LU 37 Volume Control

[jimfielding]

Hello All;

Brand new to the Board and have a question about an LU 37 that I just bought. The machine seems to run well but there's no muff to adjust the volume. It doesn't have the wire or the lever to move the muff either but there is a small metal "L" bracket that is right in front of the horn. The bracket makes me think it may have had one once upon a time.

My question is did the LU 37s have the "mute muff?"

If the answer is "yes," I'll have a second question that will be something like "where can I get the whole assembly?"

I don't hear worth a darn and the thing can be loud to me. The wife says its too loud for her. Seems like there had to be something.

Thanks for any help anybody can offer.

Jim

[wagnerian]

I've owned two LU37s (aka London Upright) in the past and neither has had a mute ball. I assume from that that mute balls were not fitted to this particular machine.

The London Upright was a relatively inexpensive machine with a relatively small horn, so the Edison company may have decided that a sound control device could not be justified on grounds of cost or that the smaller horn would not generate sufficient volume to make the mute worthwhile.

I'm not sure but the "L" shaped bracket you have noticed in front of the horn is probably to stop the horn swinging into the back of the grill or into the motor works but without having a machine a check, I couldn't say for certain.

What you do have is a lovely, well- constructed machine and is a great introduction to the fascinating and occasionally wacky world of Edison Discs.

Tim W-W

[jimfielding]

Thank you for the timely & helpful reply. My Grandparents had the "Laboratory Model" and I could tell that this LU 37 was smaller. I suspected it was a lower priced "stripped down" model & I guess you pretty much confirmed that. At least I now know not to spend any more time looking for a mute muff. At the rate my hearing is going down hill it won't be loud to me for much longer anyway.

Jim

[larryh]

I had a nice london upright but the sound of the small horn was not to the advantage of the music. And as I recall it too was quite loud on some records.. All one needs do is take small old hand towel and push it into the horn till you get the volume you want, it will tone it down.

Larry

[maroongem]

Dec 4, 2012 23:01:11 GMT -5 larryh said:

All one needs do is take small old hand towel and push it into the horn till you get the volume you want, it will tone it down.

Larry

Supposedly where the term "Put a sock in it" came from but there is some disagreement......................

[marcapra]

I also own an LU-37 or London Upright and mine also does not have a mute ball. According to the Frow book, the London phonos first came out in 1922 without mute balls. Frow says "after criticism from the trade and the public, sound modifiers or muting devices were supplied". I wonder if that means that dealers just gave complaining customers a mute ball kit, or that they were put on at the factory. But I don't think I've ever seen a London with a mute ball. I know that the LU-37 is the only model by Edison to survive the late summer 1927 clearance sale of Edison DD machines to make way for the Edisonics. Also, by late 1927, Edison was no longer using mute balls on their Edisonic machines because, for the first time, Edison phonos had doors covering the horn. The London upright cost just $75 while the next floor model, the Schubert, cost $135. If your London is playing too loud, make sure you are not using a Dance or an Edisonic reproducer as that would increase the sound greatly.

[pughphonos]

I agree with all above: LU-37s were not built with mute balls but it makes sense that kits would be supplied in time. Should not be hard to buy a horn assembly on e-bay (from a parted-out machine) and get the mute mechanism off of one of those.

I had an LU-37 briefly (a few weeks ago). Bought it just for its Kentone lateral adapter, plus also wanted to see how good its Standard reproducer was. Was very pleased with both reproducers and kept both. Here's a cautionary tale, though: I have a double-spring S-19 and am used to cranking that baby hard. Did the same to the LU-37, and broke the single spring. So I had to send the spring barrel off to the Victrola Repair Service guys and have it repaired before I sold the machine to a local shop.

I agree with Tim W-W: LU-37s are great starter machines: well-made, and I'm convinced that the standard reproducers that survive intact on them are of great quality as by that point (early 1920s) Edison's people had had ten years' worth of experience with fabricating their diaphragms.

Ralph

[alang]

Ralph, I don't think that the spring breaking had anything to do with the machine being an LU-37. I don't think that Edison used different qualities of springs if they were the same size. It's more likely that in the last 90 years someone stored the machine fully wound for an extended period of time. I have a BC-34 single spring and always crank it hard with no problem. I bought an A-80 last year at an auction and when it came home I found that it was fully wound. I let it unwind and sit for a few days, but the spring snapped the next time is was wound up. I have several other single spring machines and always have to wind them full in order to play through a full side. But I never leave them fully wound, simply because after playing a record they are nearly unwound anyway....

Andreas

[pughphonos]

Interesting anecdote, Andreas. Makes sense. OK, I won't blame myself for snapping the spring--at least as much.

Oh, I didn't mean to imply that the LU-37 springs were weaker than others; just thought that a single spring (in ANY machine) might be more vulnerable to a hard cranking.

[coyote]

Dec 4, 2012 23:01:11 GMT -5 larryh said:

All one needs do is take small old hand towel and push it into the horn till you get the volume you want, it will tone it down.

Just DO NOT do this while playing a record, since the arm and horn are all one assembly and pivot, of course. Being used to doing this with cylinder machines, I had a "senior moment" once and forgot...

[pughphonos]

Agreed! A few weeks ago I was playing a record on my S-19 and took the grille off so as to access the horn for some reason. Got carried away, went to adjust the horn--and ZIIIIIIIP: careened the stylus clear across the record surface. Good thing that Edison discs are tough.

Good to see you, Coyote.

[federationofideas]

Hi,

I have an LU-37, and while it didn't come with a mute ball, I was able to find one on ebay for a descent price. There's a place to mount the assembly on mine.

(Also, the mute ball is basically just a felt ball with stuffing - so you could probably make one pretty easily)