Bergmann Tinfoil on LiveAuctioneers

[catfishjohn]

There is another thread regarding this machine under Ebay Alerts. I’m certainly not a Tinfoil expert but this machine is intriguing, but will likely soon creep past a price that I would feel comfortable bidding, given my lack of knowledge and inability to see it firsthand. My fear of winning a very expensive replica has led me to spend some time studying the minor differences between the tinfoil in question and pictures of known originals. In the past I’ve seen several tinfoils on Ebay etc that I would have sworn were original only to find that they were made in the 1950’s or 60’s. With regards to the machine listed on LiveAuctioneers, (https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/13 ... phonograph) there are a few items that give some concern. Perhaps some of these differences are just changes during manufacturing, but from what I understand very few Bergmanns were made prior to switching to Brehmer Bros. The first picture below is of a known original Bergmann Parlor Phonograph. The rest are of the Tinfoil Phonograph on Live Auctioneers. Im hoping to hear other opinions.
1. As Rene Rondeau mentions in the previous thread, the speaker bar does not match that of the original. The original speaker bar appears to be a 2 piece design. Although I have never seen one in person, the original appears to connect near the reproducer. Also the design of the speaker bar on the crank side (where it thins for flexibility) is different then the original.
2. The crank look to atleast to have been repainted if not newer.
3. According to “Tinfoil Phonographs” by Rene Rondeau the mandrel was formed out of a solid piece of led. The auction site pictures are of poor quality but it looks as though the groves may be separate from the rest of the mandrel and perhaps have been soldered together. There is also a hole on the side of the mandrel, hard to tell if the mandrel is hollow from the pictures.
4. The pin stripping is surprisingly excellent for a 144 year old machine. I would expect atleast the handle of the speaker bar to be worn with use.
5. There are other minor differences such as the elongated hole in the side of the pillar on the original.

[cmshapiro]

~~~