Questions about Columbia Eagle Clones

[AmberolaAndy]

Since you’ve seen many posts about “Credenza Clones” here’s a new one about another cloned machine: The Columbia B aka The Eagle.

How many of you folks here own these clone machines?

Were they mostly sold outside the US?

How do they compare to the Original?

I know Pathé made one but what about other makes?

And yes I am planning on purchasing an Eagle machine this year. I’m real adamant on getting a pre-1901 machine and records this year.

[TinfoilPhono]

That's an interesting question, and a complicated one.

I don't believe there were many Eagle clones made in the US, though a few premium-style machines have some similarities. For the most part the close (or reasonably close) copies were made in Europe, where they can be found in amazing variety.

I've long felt that it would be fun to assemble a wide collection of such clones. There's a lot of variety, and they are not expensive (for the most part). I'm not sure why I never acted on that impulse -- though I have owned quite a few. Some are very close copies, some are more complex. All part of the fun.

But for starters, you'd be best to get a genuine Columbia Eagle made in the US. There are tons around, and they are usually a bargain. Plus, they're well-made and practically bullet-proof, and fun to work on. Even better, with the entire mechanism exposed they're a blast to watch in operation. For your first 19th century machine, you'd be hard-pressed to do better.

I would suggest holding out for the nicest you can find. A lot of these had hard lives and were not well-stored, so many have cosmetic (or wear) issues. But if you look around you can find one in above-average condition -- or even better, near-mint. That's a fun challenge right there. And properly adjusted, they sound surprisingly good.

Fair warning: they can be addictive. There were enough small variations made during the long production run to make it fun to find as many as possible. It's easy to get carried away, but given the small size and relatively small price, it's not hard to accommodate a variety of them.

If you do want to go for a European style, I'd suggest looking for one with a 'hunting horn' design. A particularly interesting clone is the Omega, which has a vertical governor assembly. Definitely unusual but not really rare (at least in Europe).