Columbia Grafonola

[victrolaguy]

I have a tabletop Grafonola, with internal horn and hypodermic speed control on/off switch at the side, I cannot find what model it is in any of my books, can anyone help me out?

[Amberola 1-A]

I wonder if that was a Columbia made client machine. The soundbox is not one found on their Grafonolas (and looks to be a later replacement from an off brand ortho machine). If I recall, Columbia would use up old parts to make these "client" machines and there were variations due to this practice.

Bill

[Jerry B.]

I glanced through Baumbach's "Columbia Phonograph Companion Volume II" and found machines very similar to yours. On page 103 it shows the Lyric Grafonola with the same Concert Grand reproducer and it was introduced in 1911. The slightly more deluxe Ideal, with the same reproducer was $35. According the book, both were available in oak and had grills instead of the louvers. The Grafonola Meteor shown on page 101 shows a plain cabinet like yours but indicates it was available in oak. Also the reproducer was different.By 1915 the inexpensive table model Grafonolas were the "15" (both model name and price) and the "25".

There is nothing in Baumbach's book that is identical to your machine. The on/off speed control on your machine is a hold over from the earlier horn machines and I've seen the Concert Grand reproducer on both horn machines and Grafonolas. It's my best guess that your machine is an early example of the Grafonola Meteor but that's only speculation. Your machine shares features with the Meteor, Eclipse, and Lyric.

Is there a paper label that might give us a clue?

Jerry Blais

[OrthoFan]

At first glance, the sound box appeared to be the Columbia Concert Grand Reproducer, but I noticed it has more "holes," based on the models illustrated in Baumbach's book. (Is it equipped with a mica or an aluminum diaphragm?)

I agree that the case, itself, is very close in style to the Lyric model, so I'd also guess that it might have been a client model.

OF

[Amberola 1-A]

This doesn't look to be a Columbia Concert Grand sound box although there are some similarities. The one I had, "Columbia" was written in a semi-circle on the face of the cover and had only one set of holes around the cover face. The case looks very similar to the one offered by Sears (Oxford) but this was on an outside horn machine.

Bill

[OrthoFan]

I just noticed that the same type of sound box and speed control is used on this Royal Talking Machine --

Royal Sound Box.JPG (20.25 KiB) Viewed 1741 times

SEE: http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewto ... f=2&t=5128

[Amberola 1-A]

And yet another post with a similar type of Royal machine (with ID plate) with soundbox/reproducer.

http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewto ... f=2&t=4396

[estott]

I suspect it's a clietn machine or one for special sale. Columbia did make up cheap machines using old parts and/or parts from companies they acquired.

[alang]

I just noticed that the same type of sound box and speed control is used on this Royal Talking Machine --

Royal Sound Box.JPG

SEE: http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewto ... f=2&t=5128

I own the machine in this picture. It is identical to a Royal Talking Machine, but does not have the ID plate. Another forum member told me this was actually sold by Sears under the Oxford brand, but I have not yet found any printed info about it. The soundbox is similar to the Columbia Concert Grand and has a mica diaphragm, so it's not a cheap Ortho knockoff. The machine that started this thread definitely looks like a Columbia client machine of nice quality, the escutcheons are of much better quality than on my machine.

Regarding Baumbach's Columbia book, it defintely has lots of gaps. Columbia does not have the nice paper trail like the Victor company, so much of his book is based on catalogues etc. He told me he is working on an updated version and is gladly accepting any additional information anyone might have.

Andreas