For Sale: 7" Berliner, Zonophone Resin Copies - $20

[bfinan11]

Zonophone 1583 (Drill Ye Tarriers, Drill) - do you know who the singer is on this one?

Mr. Geo. J. Gaskin

Wish I saw this sooner! I would have bought this...

[OrthoSean]

Wish I saw this sooner! I would have bought this...

Just a hunch, but more copies will probably be made soon

Sean

[Crank_it_up]

The copies certainly look nice, and I have no problem making such nice reproductions available to those who don't have originals.

I'm not quite so sanguine concerning people (noobs or advanced collectors) being duped. There are very rare Berliner test pressings made of stiff celluloid that don't feel like typical pressings. If I were to encounter one of your pressings at a show, I hope I wouldn't be misled into thinking I had just discovered one of these rare test pressings.

At the same time, many of us are concerned about attracting new collectors to our hobby. If pitfalls such as near-perfect copies of Berliners, Zonophones, and Johnson discs are floating around to fool (cheat?) the unwary/unknowing, our hobby becomes less inviting.

All this could be avoided by making a simple yet easily recognizable mark on the reverse of your discs. For instance, perfect reproduction Edison C, H, and K reproducers were manufactured back in the early 1980s. But the maker incorporated his initials in the serial numbers. Hardly noticeable, yet a classy way to protect his fellow hobbyists. I respectfully ask you to consider something similar on the reverse sides of your discs.

George P.

I agree with George. Personally I am not a real expert on records but have owned hundreds of early 7" discs, so I know what good ones look like and how rare it is to find a good one. I'm impressed at your work but up until now if I saw these at an antique shop for $20 I would buy all of them, and they would be on ebay the next day as EXC condition originals. A small marking to indicate their origin might be the right thing to do. Just my 2¢
George, look at you dropping a "sanguine" bomb, I knew what it meant from the context but I still looked it up!
Joe

[phonogfp]

George, look at you dropping a "sanguine" bomb, I knew what it meant from the context but I still looked it up!
Joe

Did I type "sanguine?" I meant "quinine!"

George P.

[donniej]

All orders have been shipped and the list of what's available is now up to date.

Thank you to all who have placed orders. Hopefully some will provide feedback, input, praise , and hopefully some constructive criticism.

Don-

[alang]

I received my two records, a Zonophone and a Berliner copy. They look very nice and from the top could be mistaken for originals. The underside reveals that the material is different from shellac like Donnie said. The sound quality is pretty amazing for copies from 115 year old originals. Most of my original 7" records sound worse. I'm glad that I can now demonstrate my Victor Royal without fear of damaging an original record. Thanks again Donnie for making these available.

Andreas

[donniej]

Thanks Andreas!
The fronts look identical, even under a microscope. The detail captured is probbly down to the .0001" level. The backs are a different story
The originals were very clean, so the copies are good. Now if I could only find more clean Berliners to copy...

[StL Bill]

Wish I saw this sooner! I would have bought this...

Just a hunch, but more copies will probably be made soon

Sean

I afraid I agree with George on this issue. As it looks like you are going to be making this a long term project with the possibility of a large number of these recast records out there, I also feel that it would be ethically correct to identify them somehow from the originals. Not all collectors, seasoned or novice, are familiar with these scarce records. To these people they could be mistaken for original with the expected consequences.Having an unmarked random reproduction part on a machine is one thing, but in my opinion to start mass producing these records without marking them somehow as reproduction is unethical. I hope that you take this as it is intended,"constructive criticism".

[billybob62]

Mass producing these is as unlikely as mass producing a real, REAL homemade Angel Food cake, from the basic products.

I'll bet very few of us have ever eaten a real one. When you taste one, you instantly learn why it is called Angel Food.