Bell-Tainter A-Frame Machine Questions

[Rexophone]

Andreas,

Ha! Yes it always seems that other family members mistakenly think that we are over medicated. But I wanted to add seriously that until recently I had only collected Victor and Edison. I was quite delighted when I picked up my first Graphophone. As mentioned above they take a radically different point of view towards cylinder phonograph design than Edison, so they are a fascinatingly different rabbit hole to jump down. I also understand the need to scrap together funds for anything new. If you can find another collector close to you who has a few, it can make an interesting visit to go and look and ask questions. I am fortunate to have a very enthusiastic Columbia collector nearby who has patiently given me direction. I then spent a month or so googling and collecting photos from the Internet of different Columbia models to decide what appealed to me.

Like some of the Edison machines, there are particular Columbias which use pot metal for key components. I would entirely avoid these as a first machine. They can be interesting later if you want more of a challenge.

I see that the Columbia Phonograph Companion Volume 1 is available on Amazon right now four $37. I didn't buy this myself until after I bought my first Columbia and decided that I did want to jump into the rabbit hole.

Anyway if you decide to examine a different hemisphere of the hobby the Graphophones are a great subject.

Steve