"Operaphone" Phonograph...Odd Machine

[OrthoFan]

Do you still have the Operaphone? Here's an Operaphone tone arm and reproducer on Ebay!

http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-OPERAPHONE- ... 3ef933420e

I'm not sure if the tonearm is from an Operaphone. (Wasn't the tapering gooseneck tonearm exclusively produced by Victor in the US prior to 1925, and others barred from manufacturing their own versions due to patent restrictions?)

It may have been installed on the machine by a previous owner to replace one that had crumbled away. I know when I bought my circa 1920 Silvertone years ago, it had a Silvertone sound box attached to a conventional Victor tone arm. After I replaced that with an authentic Silvertone tonearm, I noted quite a difference in sound quality--the tapered Victor tonearm was much better.

[SonnyPhono]

I was wondering the same thing. The tonearm and reproducer on the one I bought to complete mine is gold which matches the needle cups and speed controller I on my Operaphone. I would like to know the serial # on the name plate of the Ebay listing though. That would be interesting to know.

[gramophoneshane]

Wasn't the tapering gooseneck tonearm exclusively produced by Victor in the US prior to 1925, and others barred from manufacturing their own versions due to patent restrictions?

Was this only true of tonearms manufactured in USA, or did the same restrictions apply for the use of imported tonearms?
Over here, it's very rare to see any pre-1925 machine with anything but a tapered gooseneck tone arm.
Most of our machines used imported Swiss or UK parts though. American parts are few & far between.
I know Thorens were using the gooseneck taper design at least from 1914 on, because just about every internal & external horn machine in the 1914 catalogue has one.
Perhaps the use of GN tonearms from companies like Thorens might have contributed to the closure of some of these short lived US companies, in the same way doors over the horn did with others?

[OrthoFan]

Wasn't the tapering gooseneck tonearm exclusively produced by Victor in the US prior to 1925, and others barred from manufacturing their own versions due to patent restrictions?

Was this only true of tonearms manufactured in USA, or did the same restrictions apply for the use of imported tonearms?

That's a VERY interesting question; I'm sure that some of the phono-historians familiar with the minutia of the hobby would probably know.

I do know, in the US market, that Victor's tapered tonearm (US Pat. 814786, I believe) which treated the tonearm as an extension of the horn, was one of the most defended/litigated patents in the talking machine industry, and was still in effect when many of the other key patents expired. For this reason, virtually all of the off-brand machines used a tonearm with no taper or a stair-stepped taper.

It would be interesting to find out what percentage--if any--of the overall US market was comprised of imported machines, especially prior to 1925. I'm wondering if there were ever any references to this in "The Talking Machine World?"

[JohnM]

On Moo's board, a civilian (non-collector) posted re: a machine he was given by his mother-in-law. The machine is in an identical cabinet as certain Pathé 'Actuelles' and to Sonnyphono's 'Operaphone', except it is badged 'Prestonia'. The horn in the 'Prestonia' is identical to the horn in the 'Operaphone', and I would speculate that the 'Prestonia' and 'Operaphone' are identical in all respects except the decal/badging. The poster says his on-line search turned up that Prestonia sub-contracted cabinets for Pathé. The plot thickens . . .

Googled around a bit myself and discovered that the Prestonia Mfg. Co. was located in my hometown of Louisville, Kentucky and owned by the prominent Atherton family. Not sure of the exact etymology of the 'Prestonia' name, but the Prestons are also a prominent Louisville family. I attach a PDF from the January 1920 Music Trade Review with a paragraph about the company (courtesy of the MBSI).

MTR-1920-70-3-38.pdf

(813.7 KiB) Downloaded 172 times

[estott]

I suspect that Prestonia was left with a load of Actuelle cabinets that Pathé couldn't or wouldn't pay for and these two machines are a salvage attempt.

[JohnM]

Absolutely. Now we know within a reasonable certainty what the 'Operaphone' should look like if restored.

[SonnyPhono]

Interesting! Here is the picture of the Prestonia followed by a picture of mine.




There are a few small differences. It looks like maybe the Prestonia has the original Pathé lid support hardware as it is very long whereas my Operaphone has a shortened lid prop. Also, my hardware is all gold, (at least in color) instead of nickel. The Operaphone has a motor board that is almost flush with the top of the cabinet where the lid rests when in the closed position, and it appears the Prestonia sits down about an inch or more.

Everything else looks identical though. This is all very interesting. I will send him a message to see if he can gather any information on the reproducer, (any writing) and to see if the speed control says "Pathé" on it like my Operaphone does. In the meantime, here is an Operatone, not Operaphone, I managed to find and pick up for $40. Has anyone seen one of these? It works and is complete, just needing a grill cloth replacement.




All very interesting. I will keep this thread posted on what I find out and also will continue to post pictures as I complete/restore my Operaphone to it's original condition.

[SonnyPhono]

So I still have yet to find the proper parts for the Operaphone that we have all decided was probably a limited release or "prototype". But check out this eBay auction I just came across.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Operaphone-Wind-up- ... 4cee63a36e

[JohnM]

Hmm . . . different than a Fern-O-Grand.