Amberola 30 Veneer

[cweastlick]

If my memory serves me right, there was a guy selling pre-cut veneer that fit the sides of an Amberola case. I think it's been a few years ago. Is he still out there?

[outune]

Here's the link from 5 years ago--

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=36528&hilit=amberola+veneer+kit

Hope this helps-
Brad Abell

[cweastlick]

Brad,
Yes, this is exactly what I was looking for! Thanks so much.

[VanEpsFan1914]

Hey folks!

that was me. I was the veneer guy. People seemed to like it, but I found out pretty quickly I didn't have time or space to keep up with Amb. 30 veneer and manage college & everything else as well. Right now I'm trying to hold 2 courses, a full-time job at a factory, and everything else down while living on my own in a 2-bedroom apartment in South Carolina which is full of phonographs, books, & pump organs. Sometimes people ask me should I bring back the veneer stuff but I'm wondering do you all think i should do it.

[outune]

If you can invest the time, and it's worth your while, I'd say yes-- It's a service that no one else in the phono community is offering.

I'll start you off with an order for two sets if your prices are similar to what they were five years ago.
Thanks!
Brad Abell

[VanEpsFan1914]

Here is a new photo of my old 30 wearing some of that veneer.

Looks pretty decent. (Amberola 30, 50, and 75 are my favorite designs for Edison cylinder phonographs.)

Photo quality is lousy. It's kind of dark in here in the office/library/study/book and record cave, and I have a cheap phone. Will get better snaps when the sun's up.

[VanEpsFan1914]

OK, I didn't get the photographs of the "30" in the sunlight. What I can say is that it is sticking down well enough so the veneer stock I was using does hold up after a few years of (probably not great) storage. I definitely should try to get that together but we will see.

Amberola 50 veneer would be another option, and the top of a 50 would probably work on a 75. Amberola 30, 50, and 75 are decent phonographs that deserve a better reputation than they have in the hobby--I prefer my 30 to a Home or Standard due to quieter gearing, and of course the reproducer is good on these, like the Diamond B that gets installed on a lot of later 4-minute machines anyway. They are pretty well fun to listen to and with only 2 controls on the top deck (3 if you count the speed knob on a first-generation 30, which I do not have) they are a fun easy intro to the hobby.

Kelly (my girlfriend) was nice enough to come to a swap-meet with me and we brought the 30. She could figure out how to use it pretty quickly. So could my little cousins. These are about the perfect introductory cylinder machine, and the clean, minimalist styling looks well in modern decor. I like 30s.