Opinions please

[Valecnik]

A250 no question. However, when in doubt, buy both!

My sentiments exactly. Same goes if you are trying to decide between oak and mahogany.

[FloridaClay]

OK, did pick up an A250. See http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewto ... f=2&t=7913

Now a couple of questions:

Did the A250 have a grille cloth? Most of the pics of them I see don't seem to have one.

Does anybody know of a souce of good quality castors that fit and are similar to the originals? The ones on this one are a bit rough.

And oh, by the way, there were indeed some black bedplates in addition to the brown and maroon. This one has one, of the correct early type and with the gold decorations these units had.

Clay

[Valecnik]

Hey congratulations! How about some pictures.

I believe all of the A250s had grill cloths, which does not make a lot of sense when they have the nicely wood grained horns.

Here are some pics of one of mine showing the remnants of a tattered grill cloth.

http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewto ... aph#p22785

Personally, if the paint is pretty good on your horn, I would not bother to put a grill cloth into it.

[Jerry B.]

I'm a machine collector and I want whatever is more unusual. If I had a choice between a mahogany Triumph or an oak one, I'll take mahogany. If my choice is between a mahogany VV-XII and one in oak, I'll take the oak one. It has nothing to do with performance. It's all about rarity for me. If your goals are different, but the price is close, always go with the more unusual machine. Happy collecting, Jerry Blais
*
PS... Santa forgot my mahogany Gem. Anyone with an extra? Please send a PM.

[FloridaClay]

Here are some pics of one of mine showing the remnants of a tattered grill cloth.

Many thanks for the link to your pictures. They will be a tremendous help as I set about putting things right.

Here is a picture of the first cleaned bits. Wish I had taken some before pics. The crank and brake mechanism were almost totally black and you could see little of the gold fancy work on the motor plate. I was amazed at what was still there under all the grime.

There is some loss of lacquer on the plate, but not too bad and it is worst underneath the turntable where it won’t show. (Valecnik mentioned earlier in this thread that is a known problem with these machines.) The turntable is an Edison, but not the correct gold edged one. I will replace that.

As you can see the motor plate is black, so, as I think somebody else already mentioned, there were black ones as well as the brown and maroon.

For now I am laying in wait for some poor unsuspecting neighbor with a strong back who will help me get the cabinet out of the car and into the building. I’ll put up some “before” pics of it when I get it in.

Clay

[Valecnik]

Looks like you are off to a good start.

Wow the bedplate is black with the early decoration. That's very unusual. Is the cabinet oak or mahogany and also what's the SN? Is the same SN stamped under the platter?

Regarding the platter being wrong, I'm not sure. I've seen oak ones with nickel edged platter and normally brown felt. Looks like the felt might have been replaced on yours or?

[FloridaClay]

Sorry, I should have mentioned that it is a mahogany case, so I am pretty sure it would have had a gold rim on the turntable. All the pictures of the mahogany A250s I've seen do. More about the case, including serial # info, latter when I get it unloaded. And yes, the felt has been replaced on the turntable with not very good stuff. Will try to get something with decent original felt when I replace it. I believe the oak models had brown felt and the mahogany had green.

Clay

[Valecnik]

What about serial no's under on the bedplate, (near the spindle) and on the case? I'm guessing with that black bedplate it's a late one but who knows?

[FloridaClay]

The # on the bedplate is 8355-A1. Won't be able to get to the SN on the cabinet plate until I get the cabinet unloaded. Frow indicates that the A meant it was the first style of motor and what became the A250 was referred to as the Model 1 in early factory correspondence.

It does have the double spring motor, so it is not one of the very earliest handful--a few of which came out with single spring A200 motors, accoriding to Frow.

Clay

[Valecnik]

Yup,

Mine, (the one in the link) is 12887-A1 stamped under the spindle, from Aug. 1914 or later. So yours is closer to the middle of the run. Makes the black bedplate even more strange...