Featured Phonograph No. 87

[Valecnik]

"First machine in this collection- 1932-cost 3.50 with 150 new cylinder records."

Nice presentation of a very desirable Edison model! Everybody should have the opportunity to begin a phonograph collection with a rare machine offered cheaply.

I agree but I'm not sure that was terribly cheap for an obsolete machine in the height of the great depression.

[gramophoneshane]

It really is a beautiful machine. I bet that bedplate is the best of the surviving examples that around today.
When most people would have been discarding these for landfill or a damp basement, Mr Wilmouth obviously respecting & took great care of this example.
I can't help but wonder, with the bedplate in such immaculate condition, and even having the original power cord, what happened to the original cabinet & why did he choose to reproduce a Concert/Opera cabinet instead of the Alva cabinet?
I suppose woodworm might have been responsible for destroyed the cabinet while leaving the mechanism untouched, but the choice for the replacement seems a little odd. Then again, I'd image back in the 1930s, total aesthetic originality probably wasn't a high priority.
Whatever his reasons, I have to admit I think it looks far more stylish with this cabinet, and a lot of love & craftsmanship went into making it.

It's amazing just what a difference having an electric motor makes in these machines compared to a spring driven motor.
A friend of mine also has an Alva, and they are indeed an extremely quite machine when running. The soft whir of the electric motor & upper gears makes a Triumph or even an Opera almost sound like a chaff cutter in comparison.
About a month ago we were playing a few BA's with a Diamond B reproducer, and even dubbed cylinders sound superb without the added background (& amplified) motor noise, but listening to electrically recorded BA's was a mind blowing experience. It's like listening to a well restored tube radio or good digital tranfer when all you can hear is the recording. We didn't get to play any 2 minute cylinders, but I'd imagine they too would sound awesome.
I actually find it hard to believe that people bought expensive disc machines like the VTLA when you could get an Alva for half the price.

You're lucky man to own one, especially this unique example with such fasinating provenance. It's quite a machine.
I think I'd rather own your Alva than a Class M personally.

[New Owner]

Well, $3.50US in 1932 is equivalent to, give or take, $55US now. It'd basically be like paying $60 for a ßetamax machine nowadays. It'd only be useful to collectors and junk-lovers. Makes ya wonder how much your old VCR'll be worth in 100 years


Anyway, that's a wonderful find.

[Andersun]

It really is a beautiful machine. I bet that bedplate is the best of the surviving examples that around today.
When most people would have been discarding these for landfill or a damp basement, Mr Wilmouth obviously respecting & took great care of this example.
I can't help but wonder, with the bedplate in such immaculate condition, and even having the original power cord, what happened to the original cabinet & why did he choose to reproduce a Concert/Opera cabinet instead of the Alva cabinet?
I suppose woodworm might have been responsible for destroyed the cabinet while leaving the mechanism untouched, but the choice for the replacement seems a little odd. Then again, I'd image back in the 1930s, total aesthetic originality probably wasn't a high priority.
Whatever his reasons, I have to admit I think it looks far more stylish with this cabinet, and a lot of love & craftsmanship went into making it.

I inspected about 50 phonographs that were in the Wilmoth collection. To my surprise, most of them had refinished bed plates and changes which most would not consider doing now. Back when Art collected these machines, they did not have much value and preservation of originality was not a concern at the time. These early collectors just wanted to make them look as nice as possible for display. Also, parts were harder to find because of the lack of other collectors and networking tools like the internet. I found many home made parts on the machines.

A good example was his Class M which is illustrated on page 18 of Frow and Sefl's book "The Edison Cylinder Phonographs 1877-1929". Art fabricated the ear tube rail and had bolted it on the top of the lower bed plate. He drilled the mounting holes thru the lower bedplate. The connection between the ear tube rail and the rubber tubing was made from a "Tiz-It" socket. The lower bed plate was refinished. The upper bed plate was all original and it's serial number was 27!

Art also cast his own upper housings for Model O reproducers. I have one of those Model O's (see pic). You can see that he could not get the Edison lettering to show up good on the mold.

Steve

[Andersun]

You're lucky man to own one, especially this unique example with such fasinating provenance. It's quite a machine.
I think I'd rather own your Alva than a Class M personally.

I really do consider myself real lucky to obtain this machine. I worried so much about shipping it across the country, I ended up driving it and two other machines 2800 miles in a rental car!

The amazing thing about this is after I cleaned and lubricated the mechanism, I worked up the guts to plug it in and turn it on. It fired right up and was at the correct speed! The last time it had been played was sometime in the 1980s. The only noise that you hear is from the repeater. Without the repeater, it is extremely quiet.

Steve

[Valecnik]

You're lucky man to own one, especially this unique example with such fasinating provenance. It's quite a machine.
I think I'd rather own your Alva than a Class M personally.

I really do consider myself real lucky to obtain this machine. I worried so much about shipping it across the country, I ended up driving it and two other machines 2800 miles in a rental car!

The amazing thing about this is after I cleaned and lubricated the mechanism, I worked up the guts to plug it in and turn it on. It fired right up and was at the correct speed! The last time it had been played was sometime in the 1980s. The only noise that you hear is from the repeater. Without the repeater, it is extremely quiet.

Steve

Steve, how long have you had it? It's a great machine. I know tastes differ but of all the machines I've seen in the "featured phonograph" section, this is probably the one I'd like to own most. Well but I guess you plan on keeping it where it is and I probably could not afford it anyway.

[Andersun]

Steve, how long have you had it?

About 2 weeks.

[Valecnik]

That case looks so professionally done. Do you know, did he make it himself, have it done or? If it was actually a late Triumph case or oak opera case it would obviously have the crank hole etcetera. What about the decal?

[Andersun]

That case looks so professionally done. Do you know, did he make it himself, have it done or? If it was actually a late Triumph case or oak opera case it would obviously have the crank hole etcetera. What about the decal?

It looks better from a distance than it really is. I was told by the family that Art made it from a standard Triumph case. The decal is a water transfer. You can see the outline of it if you look at a certain angle.

Cygnet crane mounting holes were drilled twice and hole was filled.

Steve

[Andersun]

That case looks so professionally done. Do you know, did he make it himself, have it done or? If it was actually a late Triumph case or oak opera case it would obviously have the crank hole etcetera. What about the decal?

It looks better from a distance than it really is. I was told by the family that Art made it from a standard Triumph case. The decal is a water transfer. You can see the outline of it if you look at a certain angle.

Cygnet crane mounting holes were drilled twice and crank hole was filled.

Steve