Out Of Deepest, Darkest Africa

[gramophone78]

Well, if anything can be said about this machine we found last March is that.......it certainly came from a long way. Most of you have seen this machine on the latest cover of the AP magazine.

An article was written by my dear friend and fellow collector Allen K.
However, his article involved more of the technical side of the machine, company and time frame.

The short story I would like to share with the membership is the experience and thrill of finding this machine.

You see, it all started with an out of the blue email from a friend traveling in Africa.

He had stopped into a pawn store to look for watches. While in a store, he noticed this small Zonophone sitting there.
So, like any good friend...he sent me pics. Then, we had to figure out how to get the machine here safely and the money to the seller.

Would I be eaten by hungry Loins or drowned in quicksand. Run into a tribe of unfriendly's or dodge spears ??.

Then there was the worry as to whether the machine would survive in one piece.

African Post offered no tracking or insurance. Heck, they couldn't even say how long it would take. Now that's not encouraging.. .

So, a courier would be best. However, there wasn't one near by. Fortunately, I was able to get Fedex to handle it. It arrived in three long days and in great condition.....not even a bite mark... .

Sending the money was equally difficult. We were able to use a credit card. However, they called us six times to make sure this was not some Nigerian scam... .

Now, I have to confess, I know very little about Zonophone. I have never owned one and certainly not one that is very early.

So, I was in the dark as to what the machine was.

This lead me to contact the experts. Well, with Much thanks to them, it was discovered the machine was an early 1900 Zonophone Type C.

At first it was thought this style of case was made for export only. However, we soon learned this model was also sold in the USA, as Allen K. has the same style case with a US sales celluloid plate. Also, the fact, it was the Type C type case seen in the earliest known Zonophone Flyer (1900). It turns out this fully ribbed case was actually changed in design by December 1900 where the center area has a flat surface.

Besides being an uncommon model, the machine comes with many riddles and mysteries.....such as, who designed and placed the lead weighted counter balance set up it has..??.

A counter balance similar to that is also seen on Werner Suess' patent drawings for Berliner's Gramophone several years earlier. Or a counter balance shown on G.K. Cheney's January 1900 patent drawings.

Was someone at the factory experimenting with this machine..??.
Whoever added this to the machine, knew what they were doing as the design and parts are so precisely made. An extra hole was added and a special horn wire support was re-engineered in order to not conflict with the counter balance rod.

An interesting observation was made regarding the extra hole. It was made before the nickel plating was placed on. So, in other words, both hole were made at the same time.

I guess one could try and argue the plating was redone again after. However, why would anyone re-plate a hole as it would not be seen anyway. Under high magnification, we could see the nickel (during the plating process) had gone into the both holes and smoothed out the edges.


Another mystery is why does it have a US CJ sound box on it..??. A sound box which has a serial number of that period (1900). Certainly not an easy sound box to find loose even here. Can you imagine how hard it would be in Africa..?? (if it was placed on at a later date).... .

So, Did Prescott help himself to some CJ's from Seamen's stock for machines that were being shipped abroad..??. He certainly had access to these parts.
Or was it because the early (closed face) Zono sound box was not ready yet when this machine was released (In other words, very early)..??.

These are some questions that may never be fully answered.

Regardless, of the hows, wheres and whys.....the machine is very pretty and a wonderful size for display.

It also contains some very early and seldom seen Zonophone parts. Such as a bi-metal tone arm of steel & brass. A very small crank and a very small pitch control knob and brake lever.

Last, the over all construction shows just how much greater the quality of this Zonophone product was over the competition. If I were Berliner or Johnson.....I would have been very worried seeing these three models.

[Phono-Phan]

Quite impressive. Sometimes the story of finding, buying, and getting an item home is priceless. I really like the counter balance rod and weight. Is this documented in any literature?

[Henry]

What an elegant machine---and an equally fascinating story! Whoever said that truth is stranger than fiction must have had this in mind.

Can you judge the effectiveness of that ingenious counterweight? What's the tracking pressure of an example like this?

And the inevitable question: how does it sound???

[gramophone78]

I have not measured the tracking of this set up. However, I made a short video of the machine playing a very early Universal record.
https://youtu.be/dZVHjaGctAA

[jboger]

Very interesting. Different. Seems to be entirely made of oak molding..

[Uncle Vanya]

Wonderful machine! Great tale! On the other hand, the idea of being "eaten by hungry loins really frightens me.

[dennislpr]

Beautiful machine, I have a soft spot for Zonophone machines and this one looks great. What I find intriguing is the counter balance weigh, I have never seen one before .

[bigshot]

Man! The sound on that video is pretty hard to take!

[Valecnik]

Nice find. I'm almost amazed that it worked out. What city, country was it found in though? Africa is a pretty big place.

[Henry]

Man! The sound on that video is pretty hard to take!

Note the record warp; that accounts for the speed (thus pitch) variation, plus the motor seems to be slowing toward the end. The timbre is pretty shrill, which I'm speculating is largely due to the sound box design, with the inertia and weight of the arm-horn design being contributory causes (despite [or because of?] the counterweight). Also, the record may be worn (it's pretty old, after all!). Still, an interesting historical example from the earliest layer of phonograph history. The tone quality of the cornet comes through loud, if not always clear!