Latest Find - Amberola 75

[Valecnik]

Thanks to Phonocookie for calling my attention to this on Craigslist. Very clean, reasonably priced and came with 49 blue amberol cylinders.

[kirtley2012]

I need to adjust my "wish list!", very nice machine!!!

[gramophoneshane]

Nice score Bruce. I'd love to find one of these, purely for the added record storage.
Did you find anything exciting amongst the cylinders?

[epigramophone]

Yes, a very nice find indeed.

Last weekend I bought a Mahogany Amberola 50 in very clean unrestored condition. It is an early model with the external speed control and bears Serial Number 5594, which I understand dates it to between September 1915 and January 1916. The original price appears to have been 10 Guineas (£10.10s.) which would have been the Sterling equivalent of $50.

There are two small areas requiring attention. Firstly the Edison signature has worn away, so I have ordered a replica waterslide transfer (decal) from the USA.

Secondly the grille cloth is missing, with only traces of glue on the reverse of the grille remaining. If anyone can post a picture of a grille cloth which they know to be original, I would be most grateful.

[phonogfp]

Congratulations Bruce! That's a very clean 75 - and in oak too...

It's coincidental that you and I should both recently find Amberolas through the kindness of other collectors. Last weekend, my wife and I drove to Maine (she thinks it was a romantic 3-day weekend!). I had been alerted by a very kind collector in St. Louis that an Amberola III was sitting in a shop way up the coast. It was too far for him to consider - and he didn't want to ship it with those fragile legs, so he passed the tip on to me. Unfortunately, the machine is missing its reproducer, so I'm on the prowl for one now. The rest of the machine is remarkably clean - - but it's mahogany! Oh well...

It's funny - the little wooden goodie-box was still inside with the original screwdriver, tube of spring grease, and even the front cover of the instruction book. The crank was there. So whatever happened to that reproducer??? That was the way the dealer bought it. And he priced it as "parts."

George P.

[gramophoneshane]

If anyone can post a picture of a grille cloth which they know to be original, I would be most grateful.

I actually started a thread on original grille cloths a couple years ago.

http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewto ... ille+cloth

Unfortunately the mahogany 50 pictured is a late example showing the patterned cloth Edison used during the last few years of production, but I'm fairly certain an early machine like yours would have shared the same cloth used on Amberola 30s & Diamond Disc machines of the same era.
There is an early 30 pictured in oak, which I believe is a fairly accurate representation of how the cloth appears after 95 years of fading, but originally it would have been a golden brown colour afaik.
Diamond disc machines at the time however, seem to be fitted with a couple different colours, and I don't know if the same held true for the Amberola range, nor whether the wood finish had any bearing on the colour used.
I'll have a look through my virtual collection & see if I have added any pictures of early mahogany Edisons, and if so I'll add them to the cloth thread, otherwise someone here might be able help out.
It may also be worth taking your grille into direct sunlight, and with the aid of a magnifying glass, thoroughly check the back of your grille. I did this recently with an off-brand machine & was able to find 2 tiny threads from the original cloth. Both were only about 2mm long- one caught in the glue & the other caught on the edge of the grille, which I recovered with tweezers. Obviously a couple fabric fibres wasn't enough to indicate if the fabric was patterned, but it was enough to show me the original colour tone to match with new cloth pretty accurately.

[Valecnik]

Congratulations Bruce! That's a very clean 75 - and in oak too...

It's coincidental that you and I should both recently find Amberolas through the kindness of other collectors. Last weekend, my wife and I drove to Maine (she thinks it was a romantic 3-day weekend!). I had been alerted by a very kind collector in St. Louis that an Amberola III was sitting in a shop way up the coast. It was too far for him to consider - and he didn't want to ship it with those fragile legs, so he passed the tip on to me. Unfortunately, the machine is missing its reproducer, so I'm on the prowl for one now. The rest of the machine is remarkably clean - - but it's mahogany! Oh well...

It's funny - the little wooden goodie-box was still inside with the original screwdriver, tube of spring grease, and even the front cover of the instruction book. The crank was there. So whatever happened to that reproducer??? That was the way the dealer bought it. And he priced it as "parts."

George P.

Wow, an Amberola III is a very nice find, even without the reproducer. The reproducer, L or diamond B, is not hard to find but can be expensive! I bet you could use more romantic weekends like that! How about a few pictures George?

Nice score Bruce. I'd love to find one of these, purely for the added record storage.
Did you find anything exciting amongst the cylinders?

Shane, regarding the records inside, it will be awhile before I know if there's anything exceptional there. There's the small problem of 5000 miles distance between me and the machine. For now it will be parked amongst the other machines in Phonocookie's phono room.

[phonogfp]

Wow, an Amberola III is a very nice find, even without the reproducer. The reproducer, L or diamond B, is not hard to find but can be expensive! I bet you could use more romantic weekends like that! How about a few pictures George?

I only wish I could use a Diamond B! I think you meant Diamond A - and yes, they're usually expensive, darn it. I'll post a few pictures of the machine after I fully wake up...

George P.

[FloridaClay]

I actually started a thread on original grille cloths a couple years ago.

Shane, what a treasure. I have added it to my "Favorites" list.

Clay

[Valecnik]

Wow, an Amberola III is a very nice find, even without the reproducer. The reproducer, L or diamond B, is not hard to find but can be expensive! I bet you could use more romantic weekends like that! How about a few pictures George?

I only wish I could use a Diamond B! I think you meant Diamond A - and yes, they're usually expensive, darn it. I'll post a few pictures of the machine after I fully wake up...

George P.

Yes, of course I did mean the diamond A. The B would be quite a bit cheaper but won't help you!