Installing Edison Long Play mechanisms

[pughphonos]

Hi All,

Thanks to George Vollema I now have all the parts necessary to enable my Edison S-19 Diamond Disc player to play Long Play records as well as standard ones. Installation of the gear change portion is easy. What I'm having trouble understanding, though, is how the button panel that attaches to the left side of the bedplate (and which triggers an automatic stop for either 10" or 12" records) is connected with the rest of the machine. The button panel also came with a piece of metal around 5" long that is bent at a 90-degree angle at around the 3" point. Just how that engages the rest of the machine is totally beyond me--and I see no explanations on-line.

Any instructions/explanations much appreciated!

Ralph

[kirtley2012]

this may be of some help to you!
http://www.myvintagetv.com/updatepages1 ... NGPLAY.htm

[barnettrp21122]

The buttons you mentioned are not for an automatic stop. They facilitate the reproducer set-down at the start of 10 or 12-inch records.
To use it, you'd begin with the reproducer in its "up" position to the extreme right. For a 10" you'd press the "10" button and move the reproducer gently to the left until it stops, and then lower the reproducer. Ditto for 12". The stylus will be positioned within the area of the start of the groove. When properly adjusted it works very well.
Below is a picture of the view underneath the bedplate of the "fingers" and what ought to be the other piece you mentioned. It clamps to the left upper edge of the horn with two bolts, and as you can see from the scrapes on mine, must be moved until the correct contact with the "fingers" is made.

The later Edison instruction manuals outline the use of these buttons with pictures, but I can't put my hands on mine at the moment.
These buttons were on some non-longplay machines, which is a bit ironic, since there weren't any regular groove 12 inch records (other than dealer samplers)ever released, as far as I know.
Good luck with your project!
Bob

[estott]

I think the buttons were similar in intent to the label found in some vintage radio cabinets "This set is designed to be compatible with our Television Attachment, when available"

[pughphonos]

As someone else recently posted, "This is the reason I love this forum," or something to that effect. People on here are so gosh-darned helpful and well-informed. I'm all set now, just within a few hours of my inquiry. Thanks especially to barnettrp21122 for the perfect photos; anyone with this similar challenge in future will hopefully google this string and likewise benefit.

May the Easter Bunny be good to you all.

I'll leave you a ham below as I have no eggs....

[Lucius1958]

Well, Edison had contemplated issuing 12 inch records from the very beginning (hence the turntable). Later, around 1922, another attempt to launch a 12 inch series was proposed, and these buttons were added to some machines in advance (as on my BC-34). Finally, when the LPs came out, some use was found for them....

Bill

[pughphonos]

Time to check in with you all about my adventures in Edison Long Play Land. Last night I finished the adaptation of my Edison S-19 so that it would have the Long Play capacity and I am quite impressed at how easy it was to install the gear-change mechanism--and it works great!

Today I drove to a Chicago-area antique phonograph supplier and bought a couple Edison LPs. The records are not pristine and have some stripped-out and scratched areas. But that is OK as I prefer to work intially with less-than-perfect records.

I leveled off my machine as best I could before playing anything. My Long Play reproducer seems in excellent condition and when it holds in the grooves it has a louder and fuller sound than what I expected. In future I'll attach a video.

My initial observations:
1) I fully agree with what people have been saying about the grooves being so incredibly sensitive. Practically any imperfection causes a skip or repeat. If the disc has any wobble up and down (and most Edison discs do after 90 years) it can affect tracking; same thing for sideways wobble if the spindle hole isn't truly dead-center. A slight scratch barely discernable by eye that would not make the slightest difference on a standard Edison disc will cause an Edison LP to skip.
2) On the plus side, the sound is fuller and louder than I was led to believe by reading on-line discussions of this technology. Edison really did do something significant with the microgroove. Trouble is, his discs were seldom as flat as they needed to be, especially for this type of record.

I only wish there was some hobby phonographic company that would reproduce and re-release these LP discs, just as new copies of some Edison cylinders are produced by Vulcan, Berlin Phonographic Works, etc. But I know that's too much to expect as Edison LP enthusiasts (count myself in) are so few.

Still, I consider the upgrade of my S-19 to LP capacity to have been worthwhile.

I type this as I play side 30001-L, "Dinner Music Number 2" by the Hotel Commodore Ensemble. I do not seem to be adding any more skips and repeats than came with the record, but will monitor the situation. As the stylus approaches the center of the record there is less of the warp that one often finds at the outer edge.

Ralph

P.S. Final comments. As tracking is even more important with the LPs than the standard Edison discs, it's all the more important to use a pen knife to widen the spindle hole a bit so that the record grooves can be aligned with the stylus track as closely as possible. Little piece of paper can be put under the disc at various points to minimize wobble. Finally, one might experiment with adjusting the lower weight on the reproducer to influence the angle at which the stylus engages the record. That's all I can come up with as a layperson. Thanks to all who have contributed tips and insights in this small little corner of the Edison world.

[coyote]

The later Edison instruction manuals outline the use of these buttons with pictures, but I can't put my hands on mine at the moment.

Saved from an eBay listing, however, there are no pictures:

$_12.JPG (35.51 KiB) Viewed 2317 times