Brendan wrote:it seemed to sound a bit harsh and tinny. Is this a symptom of hardened gaskets in the reproducer? Would replacing them with new, pliable gaskets mellow out the sound?
Rebuilding an Edison (and many other reproducers) with fresh gaskets will improve the sound presuming your stylus is in good playing condition.
And you can do it yourself if you take your time.
As with many do-it-yourself projects at home, begin with trying to find (and then watching) a YouTube video posted by someone who has been successful at what you're needing to do.
I cannot tell you how many times I have referred to YouTube videos to do projects at home that in the past I would have otherwise had to pay someone else to do. As a recent example, just a couple of days ago the rear brakes on our vehicle were making a scraping sound after we went through a car wash. I thought perhaps that the powerful under-carriage washing process had disturbed something in the rotors and/or pads on the brakes. Next morning no improvement.
My wife encouraged me to take our vehicle to a well known auto service place to get the work done as they had a fine reputation for honesty and fair pricing. When I arrived I was greeted with a smile and told "we'll have you fixed up in about an hour or so for around $350..."). That sounded fair to me and so I waited for 45 minutes in the waiting room thinking that my car was almost done when the service manager came out with a grim face and said "bad news, sir...you need new calipers, new rotors and new pads. We're at $925 for your brakes...). I told him that was a quite a difference from the $350 you had told me 45 minutes ago. "Well, after the technician looked at it he found a few more problems..." Yeah...OK... I said thanks anyway and limped back home calling my wife with the news. I went straight to AutoZone and picked up two rotors and a set of brake pads, watched a couple of YouTube videos, took some notes and I was done with the brakes that same day all by myself for a total cost of $135. Why didn't I do it myself in the first place? Because I didn't have confidence that I could do it myself as the last time I did my own brakes was more than 40 years ago when I was a teenager. And $350 seemed fair with parts and labor. But $925? Please...
So, with apologies for going a bit off track with my overpaying-for-service-you-can-do-yourself diatribe, if you feel comfortable trying to rebuild your reproducer yourself to improve the sound (You can! And it will!) then try it yourself. I believe there is a useful video on YouTube showing the rebuilding of an Edison model C reproducer. Two gaskets from Ron Sitko will set you back about a dollar or so.
Once you rebuild just one reproducer successfully you'll have built up confidence to do another should you need or desire to.
Good luck!
Doug
![[The Talking Machine Forum - For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings]](/styles/we_universal/theme/images/the_talking_machine_forum.png)
