Edison Tin Foil Phonograph

[KCW]

I just saw that a rough looking tin foil phonograph sold on eBay for 660! I bid but there was no way I was going that high. It got me thinking, how difficult would it be to build one of these? There are certainly people on YouTube who have made various models of different quality. Are there any online schematics that give you the basics?

Also, has anyone ever reconstructed a copy of Edison’s original machine from 1877? It’s a beast! Very large and looking incredibly heavy.

Photo from the auction below as a reference.

[Marc Hildebrant]

That phonograph does not look authentic.

Marc

[recordmaker]

In 1892, William Gillett published , The Phonograph and How to Construct It. it has a very practical tinfoil machine with plans and instructions and a not so simple Wax cylinder machine. ( book reprints available on line )
There is YouTube video of a modem version of this machine full tuned up.

(Double-click the video above or click this link to go to the video on YouTube.)

[JerryVan]

Check this out...

https://www.amazon.com/Tinfoil-Phonogra ... 105&sr=8-2

If I recall correctly, there are drawings in the back of this book for the Gillet & 1877 Edison tin foil machines.

[KCW]

I’m really impressed with the clarity of that recording. I would love to get that book and try to make a tin foil phonograph. I must just do it too.

I know there was a group out there making very expensive versions of the cylinder player. The website was very interesting but the cost was really high.

Has there ever been a video of Edison’s original machine in action? I don’t see why it couldn’t be done. I know it’s an old machine but it looks to be made of iron and brass and I’m sure it’s durable.

Time to think about getting that book and making a version of the foil phonograph.

[TinfoilPhono]

The tinfoil book in question is one that I wrote almost 25 years ago. Time sure flies.

Edison's very first prototype phonograph of December 1877, commonly dubbed the "Kruesi Model," has been extensively reproduced by many people over the years. Well-made reproductions are definitely capable of recording and playing back just as they did originally. I have made many such recordings on my Kruesi replica, however I don't think I have uploaded any of them. But Edison very quickly discovered how fussy the Kruesi is to adjust, and made some simple changes to his next phonograph, the "Brady"model, to improve upon it. Over the months of early to mid-1878 Edison and his team made other small improvements to the tinfoil phonograph, leading to a series of machines that were extensively used in 1878 and 1879 for public exhibitions. People would pay 25c to go to a ballroom or theater and hear a phonograph demonstrated. It was a very big deal at the time, but the novelty wore off quickly.

Here is a very short video I made several years ago using a very precise replica of Edison's huge (125-pounds) 1878 all-brass "Drawing Room Instrument": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAXhclP ... eneRondeau

Here is a longer video made in 2008 at Stanford University, where I recreated a phonograph exhibition as it might have appeared in 1878: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGAVotR7wZ8&t

As you can see, these machines were and still are capable of working very well when they are properly adjusted. At the Stanford demonstration all 125 audience members heard the recordings clearly.

Most demonstrations I see show the operator screaming into the machine at the top of his lungs, only to get a whisper of sound back. That is not how they worked originally and such demonstrations give a very flawed impression of what the tinfoil phonograph was really capable of. Whether small or large, a well-made tinfoil phonograph can perform surprisingly well.

[JimN]

Rene, not only was your short video an excellent demo of your Brass Bergmann Tinfoil, but it also showed your Edison School phono. It's weird to think that own those two identical machines.

Jim Nichol

[tomb]

Tinfoilphono that is great. Idid not know the sound they produced and was happy to hear it. Tom

[Curt A]

The real question is why anyone would pay $660 for that eBay thing...

[KCW]

I am astonished at the quality of the sound in these old machines. Did you build the one you presented at Stanford? I LOVED that presentation. I’m now dying to build one, even if it’s only one of the Gillette models. How do I get started? Just ordered your book in Amazon. What an amazing set of videos! I LOVE THIS!