Amberola DX

[VanEpsFan1914]

The advantage of an open horn Fireside is that a cygnet horn can be fitted to it for great fidelity, and a Fireside A can play anything. I also happen to have one up for sale but that has nothing to do with this, no sir, of course not--

But seriously good find on the Amberola. I like Amberolas and the DX is a unique-looking phonograph.

What I'd do is leave the Diamond B reproducer in the Amberola, and don't convert away from 4m only. The problem with the C and H reproducers is that they don't sound as good as the diamond reproducers--for a 2m only machine, I'd suggest building a Model A or B Edison Home (as they're pretty cheap when found with 2m only gearing) and then put a C reproducer in with upgraded diaphragm. For a horn pick a nice morning glory Home horn, a full sized black & brass horn or brass concert horn, or ask David Zavracky here about the performance of Searchlight horns. Recordings made from the Searchlights in his collection sound quite nice.
Optimize the motor of the Home with leather belts, a new pulley (Ron Sitko had some turned aluminum ones, and Brian Parlier has his business now) and fresh governor springs--take the output shaft to a machinist & have it straightened as it's almost always a trifle bent, and then polish everything. Change the mainspring if it needs it. If the Home is a Model A then get replica rubber bumpers for the top casting & motor mounts, and of course change the feet of the machine. That will play any 2m record you get, look great, and leave your Amberola with the diamond reproducer.

I didn't mention an O reproducer and cygnet as this is a recipe to build a good player but keep costs down. Cygnets look like a million bucks & are priced accordingly--besides, not every case is drilled for the cygnet bracket, and why drill original cases.

The Diamond Amberolas were sold as the Next Big Thing in phonographs, and much of that is due to the diamond reproducers. Amberolas are some of my all-time favorite Edison phonographs and you will love yours.

And don't worry about the bad case; the bottoms can be replaced. Here's my Amberola 30--after I got it, a few years ago. The bottom rotted so badly that the front molding fell off. It'd been in water in Florida and had been home to roaches.

IMG_1066.JPG (68.64 KiB) Viewed 623 times

And here it is after restoration; I did end up replacing side & back veneers. Of course this room at the family house has been reorganized a few times & the Victor is now in storage and fitted with a morning-glory horn (that I should repaint.) But even a rotted-out Amberola case can be redone with the right woodworking skills.

[Zwebie]

gsphonos: Yes, just like converting a Fireside Model B. The Model B is pure 4 minute, however, all you need is the gears off of a model A, and you've got it! Just like converting a Model E Standard (which is pure 4 min) to play 2/4 minute. You just need the gearing taken from a Model D or F, and you then have a 2/4 min machine. I have a DX that is 2/4 minute. Who did it is anyone's guess. A dealer could have converted it for a customer when it first came out, or a later collector could have added it. When my buddy found this particular machine, about 20 years ago, it came with an O reproducer!! But, it is a sad story! My friend took off the O reproducer, as he wanted to keep that, and then sold the machine, without reproducer, to me. I still have it! The sad part--my friend cleaned out his car. he had put the O in a McDonald's bag, that was in his car at the time he originally purchased the machine. When he later cleaned out his car, he just gathered all the trash, including, unfortunately, that bag, threw out the trash somewhere, and only thought of his mistake sometime later!!
Mike Sorter
Riverside, CA

Hi Mike, "It's a small world after all"
I converted a DX with spare parts from a Fireside "A", about twenty some years ago, and sold it at Union.
It had an "O" reproducer installed so that you could play almost all 2 & 4 minute cylinders.
I wouldn't be surprised if this wasn't that very same machine.

Cheers, Bob S.

[PeterF]

McDonald’s is hazardous to both physical and mental health in this case…

Converting a DX back to 2/4 is not original but it is sort of an ok thing to do, because it’s reversible, would use original Edison parts, and possibly could’ve been done by a dealer back in the day. And it’s far cheaper than having to buy a whole additional machine.

I don’t know off the top of my head, but won’t the 2/4 shift gear off a Standard work, as well?

[gunnarthefeisty]

fireside A for sale you say?

[VanEpsFan1914]

fireside A for sale you say?

Yes--cygnet, K reproducer, & Model A 2/4 gearing. But I've had no buyers at $850 so am considering just keeping the machine & building a bigger collection.

[gunnarthefeisty]

fireside A for sale you say?

Yes--cygnet, K reproducer, & Model A 2/4 gearing. But I've had no buyers at $850 so am considering just keeping the machine & building a bigger collection.

I think the cygnet increases the price enough for it to not be worth it- you might as well buy a Fireside B with the horizontal carriage instead.

[VanEpsFan1914]

fireside A for sale you say?

Yes--cygnet, K reproducer, & Model A 2/4 gearing. But I've had no buyers at $850 so am considering just keeping the machine & building a bigger collection.

I think the cygnet increases the price enough for it to not be worth it- you might as well buy a Fireside B with the horizontal carriage instead.

It is worth it as a functional phonograph, not for your source for spare parts. If you think a functioning phonograph is perhaps too expensive to scavenge for gearing, then the only thing I have to say is GOOD-- That was the point, and that's partially why I price things like that.

The reason it is left with the Model A setup is to play 4m black wax Amberols, as that's a whole chunk of music from 1908-1912 that is actually pretty good. I keep it around in the present state as a way to play anything I come across--if it was swapped for a Model B reproducer (not Diamond B) it would do fine on brown wax. But the last brown-wax cylinder I found, I gave to a friend of mine who'd recently acquired a nice 1902 Columbia Q the same year as the record.

Besides, I don't like seeing a Model A machine set up as a Model B, so it keeps the sloping carriage and K reproducer.

Currently I'm building a 1905 Home B which was converted to 2/4m long ago--it's going to be a nice machine when done.

I suggest on the Amberola build to just restore the DX as is and then go fix up something else for 2m. Besides, the Blue Amberol format (and 4m Albany Indestructible) is one of the easiest ways to keep a cylinder collection.

[gunnarthefeisty]

I really think that cygnets, while cool, really hurt the sale of a phono. The extremely high price tag that gets tacked on to any phono with one definitely slows sales, plus if you want to equip that phono with a normal horn, it'll still have the holes from the bracket.

[gunnarthefeisty]

but also- yeah, the wax Amberols have great stuff. I hope to replace my B with an A to have a better range of options for playing cylinders. A 2/4 A and a 2/4 B should be comparable in price, I'd think.