About the Company
The Gramdeck was not a conventional reel‑to‑reel tape deck brand in the sense of TEAC, Sony, Akai, etc. Instead, it was a unique British device from the late 1950s designed to convert a record player (gramophone) into a tape recorder and player. Its name is short for “gramophone tape deck.”
Brand: Gramdeck
Manufacturer/Distributor: Andrew Merryfield Ltd., London (UK)
Era: Circa 1959–early 1960s
Country: United Kingdom
Unlike conventional tape recorders with their own motorized capstan and drive system, the Gramdeck relied on the turntable motor of an existing record player to drive its tape reels via a rubber belt and slip‑on plate.
Timeline & Unique Production Concept
Late 1950s – Invention and Market Launch
The Gramdeck was invented by an engineer named A. Tutchings for the British Royal Radar Establishment originally, as an inventive method to record sound.
1959: It was commercially released via Andrew Merryfield Ltd in London as a low‑cost tape recorder attachment for domestic use.
Advertised as a way to “turn your gramophone into a tape recorder” — while still allowing the gramophone to play discs normally once removed.
Circa 1959–Early 1960s – Short Market Life
The Gramdeck was sold for roughly £13 10 s in the UK in 1959 (about £210 today adjusted for inflation).
Sales appear to have been modest and it was essentially off the market by the early 1960s, especially once conventional reel players became affordable and compact cassette formats emerged (from ~1963).
A competing concept launched around the same period from the official Gramophone Company called the Voicemaster was also unsuccessful.
How It Worked
Unlike typical tape decks with their own stable transport mechanism, the Gramdeck:
Sat on the turntable platter of a phonograph or hi‑fi.
Used the turntable’s rotational speed (e.g., 78 rpm) to set tape speed — roughly 7 ½ ips with 78 rpm, slower speeds from lower speeds.
Included a battery‑powered transistor control unit with basic record/playback controls and a microphone input.
Could accommodate reels up to about 5½″ diameter and offered simple record/playback functions, but no real fast‑forward or rewind driven by its own motor (rewind was manual with the turntable).
This made the Gramdeck a cheap, ingenious toy‑like tape recorder compared to standard tape decks of the era — useful for basic recordings from radio, microphone or records, but not full‑featured.
Technical Notes
One Gramdeck model (often just referred to as the Gramdeck X) is described with technical details showing:
Tube electronics (some versions) and battery control unit (later transistorised preamp).
Dual‑track mono head (permalloy) and basic playback/record capability.
Battery operation and reliance on a separate amplifier or existing hi‑fi system for sound output.
This unit wasn’t built like a normal tape deck made by companies with their own transport motors — its very identity was dependent on the gramophone’s platter for tape motion.
Market Impact & Legacy
The Gramdeck was an early and inexpensive way for consumers to try reel recording without buying a full tape deck, at a time when magnetic tape recording was just becoming mainstream in the home.
Its design ended up being a short‑lived experiment; quickly overshadowed by dedicated reel‑to‑reel machines that had proper motors, tape transports, and rewind/fast‑forward functions.
The advent of compact cassette technology (Philips, 1963) and falling reel‑to‑reel prices soon rendered such novelty attachments obsolete.
Today the Gramdeck is more of a novelty/collector artefact — illustrating early home recording fan‑innovation — than a standalone manufacturer’s production line.
Summary
Gramdeck — Key Points
Product: Gramdeck (gramophone‑driven reel tape recorder).
Origin: UK, distributed by Andrew Merryfield Ltd, based on a concept by an engineer at Royal Radar Establishment.
Era: Circa 1959 – early 1960s.
Design: Slip‑on turntable attachment converting gramophones to tape recorders; inexpensive and basic.
Legacy: Short‑lived, niche, early attempt to make tape recording accessible pre‑cassette era.