EMG produced bespoke gramophones inspired by Henry Seymour's Superphone. They were joined in 1928 by Horace Balfour Davey who brought with him a solid scientific grounding and personally designed the now preeminent EMG range of huge horned gramophones.

Ginn lost control of his namesake company in 1930 and set up in direct competition to EMG, producing EXPERT Handmade Gramophones.

Balfour Davey found himself in charge of EMG and, together with his brother Francis Davey, designed and manufactured some of the best acoustic gramophones ever made. Their electrical reproducers are still, today, renowned for their world-leading Hi-Fi quality. The business thrived through the 1950s, especially with the advent of the Long Playing Record. New equipment was needed to play LPs and loyal EMG customers had their older equipment converted to play the new format. Francis Davey designed new pickups and his Infinitely Variable Steep-Cutting Filter was a huge success among audiophiles who wanted to play both their older 78rpm records and the new LPs.

By the mid 60s, EMG had started to concentrate more on selling records than the equipment to play them on. Their invaluable Monthly Letter advised their many loyal customers which records to buy. After Francis Davey's death in 1968, Balfour slowly passed the management of the business to long-serving employees. Balfour died in 1972, and in 1980 the company went into voluntary liquidation.

These pioneers of the gramophone world were rescued from obscurity in 1998 with the publication of 'The E.M.G Story' by Francis James. A fascinating book meticulously researched, revealing the complex and intriguing worlds of Mr Ginn, the Davey's and their many collaborators.

---

E.M.G timeline of dates, places, models and numbers.