Repairing or replacing parts?

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Curt A
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Re: Repairing or replacing parts?

Post by Curt A »

A search on GOOGLE resulted in no hits for the word on the second line, so I am assuming that whoever wrote it misspelled it and that it should read - "Turlutine". It seems to make sense, since it is a type of food that Zouaves (French soldiers) ate as rations in the field. Therefore, the song would be a polka about turlutines.

Definition of the word Turlutine:
((Rigaud, 1888))
(Turlutine)
(Mix of crushed biscuit, rice and bacon;) (Soldier feeding in the field.) ((L. Larchey))

Reminiscences of an officer of Zouaves. Tr. from the French.

https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/moa/ACT726 ... view...;q1...
Every evening, accordingly, after supper, the band of the Zouaves struck up, and began playing waltzes, polkas, and quadrilles,-while sailors, sailor boys, and soldiers commenced under the inspiration of this ...... Towards afternoon, they even resolved on lighting fires and preparing their turlutines, in defiance of the storm.
"The phonograph† is not of any commercial value."
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"No one needs a Victrola XX, a Perfected Graphophone Type G, or whatever you call those noisy things."
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Curt A
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Re: Repairing or replacing parts?

Post by Curt A »

Barber of Seville Aria: The Barber of Seville, Act I, Scene 4: "Vous voulez donc que je dépeigne"
"The phonograph† is not of any commercial value."
Thomas Alva Edison - Comment to his assistant, Samuel Insull.

"No one needs a Victrola XX, a Perfected Graphophone Type G, or whatever you call those noisy things."
My Wife

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Raphael
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Re: Repairing or replacing parts?

Post by Raphael »

The broken tooth on the left is very insignificant, as it is really not a normal, tuned comb tooth. It merely controls one of the 8 drum beaters. Looking at the cylinder itself, it may not even have any pins that utilize it. And even if there are pins for it, the noisy drum will not improve with the 8th beater functioning, most people tire of the drum quickly and there is a switch to silence it entirely.

This is known as a cartel, "orchestra" music box, made around the turn of the century. Various components were made in small workshops around Switzerland (winter work for farmers), and the parts would be delivered to assembly factories in St. Croix. Even though the tunes listed are in French, you will note the heading that says "12 Airs, 17.5 INCH CYL" is in English. This is because the primary markets for this type of music box was for export to England and the USA.

And, as a general rule, the more tunes a music box plays, the lesser the sound quality and complexity because the comb teeth spacing must be increased to allow for the lateral shifting of the cylinder between each tune. I have seen music boxes with 16, and as many as 24 tunes, and it is important not to think all those tunes enhance the value of the piece.

If the organ is functioning properly, that is very important as they can be very problematic to fix.

Raphael

clevelander
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Re: Repairing or replacing parts?

Post by clevelander »

Jenni,
This looks very like a Nicole Frere of Geneva musical box.
This company manufactured boxes from the 1830s to the 1880s to very high standards.
The only snag is that every box I have seen is stamped with their name.
Check them out on the internet.
Best regards,
Alistair.
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phonospud
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Re: Repairing or replacing parts?

Post by phonospud »

The musical box you have is actually made by Charles Paillard of St. Croix, Switzerland. If you post the serial number I can tell you within roughly 1 year, it's date of manufacture. It's is identifiable by the style of tune card that is with the box. Although tune card identification is only proven if the serial number falls in line with the respective serial numbers for Paillard.
Just as an FYI:
The Nicole box in the previous pictures is not a true Nicole if the serial number is higher than 50,000. Nicole ceased to exist when the factory was shut down and moved to the UK in the late 1870's. Other Swiss companies made movements for what was left of the Nicole firm and labeled as such.
This does not mean it's not a good quality musical box, just some useless history trivia :)

I've been restoring musical boxes of all types since 1987.
Finest in music box and phonograph restorations for over 40 years

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Raphael
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Re: Repairing or replacing parts?

Post by Raphael »

phonospud wrote:The musical box you have is actually made by Charles Paillard of St. Croix, Switzerland. If you post the serial number I can tell you within roughly 1 year, it's date of manufacture. It's is identifiable by the style of tune card that is with the box. Although tune card identification is only proven if the serial number falls in line with the respective serial numbers for Paillard.
Different "manufacturers" (sometimes actually component assemblers) sometimes shared tune cards, as local printers in Switzerland made them in batches and in some cases the designs were not proprietary. The tune sheet seems to indicate the Serial # is 36616. If indeed this is a Paillard then it dates to about 1887/8.

Music box maker identification is sometimes the end result of rationalization of various clues. It is one of the more fascinating aspects of this hobby. I would agree with Phonospud that it is a Paillard.

Raphael

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phonospud
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Re: Repairing or replacing parts?

Post by phonospud »

Excellent points all around Raphael, I will add that usually when I think I’ve discovered something a box will show up completely blowing all known facts out of the water! LOL! Cheers, Darren Wallace
Finest in music box and phonograph restorations for over 40 years

numinenje
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Re: Repairing or replacing parts?

Post by numinenje »

Oh my goodness, I'm over whelmed with information. I've been googling my little eyes out! Thanks to everybody!

~Jenni

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