The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Here are some photos of my latest Standard Model A, which I understand to be the last version. I now have all three versions. Someday I will put them along side each other and see what's what. For this one, so far I've only wiped it down and removed a lot of mud wasp burrows--there's one still inside the horn elbow. The machine was in a very dilapidated and neglected state. The motor was partially disassembled, one governor weight was off with no spring, the felt although original was torn in multiple places, nickel plating had peeled, and the oak veneer had lifted. The motor has been cleaned and now runs rather smoothly. I will not replace the felt. It looks bad but it's original and so I will simply lay a new piece of felt over the top of it. That'll do. I also took a photo of a Standard record label with the Dearborne address, not the more common Monroe St. address. I have the reproducer that came with this machine. I just haven't rebuilt it yet.

Given that I've seen so many Columbia machines with peeled and peeling nickel plating, I now think that Columbia did not properly prepare the aluminum substrate. Aluminum oxidizes very quickly. That layer may only be a few microns thick, but that's enough to cause the nickel not to adhere. One either has to polish it off just before electroplating the aluminum or run the reaction in reverse. That also will strip off the outer oxidized layer. I don't think Columbia did either of these steps.