Oak Edison Amberola 1A

[Chilesave]

I am selling my oak amberola 1a. It is a respectable machine that plays well. It has had work done on the lid, but not the decal. It also has a replacement front door. The bedplate has been repainted buy not striped.

I it almost full of good quality, desirable cylinder records ( a lot of Christmas) and comes with a diamond A and an M reproducer. So, it can play any cylinder record.

I am wanting to get $3,000 for all. It is pickup only since it is too large to ship. If interested just let me know. I will not be listing this anywhere else, just on the forum.

I am located in Asheville, North Carolina

Thanks!

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[Jerry B.]

Just curious, does the serial number on the mechanism match the ID tag on the cabinet? Love the fact that it has two reproducers.

Thanks, Jerry B.

[Chilesave]

No, the serial number for the cabinet is 774. The serial number for the mechanism is 1474.

[FellowCollector]

The replaced record storage door appears to have been well done. It's odd (to me) that the upper works have been repainted maroon. I have three completely original Edison Amberola 1A phonographs. Two in mahogany and one in oak. All of the completely original mahogany Edison Amberola 1A's I've seen including those I own have maroon upper works. And all completely original oak Edison Amberola 1A's I've seen including the one I own have gun metal upper works. Since the mahogany Amberola 1A's are far more common than oak Amberola 1A's it makes me wonder whether the upper works in the couple of oak Amberola 1A's I know of with maroon upper works have had their original gun metal upper works swapped for mahogany 1A maroon upper works. I find it hard to believe that any oak Edison Amberola 1A's were factory released with maroon upper works. Obviously, anything is possible but it sure seems unlikely to me.

Doug

[Chilesave]

I know. I couldnt find gunmetal paint

[52089]

The replaced record storage door appears to have been well done. It's odd (to me) that the upper works have been repainted maroon. I have three completely original Edison Amberola 1A phonographs. Two in mahogany and one in oak. All of the completely original mahogany Edison Amberola 1A's I've seen including those I own have maroon upper works. And all completely original oak Edison Amberola 1A's I've seen including the one I own have gun metal upper works. Since the mahogany Amberola 1A's are far more common than oak Amberola 1A's it makes me wonder whether the upper works in the couple of oak Amberola 1A's I know of with maroon upper works have had their original gun metal upper works swapped for mahogany 1A maroon upper works. I find it hard to believe that any oak Edison Amberola 1A's were factory released with maroon upper works. Obviously, anything is possible but it sure seems unlikely to me.

Doug

Since the OP mentioned that the motor and cabinet have different serial numbers, it's reasonable to assume that a previous owner put the maroon motor in the oak cabinet at some point, probably because that's what was available. I've had a few 1A motors over the years, but I've never had a gun metal one myself.

[FellowCollector]

Since the OP mentioned that the motor and cabinet have different serial numbers, it's reasonable to assume that a previous owner put the maroon motor in the oak cabinet at some point, probably because that's what was available.

Correct. My commentary was not intended to be critical of this particular example. And if it was (to anyone here on the Forum) please accept my apologies. In fact, considering everything that I see on this Amberola 1A including the fine job on the record storage door and inclusion of both the desirable model M reproducer and the diamond model A reproducers and cylinder records this is a very tempting and reasonable price for anyone in the greater NC area.

I've had a few 1A motors over the years, but I've never had a gun metal one myself.

I'm presuming that you meant "a few 1A motors and upper works, but I've never had a gun metal one myself." The Amberola 1A motors themselves were the same throughout production, I believe.

[52089]

Semantics perhaps. To me, if I say I need a motor for a machine, rightly or not, I usually mean that I need both the upper and lower works. Again, that could just be me.

[PeterF]

Interesting definitions of terms.

Most of my phono collector pals call the whole unit the “machine” - and the metal bits that go in the cabinet or case, the “mech” - which is short for mechanism, of course.

And when you let radio collectors visit, they try to call everything a “set.”

The mech consists of the motor, the top works, and (often) the motorboard. To call all of that the motor is imprecise, and, well, inaccurate.

[JerryVan]

To my thinking, if it provides the motive force, it's the "motor". In the case of a cylinder phonograph, if it's the mechanism that "plays the record", it's the "top works". I would never use either term to describe the combination of the two, and would be confused if anyone else did.

Admitedly, it gets a little confusing when describing an Edison Opera/Amberola 1B, since the motor & top works are somewhat merged.