Edison B-250 in Amberola Cabinet

Post by **tomb** » Wed Dec 13, 2017 9:09 pm

would the horns be the same for the two phonographs??? Is it an amberola horn or a DD horn ?? They may not have changed the horn. Tom B

phonogfp · Post by **phonogfp** » Wed Dec 13, 2017 9:23 pm

tomb wrote:would the horns be the same for the two phonographs??? Is it an amberola horn or a DD horn ?? They may not have changed the horn. Tom B

The horns are entirely different. The Amberola horn is gone, and the disc mechanism is equipped with a conventional DD horn.

George P.

mark gaisser · Post by **mark gaisser** » Wed Dec 13, 2017 11:13 pm

omg guys it is marriage and not factory at all...it is a hack job...lets be real...mark

Valecnik · Post by **Valecnik** » Thu Dec 14, 2017 1:11 pm

mark gaisser wrote:omg guys it is marriage and not factory at all...it is a hack job...lets be real...mark

I don't think you are right Mark. That re-stamped serial no. plate...

mark gaisser · Post by **mark gaisser** » Thu Dec 14, 2017 10:58 pm

dont't wish for christmas...no way does that hack job leave the factory...give edison credit for quality....mark

mark gaisser · Post by **mark gaisser** » Thu Dec 14, 2017 11:03 pm

oh yea when it left the factory they threw in broken cylinders scraps....stop wishing and get in a realty mode...

phonojim · Post by **phonojim** » Thu Dec 14, 2017 11:25 pm

I own a 1A but have never owned a B250, so I have refrained from posting a partially informed opinion, at least until now. I don't think the ID plate is necessarily proof of authenticity because alpha/numeric stamping sets are not hard to find. Add to the fact that the style of the overstamped characters does not match the original and I see a problem here. It could have been done at the factory for in house use, but i can't believe anyone would have bothered with filling the extra crank hole, much less removing the plate, stamping it and reinstalling it. If they had wanted a specific ID for it they would most likely
have simply nailed on an inventory tag.

Jim

Post by **EarlH** » Thu Dec 14, 2017 11:39 pm

I know a guy up in Minneapolis that has an A-250 where an Amberola cabinet was used as well and maybe he can add to this. His machine definitely has some oddball things about it. For one thing, the TERRIBLE job they did under the lid trying to cover up the Amberola decal. But I don't know about the ID tag and if that was overstamped to change the serial number. The did saw the ear off the lid and use that to fill the U shaped opening for the cylinder. It's odd some of the lengths that Edison went to use things up.

Valecnik · Post by **Valecnik** » Fri Dec 15, 2017 1:24 am

EarlH wrote:I know a guy up in Minneapolis that has an A-250 where an Amberola cabinet was used as well and maybe he can add to this. His machine definitely has some oddball things about it. For one thing, the TERRIBLE job they did under the lid trying to cover up the Amberola decal. But I don't know about the ID tag and if that was overstamped to change the serial number. The did saw the ear off the lid and use that to fill the U shaped opening for the cylinder. It's odd some of the lengths that Edison went to use things up.

Correct Earl. There are multiple examples of A-250s. There's at least one converted B-250 posted somewhere here on the Forum with. It has the drawers. I have an A-300 made over from an Amberola 1 cabinet. See link below.

http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewto ... ?f=2&t=537

Elements of the makeover are not so apparent in the pics but clearly visible in person. Whether Cliff's machine was done at the factory or not is debatable but I don't think the possibility can be dismissed.

DGPros · Post by **DGPros** » Thu Dec 21, 2017 5:10 pm

I figured I would update my cleaning of the amb uuuh B-2 uuummm non binary machine.

An ammonia bath and multiple goop sessions only done so far. From my take, and of course purely speculative, I do believe this was a factory switch over.

1) Cylinder brackets removed.
2) Holes for an amberola, (early hoof foot 1A cabinet) though crude would not be noticed under the bedplate. Any carpenter will tell you stories of professional jobs that were pretty crude when not in sight. Also see past posts on this site.
3) Broken 4 minute cylinder in the bottom of machine. Why would they remove the drawers to clean out the bottom if the drawers were staying?
4) Excellent job removing Amberola label and adding Edison.(matching lid, body #)
5) The wood trim around the bed plate. Very nicely done, surprised no one brought that up. Definitely not an amateur there.
6) The data plate.
7) Bedplate alteration on bracket.

Did I miss anything?

There does seem to appear an amateur fix at some point. The painting on the rim and bad job fixing the foot. I haven't touched that or the motor yet. Little scared to see whats under that tape.

All in all an interesting machine. Thanks to all for their input on this. I hope you guys enjoyed this strange little puzzle as much as I did.