steve
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Post by steve on Jun 11, 2007 19:11:56 GMT -5
Most of the time you can judge the condition of a DD from its label, but after I got a worn record with a good label I stopped buying on eBay and now I only would buy from people like Dave Jolley that actually know how to grade DD's. You buy a DD and it is in poor shape, then the seller wants you to pay return shipping so by the time you do this you pay shipping both ways and it is not worth the bother for me.
Steve
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steve
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Post by steve on Jul 2, 2007 20:11:34 GMT -5
Bill said "I hate to throw a stick in the spokes, but I have to disagree that BAs can't sound better than DDs."
If you have an Amberola 1 or Opera with a good reproducer Blue Amberols can sound outstanding. The earliest and latest blue amberols are the best for sound, even though the later ones are acoustically dubbed from electrically recorded DD's the sound is wonderful. I took a model N and installed a stylus bar with a diamond and the sound that came from the Blue Amberol was amazing.
Blue amberols and DD's have an amazing amount of sound quality.
Steve
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steve
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Post by steve on Jun 15, 2007 21:19:35 GMT -5
J,
HMV made more varieties than Victor did on the No 4. HMV does not have the lines and I see you have the very hard to find HMV with the name under the mica, I believe this was the first style. HMV made them with brass front and back, brass front and pot metal back and pot metal front and back. Anthony did an article on all the HMV no 4 varieties, I will look it up if you are interested.
Steve
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steve
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Post by steve on Jun 11, 2007 19:07:09 GMT -5
Matt,
I am very happy for you and appreciate you sharing you good fortune with us.
I see you have 52649, 52638 and 52623 along with other late ones like 52599, the later ones are very hard to find and were recorded at 78 rpm. May I ask for the serial number of the reproducer?
Steve
From Ron from phonolist:
Here's an update on the speed of late Diamond Discs. I now suspect that the change to 78 rpm speed for Diamond Discs began in Sept. 1928, not February 1929. This would mean that Diamond Discs with matrix numbers as low as the 18700 range were recorded at 78 rpm, not 80 rpm. The Edison Company in its Sept. 1928 instruction book for C-2 radio phonographs stated that the correct speed for Edison records was 78 rpm. This appears to mean Diamond Discs because needle cut discs hadn't been released by Edison. At any rate, more research needs to be done, but his is where my research is now.
Ron D.
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steve
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Post by steve on Jun 11, 2007 19:39:13 GMT -5
Why so low? Too hard to ship, an Edisonic in New York went for less than this, I was sad I could not have gotten it.
Steve
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steve
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Post by steve on Jul 2, 2007 20:22:28 GMT -5
orthophonic,
Did your Edisonic have paper gaskets? I would think if your Edisonic had black rubber it would have come from a later rebuild. I have rebuilt reproducers with second generation gaskets that were totally petrified. The way I tell if they were done by Edison or a repairman of that era is the paper gaskets. The paper is cheap notebook paper that has the lines on it. This paper has been around for a while, I saw a letter from 1864 written on it.
It could have come from Edison or an Edison repairman that way. I have an H reproducer with cork gaskets, Edison did service work on these into the 1920's and sold parts even later.
Steve
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steve
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Post by steve on Jun 11, 2007 19:33:52 GMT -5
There are two types of Edisonic, the early square weight one and the later round weight one. The square weight is harder to find. Then there are converted Edisionics and original ones. NS after the serial number is an Edisonic 7960 NS is an original, or one that started life as an Edisonic.
NS after the serial number beginning with letter is a Converted Edisonic F88690 NS is an example of this. You could trade in a regular reproducer and $6.75 and save $12.75 on an Edisonic; Edison then modified the head with a larger limit loop and installed the heavy weight and thicker diaphragm on it.
The finish offered was nickel, gold and antique. Nickel seems to be the hardest to find based on the ones I have seen, I see that Bill has seen the fewest gold ones. Antique seems to be the most common as machines were produced with this finish. Until I saw what Bill had written I assumed the gold ones were more common than nickel as fewer people with the less expensive nickel ones had them updated, but now I am not sure. The condition of the finish used to be what price was based on, now restored ones sell high and the prices seem to have to have gone way up.
In my opinion $150 for one with a good finish, needle and small spring is a reasonable price to pay. I would pay $250 for a NOS one.
Steve
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steve
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Post by steve on Jun 11, 2007 19:16:49 GMT -5
From Ron,
Edison switched to cork gaskets around 1924 as he found that cork retains resiliency longer than rubber. Gaskets are critical to the piston movement of vertical reproducers. Hard gaskets inhibit movement of the diaphragm and stylus, causing record wear as well as poor reproduction.
A problem with gaskets now available from restorers is that the gaskets are often oversized and dampen the diaphragm too much. The gaskets must be no wider than the steel damping ring that fits next to them in the reproducer cup.
Steve the parrot
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steve
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Post by steve on May 14, 2007 19:10:44 GMT -5
Shane,
Cheney made ball and point stylus for playing Pathe and Edison and had both lateral and vertical heads. I have about two of the point ones, they are held in by shellac. When I examined mine under a loupe both points were bad. I think other companies did the same. I do not like playing DD's on players where the groove has to pull the reproducer along.
Steve
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steve
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Post by steve on Dec 1, 2006 0:26:15 GMT -5
Rocky,
I paid about $40 for my antique finish square weight Edisonic on eBay, I believe it will need a new needle so I will have about $125 in it when I am finished. It sounds good now even with the gaskets hanging out.
Steve
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steve
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Post by steve on Nov 29, 2006 17:12:19 GMT -5
Rocky, How many of the square weight Edisonics have you seen? Items that are rare will continue to go up in price and the supply of NOS things is very limited. The Dance came in gold and antique, but you normally only see the nickel ones. The iron and brass O, the model M, and the early L and M with the flat H and K weights along with the 2 minute J that sold on eBay are good examples of reproducers that are hard to find. Here is a triumph B with an iron and brass O tinyurl.com/sumtr item number 260057079616. Steve
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steve
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Post by steve on Nov 29, 2006 17:00:28 GMT -5
Hi Matt,
I see both of yours are converted ones and I really appreciate the serial numbers. I thought you were an Edison person, how could you amputate a reproducer from the elbow of the horn?
Steve
Edison reproducers have letters before the serial numbers: LG is long play EM is one with Duncan stop LD is the Dance no letters & A to F Regular DD reproducer Edison started out with just numbers and when he got so high (999999) he started over with an A and worked his way up. NS before the serial number Edisonic NS after the serial number Converted Edisonic You could trade in a regular reproducer and $6.75 and save $12.75 on an Edisonic, Edison then modified the head with a larger limit loop and installed the heavy weight and thicker diaphragm on it.
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steve
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Post by steve on Nov 28, 2006 14:47:24 GMT -5
Matt,
What finish is yours and is it the round or square weight and what is the serial number? It should be written on the outside of the box in pencil.
Steve
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steve
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Post by steve on Nov 28, 2006 14:43:33 GMT -5
Rocky,
This is one of the early square weight Edisonics with the serial number F-75662-NS so it was converted to an Edisonic from a standard by Edison and since it has the high serial number it was likely converted from Edison stock. You rarely see a square weight Edisonic and this is the first NOS one I have ever seen. Mine is antique finish F 79001 NS and I have another one that is the later round weight converted one, F 80885 NS also in antique finish. It would be interesting to know if all the square weight ones were converted ones. You could trade in your regular reproducer with $6.75 for an Edisonic and Edison removed the old limit loop, installed a new one, added the thicker diaphragm and the new weight, Edison never wasted and you saved $12.75 off of the $19.50 an Edisonic cost.
NOS items are becoming harder and harder to find and I would not be surprised to see it go over $1000. It took me five years to get my square weight.
Steve
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steve
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Post by steve on Nov 17, 2006 22:27:21 GMT -5
Bill,
Yes, yours is one the other was on eBay, I suspect Edison converted some of the unsold tops he had as he never wasted. You have a very special reproducer and I am very fortunate to have a photo of it identified by its serial number. What makes Edison so much fun is all the varieties and nice people like you who share their good fortune. For about two years I was curious about the eBay one.
Thanks,
Steve
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