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Re: Edison external horn record player
Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2015 11:20 am
by estott
Re: Edison external horn record player
Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2015 11:14 am
by Schlick
estott wrote:I'm going to be picky here- NO Edison Diamond Disc machine offers "Linear" tracking. On all of them the reproducer takes a radial path across the record.
Thank you for being picky! I did say "linear" and until I saw your comment I thought Edison Diamond Discs (EDD) did track linearly across. I guess I never paid attention!
Now I can't wait to see my next EDD! What fun you've given me.
Thanks again!
Re: Edison external horn record player
Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2021 5:07 pm
by gunnarthefeisty
I've been looking through old forum posts and this particular one really interests me. Has there been any new information in the last 6 years about this?
Re: Edison external horn record player
Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2021 6:03 pm
by Inigo
I would say this is irrelevant in Edison disc machines or any vertical recording machine... As the modulation is vertical, the needle reading the groove has no distortion although the reproducer isn't tangent to the grooves. The stylus is a vertical one with spherical point! The horizontal orientation of the stylus bar doesn't affect the reading of the grooves!
Besides that, the movement of the DD tonearm across the record is not linear, but it's better than with a standard tonearm. It's the most similar to a linear tracking machine! Indeed it describes an arc, but the pivot point is in the horn mouth! It's the opposite of standard tonearm movement. I have no DD player, but I bet the arc is pretty much more tangent to the grooves across the record than in a Victor machine!
Re: Edison external horn record player
Posted: Fri Oct 22, 2021 9:40 am
by JohnM
I recall at one of the first California Antique Phonograph Society shows in the mid-1980’s, the late Grosvenor Fattic sold a very exact replica case of an external horn Edison Disc Phonograph that he has someone build in attempt to recreate one, so beware, there is a replica case for one out there somewhere!
Re: Edison external horn record player
Posted: Fri Oct 22, 2021 11:28 am
by gunnarthefeisty
I sure wish there were pictures of the inside.
Re: Edison external horn record player
Posted: Fri Oct 22, 2021 2:23 pm
by CarlosV
Inigo wrote: ↑Thu Oct 21, 2021 6:03 pm
I would say this is irrelevant in Edison disc machines or any vertical recording machine... As the modulation is vertical, the needle reading the groove has no distortion although the reproducer isn't tangent to the grooves. The stylus is a vertical one with spherical point! The horizontal orientation of the stylus bar doesn't affect the reading of the grooves!
Besides that, the movement of the DD tonearm across the record is not linear, but it's better than with a standard tonearm. It's the most similar to a linear tracking machine! Indeed it describes an arc, but the pivot point is in the horn mouth! It's the opposite of standard tonearm movement. I have no DD player, but I bet the arc is pretty much more tangent to the grooves across the record than in a Victor machine!
You are absolutely correct, Iñigo, the DD player angles are quite close to linear tracking. Linear tracking machines were produced in these times: I have one of the Pathé Diffusor models with the large paper cone hanging on a long suspended rod, tracking linearly the record - which does not make much of a difference, because as you say the record is vertically recorded (although you could play lateral cuts on this machine). There is also a British machine, a portable that has a fixed linear retractable arm, like a car antenna, that recoils in itself as it plays. I do not recall its brand, not any famous name, but there are videos of it on you tube.
Re: Edison external horn record player
Posted: Fri Oct 22, 2021 3:30 pm
by Inigo
Yes, I remember having seen photos of that retractable or telescopic linear tracking arm... Don't remember either the make of the machine, but I've seen it on one of Bergonzi books, i believe. So I'll check it tomorrow ...!
Re: Edison external horn record player
Posted: Fri Oct 22, 2021 10:05 pm
by Lucius1958
gunnarthefeisty wrote: ↑Fri Oct 22, 2021 11:28 am
I sure wish there were pictures of the inside.
There was a photo of the inside published in ITG some years ago, as I recollect.
- Bill
Re: Edison external horn record player
Posted: Tue Oct 26, 2021 10:23 pm
by JohnM
Inigo wrote: ↑Fri Oct 22, 2021 3:30 pm
Yes, I remember having seen photos of that retractable or telescopic linear tracking arm... Don't remember either the make of the machine, but I've seen it on one of Bergonzi books, i believe. So I'll check it tomorrow ...!
Paillard made one that was imported into the US by Sonora and badged as ‘Sonora’ around 1911, iirc.