow. All parts were easy to remove and fit together nicely. I used caution handling the smaller parts to avoid breaking them. The included wax and sandpaper are a great and useful add to the kit, keep them handy. Rokr thoughtfully included extra parts for the heavy-handed among us.I purchased a gold paint marker and used it to guild some parts before assembly to enhance the finished product. It turned out great. My model played the record beautifully quite a few times (so many people wanted to see a demo), then stopped. I’m going to troubleshoot to find the problem.To the manufacturer: Please consider a different ‘rest’ for the needle arm when a record is not being played, and offering another record with the kit.

I am still working on this, which is good, because that means it is challenging. I saw reviews where people stated the pieces are fragile and broke; however, the instructions state when something is fragile and so I haven't had a broken piece yet. The gears work great! Can't wait to hear music once I install the horn. Very good looking also.

It’s so intricate and beautiful when completed. It is a great project to share with dad or grandpa

This was one of the more challenging ROKR puzzles I've done, but it was still easy to follow along. It can definitely be tiring to listen to a whole 45, but it plays anything that fits. Though the 45 speed wheel ended up being too fast, the 33 speed actually works perfect for the 45s. I love that you can plug it in for an assist, but I originally thought that it would play on its own but it's fully hand-cranked.