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Post by cdbpdx on Apr 15, 2013 23:02:35 GMT -5
Brought home an Edison BC-34 console Diamond Disc player today. There is no speed adjustment on the turntable surface. Looks like it was made that way. Speed can be adjusted from under the bedplate, but that is pretty inconvenient when playing records. What was the thinking behind that? Thanks! CDB Attachments:
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Post by lucius1958 on Apr 16, 2013 2:10:34 GMT -5
Well: it's only inconvenient if you're thinking of playing records other than DDs - or if you want to play a VERY late electric DD (some of which were recorded at @78 rpm).
The Edison company probably had these set for 80 rpm at the factory, and then had the dealers check them and fine tune them before delivery.... and if the buyer kept the machine properly maintained, there wouldn't be any need to change the speed...
BillS
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Post by cdbpdx on Apr 16, 2013 10:15:53 GMT -5
This machine has 2 buttons, a '10' and a '12'. This is an apparent attempt to accomodate 10" and 12" records. I have never seen a 12" Diamond Disc. Did Edison make any 12" records? Did they also play at 80 rpm?
CDB
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Post by phonogfp on Apr 16, 2013 16:12:39 GMT -5
This machine has 2 buttons, a '10' and a '12'. This is an apparent attempt to accomodate 10" and 12" records. I have never seen a 12" Diamond Disc. Did Edison make any 12" records? Did they also play at 80 rpm? CDB Edison made Sample Records in 12" size, but these were distributed to dealers only. And as noted on another online board, Edison manufactured 12" Long Play Records for public consumption. Both these types played at 80 rpm. At the end, Edison also manufactured a 12" lateral disc that played at 78 rpm, but these could not be played on a BC-34 without an adapter. George P.
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Post by maroongem on Apr 16, 2013 16:15:39 GMT -5
This machine has 2 buttons, a '10' and a '12'. This is an apparent attempt to accomodate 10" and 12" records. I have never seen a 12" Diamond Disc. Did Edison make any 12" records? Did they also play at 80 rpm? CDB Edison did in fact offer DD 12" records, these were what were called the long play recordings and were around 40 minutes. The groove was I believe around 400 tpi and you had to have the Long Play Reproducer to play them, plus the extra MS and gearing that coupled with the 10-12 buttons which appeared on machines in the 1925-26 time frame. This also seems to be when the buttons were added to still popular machines as well as the below the motor board speed control which I believe was a cost saver for the company. I'm guessing your turn table felt is orange now rather that the earlier green. Edison's last recordings were also 12" but were shellac needle cut recordings that were played with a steel needle as opposed to his diamond stylus. His very late radio/ phonograph machines (1928-29) such as the C2 and C-4 were made for these shellac electrical recordings. The difference between the 2 was that C-2 could play both DD and lateral cut records electrically and the C-4 was only for the shellac needle-cut recordings. BillF
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Post by lucius1958 on Apr 17, 2013 0:32:29 GMT -5
This machine has 2 buttons, a '10' and a '12'. This is an apparent attempt to accomodate 10" and 12" records. I have never seen a 12" Diamond Disc. Did Edison make any 12" records? Did they also play at 80 rpm? CDB It is interesting to note that the 10/12 inch buttons are found on machines that predate the Long Play discs, and which were never fitted with the LP attachments. Edison had indeed contemplated 12 inch records from the beginning of the DDs: there are early experimental masters listed in the Company log books, and all the production machines had 12 inch turntables. But the records never went into production... There was a revival of interest in 12 inch discs by the early 1920s; the buttons first date from this period. But, again, the expected discs failed to materialize... It wasn't until the LPs were finally marketed in 1926 that there was a 12 inch Edison record. BillS
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Post by pughphonos on May 5, 2013 19:20:30 GMT -5
Hi Folks. Have met some of you over at the Talking Machine Forum. Have decided to concentate here as my main interest is Edison, especially lately. I've invested quite a bit in Edison Long Play of late (mechanisms and records) and will update this group more on that in separate posts.
As for no speed control on some of the DD machines, this was the case for my earliest DD machine, a later model A100. I eventually sold that machine as it was clearly running a bit below 80 rpm and there wasn't anything I could seem to do for it. Maybe there was a hidden knob somewhere under the bedplate but I could never find it. That was also at a time (2004-06) that I did not have recourse to any of the on-line groups that provide helpful information.
Anyway, all best to you. Nice to be at a place where one can have enthusiasm for Edison and not be subject to insults from the Victor people. ; )
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Post by wagnerian on May 9, 2013 5:02:34 GMT -5
I used to own a London Upright (LU37) without the speed control and this ran fast. The only way I could find to adjust the speed was to actually move the governor toward the two pressure pads. Whilst this actually worked, I would not recommend it to anyone who does not have the patience of a saint. It took me about 3 hours to get it right with a considerable amount of swearing; it was always either too fast or then too slow or then too fast again.
Regarding the 10 and 12 buttons, agreed they were fitted to the long-playing phonographs and formed part of the LP conversion kit but they also appear to have been commonly fitted to the console model phonographs. Could this have been because the console turntable was lower than an upright and therefore more difficult, when standing up, to place the stylus in the first groove of the record? Just a thought.
Regards
Tim W-W
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Post by pughphonos on May 9, 2013 11:47:44 GMT -5
Tim, interesting theory as to the 10" & 12" buttons being on consoles as one would not have to kneel down to position the reproducer at the groove start by sight. I think there might be something to that! No reason why that can't be true, along with the standard explanation that Edison might have been plotting the 12" records for several years before finally introducing them in 1926.
I love the buttons, BTW! Once you have that mechanism properly installed it does help avoid fishing around for the opening groove. A lateral steel needle will just "fall" into the opening groove--a clear advantage--but at least the Edison button system helped eliminate some of the time wasted in setting the reproducer into or near the opening groove.
Ralph
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