Rediscovering my Amberola 1A

[TinfoilPhono]

I bought my Amberola 23 years ago, in an antique store in a small town in Colorado. They had bought it at an estate sale in Nebraska a couple of weeks earlier. It was expensive for the time but as a friend told me when I called him from the antique shop, "it may seem expensive today but in a few years it'll be a bargain and you'll feel like a hero." He was right. I've never regretted the price, which seems cheap today. I just couldn't resist such a beautiful and all-original machine.

Obviously I couldn't carry it on the plane so the store owner put it in his truck and drove it to a nearby manufacturer, who crated it so securely it would probably have survived being dropped from a plane. It took me a couple of hours just to uncrate it.

I enjoyed it immensely for about 8 years, but as more machines came into the house I ultimately relegated it to my daughter's old bedroom (after she went off to college). There it sat in a kind of purgatory for the past 15 years, unloved, unplayed, and largely unseen. For many years I had another phonograph sitting on top of it, so I couldn't even open the lid. (I had sworn that I would never pile machines on machines but as new acquisitions ate up all remaining space, I had no choice.)

Now that I've downsized my collection a bit I'm enjoying rearranging things and becoming reacquainted with machines I have hardly looked at in years. The Amberola is definitely one of those.

I moved it into the living room again, and spent a few hours today cleaning and polishing it (I couldn't believe how dirty my rags were at the end). I also cleaned and lubricated the motor. The belt I had installed in 1995 was badly stretched and the machine sounded terrible. With a new belt it's back to normal. And wow, is normal ever impressive -- I had forgotten how great these sound! Especially with the lid closed. The clarity of my old black wax cylinders is stunning. This blows away all of my other 2-minute machines, and is a serious rival to my Opera for 4-minute records.

Needless to say I'm enjoying the rediscovery of both the machine and some familiar old records. It's almost like finding a new acquisition.

[melvind]

A stunning machine and wonderful story. Thanks for sharing it. Perhaps you should add this to the Featured Phonograph archive. It would be a nice addition.

[gemering]

Rene,

That's a beautiful example.
Glad to see it being used again.

Gene

[phonogfp]

Rene, that's a nice example of a 1A. They are indeed impressive machines, and when the reproducer is properly rebuilt, they play with impressive fidelity.

I'm glad you've "rediscovered" the joys of the 1A! One of the advantages of becoming older and with too many machines stashed around the house is such "rediscoveries." It's much cheaper than buying!

George P.

[Hailey]

Thanks for posting this.
IMO...the best phonograph ever produced.

[TinfoilPhono]

I was looking at my Opera tonight and suddenly had a thought -- I wonder why Edison came out with this in late 1911, when the Amberola 1A had been available for nearly two years. The Amberola was far more modern with its built-in horn. And why did the Opera sell so well (not great, but 4,600 or so is still impressive)? Logically the Amberola design should have totally replaced horn phonographs yet there are more surviving Operas than contemporary Amberola 1A and 1B phonographs.

Yes, the Amberola was more expensive. Perhaps that's the main reason, but I would think a lot of people would have made the stretch to have the most advanced cylinder machine possible.

[gramophone-georg]

Maybe cylinder buyers were simply used to seeing cylinder machines as outside horn units and thought the Amberola looked too much like everything else.

Don't forget... if you wanted an inside horn machine you could get a Diamond Disc machine too. Maybe the big Amberolas just weren't an attraction being in the middle of those two choices. It seems the Amberolas sold better as tabletop machines.

[barnettrp21122]

I wouldn't think of the external horn Opera as a step backward in comparing it to the Amberola 1A and B.
Edison was promoting 4-minute wax and later Blue Amberols when the Opera was introduced. Its beltless mechanism was quieter with even less flutter. A smaller horn packed into a cabinet will compare unfavorably to the wooden Opera horn. The Opera had all good features at half the cost in the day, so yes, I can see why so many Operas were sold. If fashion trumped function then of course the Amberola would be picked if affordable.
That said, I have all three of these and most of the activity goes to the 1B and Opera for four minute cylinders.
The 1A gets all my 2-minute wax!
Bob

[audiophile102]

I suspect that you will discover what the current value of your Amberola is when this one comes up for auction.
https://www.proxibid.com/aspr/Edison-Am ... d=40954311
I would be thrilled to own one. Yours is very beautiful, especially with that grill.

[phonogfp]

I suspect that you will discover what the current value of your Amberola is when this one comes up for auction.
https://www.proxibid.com/aspr/Edison-Am ... d=40954311
I would be thrilled to own one. Yours is very beautiful, especially with that grill.

Well, keep in mind that the one coming up for auction has non-matching numbers, and there's also a 23% buyers penalty to be added to the selling price.

George P.