Edison Attachment-Real or Fake

[fran604g]

To carry on with the discussion related to a DD "School Model" (and clarify):

On pg. 163, Frow shows an image of a "School Model" with a short historical explanation. On pg. 163, he states: "the prototype was not developed until June 1922, when a first order of 500 was deliberated. It is probable that not more than one was built..."

He also refers to a "School Model" on pg. 66, with a short few sentences.

Referring to the image on pg. 163: The image is of a boxy, stout looking cabinet with short, sturdy legs. It had a side hinged door - below the horn compartment - for access to the record storage compartment and a squarish flat lid, similar to the construction of the William and Mary model lid. The grain of the cabinet (in the image) looks like it may have been oak. Not at all similar to the Chippendale C-250 cabinet, and certainly no external horn. Given that the "School Model" was designated as an "Official Laboratory Model", it carried a "250" horn, so the dimensions of the School Model cabinet (though not given by Frow) may have been about the same as the William and Mary model, but perhaps a bit shorter.

I'm a little surprised that the company didn't attempt to market a DD Phonograph based on the Army-Navy or B19 "Chalet" for use in schools...just sell a rolling cart alongside it for record storage and away you go...but, I guess no-one wanted a DD Phonograph in their classrooms, given that there were probably Victrola VI's (or something similar) all over the place?

Best,
Fran

[AllWoundUp]

If anybody's interested, the ad is still up on craigslist. It's in Sacramento, CA:

http://sacramento.craigslist.org/atq/4801245832.html

Screenshots:

[Lucius1958]

Someone in the area should definitely give this a closer look!

Bill

[fran604g]

Someone in the area should definitely give this a closer look!

Bill

Ditto!

Fran

[alang]

Someone in the area should definitely give this a closer look!

Bill

But no drama please...

[tubaphone]

Since the Edison outdoor attachment on the C-19 DD is still for sale it seems likely that it is a fake. Originally I was under the impression that it might be genuine because of the quality of the elbow that the No.11 cygnet bell was attached to, that would be a difficult part to make with the tapers and bends. After seeing an advertisement for an Edison A-250 that was for sale with a picture of the horn it came to me how this fake attachment could be made. The early A-250 had a 2 piece horn with a ring connector for both halves as you would find on an Edison cygnet horn. If you took the elbow from an A-250 or other model with this style DD horn and removed the reproducer connecting ferrule and made an adapter for tubing and put it on the end of the horn, attached a No.11 cygnet bell and suspended it using part of a cygnet horn crane you have a fake Edison outdoor attachment. Of course you would have to drill a hole in the reproducer and insert a pice of metal tubing in it so a short length of rubber tubing could connect the reproducer to the horn. This is a clever fake that is all Edison parts. I have attached a photo from one of Valencik's posts of his A-300 that clearly shows the 2 piece horn and to me the neck looks like the one on the fake outdoor attachment. What do others think about this?

[Lucius1958]

Since the Edison outdoor attachment on the C-19 DD is still for sale it seems likely that it is a fake. Originally I was under the impression that it might be genuine because of the quality of the elbow that the No.11 cygnet bell was attached to, that would be a difficult part to make with the tapers and bends. After seeing an advertisement for an Edison A-250 that was for sale with a picture of the horn it came to me how this fake attachment could be made. The early A-250 had a 2 piece horn with a ring connector for both halves as you would find on an Edison cygnet horn. If you took the elbow from an A-250 or other model with this style DD horn and removed the reproducer connecting ferrule and made an adapter for tubing and put it on the end of the horn, attached a No.11 cygnet bell and suspended it using part of a cygnet horn crane you have a fake Edison outdoor attachment. Of course you would have to drill a hole in the reproducer and insert a pice of metal tubing in it so a short length of rubber tubing could connect the reproducer to the horn. This is a clever fake that is all Edison parts. I have attached a photo from one of Valencik's posts of his A-300 that clearly shows the 2 piece horn and to me the neck looks like the one on the fake outdoor attachment. What do others think about this?

It is hard to tell from the poor quality of the Craigslist photo, but I can't see the soldered joint below the bend that is typical of DD internal horns. That straight section would also have to be removed, rotated 180 degrees, then reattached, in order to get the lower bend facing the reproducer.... so that still leaves it in question.

Bill

[Victrola18]

If the machine is on the west coast I would bet it is repo. A dealer in Castro valley california about 25 years ago made 10 or more of these up and sold them as originals. You could buy only the reproducer or the complete set up including the machine.

[AllWoundUp]

Someone in the area should definitely give this a closer look!

Bill

But no drama please...

drama-llama.gif (38.05 KiB) Viewed 1433 times

[fran604g]

If the machine is on the west coast I would bet it is repo. A dealer in Castro valley california about 25 years ago made 10 or more of these up and sold them as originals. You could buy only the reproducer or the complete set up including the machine.

Now, this is interesting! I wonder where they all wound up...out of curiosity I'd like to see exactly how the reproducers were modified, and how good the workmanship was. (Not that I'd actually want to own one)

Best,
Fran