Columbia Cylinder Graphophone - basket case

[De Soto Frank]

I'll bet somebody around here could actually restore this...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ANTIQUE-COLUMBI ... SS:US:3160

[Curt A]

Frank, you are right...

I know that I, along with many other restorers could put this back to it's former glory. However, it would have to be a labor of love, since it would take quite a bit of time (assuming all of the parts are there) to complete and then you would have a nice, relatively common machine... Actually, two machines, since there are Columbia Q parts mixed in. So, you might end up with one, two or zero complete machines... or a box full of parts.

[phonogfp]

It looks like most of the Q is there (minus the wooden base), but the decal(s) may require replacement. There's also a mechanism (minus reproducer and mainspring[s]) for an Amberola 30/50/75.

No question the Q could be brought back, but Curt's right - - you wouldn't want to pay too much for what at the moment amounts to a box of parts. If the stylus needs to be replaced, that expense could constitute ⅓ of the machine's restored value!

George P.

[Victrolaboy]

Looks to me like all the parts to the Columbia Q are there and then there's the top works of an Amberola. It looks like the stylus is gone on the reproducer.
-Nick

[phonojim]

Looks to me like the stylus is good unless it is chipped which you can't tell until you can look at it. This is the early Q reproducer that can be quite hard to find. The biggest problem I see with rebuilding that reproducer would be doing the "body work" on the one side where it looks to have been dropped. Other than that, it would take a lot of work to restore that machine and I can't say how that base might turn out. It is brushed steel and if the rust is very deep the delicate surface would be ruined.

Jim

[Victrolaboy]

When I said that it looked like the stylus was gone I meant it looked like the sapphire was chipped off. Sorry for the misunderstanding. Also, yes it would be difficult to do the "body work" on the reproducer since it's banged up pretty bad.
-Nick

[phonojim]

Admittedly it is difficult to evaluate the condition of the stylus from his pictures. However you can cet replacements from Ron Sitko for about $30.00 and they are easy to install.

Jim