just an observation

[bostonmike1]

hello my friends------possibly someone in this great community of phonograph collectors can explain to me why the the early Edison models seem to be the "bastard child" of any discussion on this board by phonograph enthusiasts? the discussion on this board, and others, are all slanted towards Victrolas and flat records.does anyone have any desire to exchange cylinder models ---or are we just "out of the loop? i told my ex-father-in-law, who had two Victrolas, that he has "furniture that makes a noise"( as an aside, i decided later his daughter was not worth collecting or keeping either!)i appeciate the forethought and effort that John and David have exhibited towards my enjoyment on this discussion forum. but i, as others,would enjoy discourse and/or discussion concerning the "pioneering" units also. my friends, if i missed the boat,where can i go to get the next one so can get the information i desire? your friend michael----

[Valecnik]

If you want to talk cylinders (or Diamond Discs) give me a shout. Over half the machines in my collection are Edison. I have collected lots of cylinders and edison discs over the years. My favorite is an A300 in circaissian walnut factory installed in an Amberola I cabinet. I sent pictures of it to George Frow some years back and he agreed with me that it was that way from the factory. I also have some Amberola 1s and a III (with the original cardboard/wood record albums which I love, and more. Some you can see on my site at www.bojo.cz/phonograph. Cheers, Bruce

[MordEth]

Michael,

I think we have more Edison fans here (Discman, EdisonSquirrel, Edisonfan, etc.) than you might think at first.

I still have not re-posted these, but in case you have not already seen this:

(Click on the image or this link for a 1600 x 1200 desktop wallpaper-sized JPEG.)

And here’s a sample of its intended use (John’s YouTube videos), before being re-purposed as a wallpaper image.

It’s probably my favorite phonograph-related image that I have made.

— MordEth

[Shane]

I think g-shane makes an interesting point... something of which I hadn't previously thought. It's very frequently possible to wander into a thrift store or yard sale and find a stack of 78s. They are plentiful, and not hard to come by.

Diamond discs? I might see them every once in a while, but not often.

Cylinders in a thrift store or yard sale? Rarely to never. I certainly have never come across any in this manner.

I think its a simple question of availability, and if you want to get some vintage music easily and cheaply, 78s are the way to go... hence the greater interest.

With that said, I love cylinders and Diamond Discs, and wish I found them more often!

[Neophone]

Folks,

I think Shane is right. The level of interest is partially affected by simple availability. The laterally recorded disc record for better or worse became the dominant medium for recorded music for the bulk of the twentieth century. As such it's easier for most new collectors to invest their time and money in. I think the bulk of the music collector side is also geared towards the early electric era and Jazz. I doubt we'll ever see a mad rush for an early twenties Joseph C. Smith pop recording for example. (He and his ilk do have their fans out there, me for one! ). I have three Diamond Disc phonographs in my collection and once Amberola. I think I like BAs a bit better than DDs but I do enjoy them both. I will personally however always be more a Victor man I think. For the same reason Paul is an Edison man I like the humble upright Victrola best. It became the machine of the common man, the musical Model T if you will.

To me also a drawback of sorts to the Edison as well as Pathé systems are the semi-permanent styli. With a steel needle you're throwing it away after on play no matter what so playing a worn record isn't an issue, heck you can even glue a broken 78 back together and give it a shot. Play a damaged DD or BA however and you might find yourself in need of a new stylus. I don't know how fragile the Pathé sapphire is but I'd guess as fragile as an Edison diamond. That semi permanent stylus can also be considered a plus I know.

Michael, I want this forum to be open to discussion of all early formats and all early recorded music. One think I would very much like to do here is bring the music collectors together with the machine collectors for the first time. They don't always agree with each other , but I hope by creating two main sections, machines and music, we can bring both side of the hobby together to share some knowledge without forcing either side to slog through tons of information they aren't interested in. Once we have a return to normalacy I hope to build a strong connection between this forum and one or two other boards to give all of us a wider pool of knowledge to draw from. We have a lot of lost information to dig up and re-post it will take all of us.

That cylinder machine may not be as visible as the disc machine in our logo folks, but it's there!

Regards,
John

[larryh]

Put this on the wrong post first time..

I have tried Cylinders over the years a few times and recently made yet another attempt to have a go at them. But even after having a machine rebuilt the results in sound were very poor. Mostly due to the condition of the records. For me the fun is mostly in hearing the records. But hearing them out of a fine piece of furniture of the period is even more fascinating. It fits in my surrounds well and gives me a true period feel. Again I have tried Horn machines of other types as well, and for my taste have always found them hard to work into a room.
Another thing I noticed that quickly soured me on Cylinders besides the sound, was the fact that a piece that on a Disc might bring .99 or a few dollars, the EXACT recording on cylinders were bringing upwards of 30 to 50 dollars. Way to rich for my blood, especially considering that the couple I bid quite a bit on still played lousy.

[Phonolair]

Hi Michael
I'm 95% phonograph collector and 5% record collector so I'm after the looks of a machine and not the type of music it can play.
So I collect lots of different types of phonographs. I have many Edison cylinder type phonographs and never look at them as they are 2nd class while they sit with my Victors and etc. If I had to get rid of all my cylinder machines except one it would be a Edison that I keep. And now that I think about it, some of the machines I've paid the most money for were Edison cylinder machines.
So give us a chance and I think you will find a lot of collector enjoy and collect the Edison phonographs and have a lot to share to anyone who might ask. We all have are special interest but by and large phonograph collectors are supporting of other phonograph collectors.
Best Regards, Larry

[bob27556]

Michael,

There are plenty of us Edison fans out there and I'm sure the number who join this board will grow. Unfortunatley working 50 hours a week and other responsibilities prevents me posting much on the boards. I got into the hobby for the machines, my first being an Edison Home with 2 speed conversion. The interest in them began with a fourth grade field trip to the Edison labs back in the 60's. It wasn't until financially recovering from a divorce that I was able actually purchase one at the age of 46.

I also do seek early machines although my budget prevents me getting something like a Class 'M'. A very lucky find at an estate sale might be the only way I get my hands on one of them. However at the end of Feb I will be collecting an Edison Spring Motor (Class 'SM') which I got at a good price probably because it has a 2 speed conversion and the original parts are gone. Anyway, on my budget it will be an extremely prized part of my collection.

It was almost surprizing to me how I eventually got to enjoy the music of the era and not only do I like playing the records (usually discs if I'm playing a lot) but now have a collection of CDs for listening in the car. But, primarily I'm an Edison cylinder machine fan so keep asking questions and we'll all keep learning and hopefully I'll be able to find more time for the forums.

[AZ*]

I have a number of outside horn cylinder machines in my collection, and by far the best sounding one has a large cygnet horn and properly restored Diamond B reproducer. Given a clean Blue Amberol cylinder (undubbed), it can produce an excellent sound. I also have some machines equipped with Witch's hat horns or cones. I rarely listen to those because the sound is so compromised. Even the sonic performance of my Gem C (2 minute) improved dramatically when I switched from a cone horn to the Gem panel horn.

But then there is issue of available music. I'm primarily a machine collector, but I have lots of records and enjoy listening to them. Unfortunately, most of the cheaper cylinders (under $10) just don't appeal to my taste. Whenever I scrounge through the boxes of cylinders at a phonograph show, most of the titles don't turn me on. I guess "The Old Oaken Bucket," "Silver Threads Among the Gold," and "Where the Silvery Colorado Winds its Way" were big hits 90+ years ago, but they aren't something I'm going to listen to more than once.