WANTED: Edison Opera horn / reproducer support

[edison_opera]

500$ reward for this spare part (horn/reproducer support)!Bye, Victor

[Uncle Vanya]

These were reproduced at one time fir the benefit of those folks who were wrecking Amberola I and III machines and building fake Opera/Concert machines.

[edison_opera]

OK thanks. But nothing nowhere

[Jerry B.]

PM sent. Jerry Blais

[pughphonos]

Sounds fascinating, Uncle Vanya. Would love to hear the story sometime. Was there a particular period in time when this sort of mechanical adultery was widespread, or is it a more or less constant part of the antique phono field?

Ralph

P.S. I oftentimes prefer a good story to the immediate fulfillment of a driving obsession for a particular phono part. Can't give you $500 for it, though.

[edison_opera]

Sounds fascinating, Uncle Vanya. Would love to hear the story sometime. Was there a particular period in time when this sort of mechanical adultery was widespread, or is it a more or less constant part of the antique phono field?

Ralph

P.S. I oftentimes prefer a good story to the immediate fulfillment of a driving obsession for a particular phono part. Can't give you $500 for it, though.

Which kind of story? A novel? A fairy tale? I prefer the last one... Once upon a time a big child(42 years old) was waiting under the X'mas tree his new Edison Opera but a wicked witch called Fedex kicked the sleigh of Santa Claus. Now that child is very unhappy...

[pughphonos]

We'll leave the type of story up to Uncle Vanya. Given his avuncular name, though, you'd think he'd be good at telling stories/tales to us newbies.

Glad to hear a bit more from you! I know I'm probably more chatty than you, but you see I can be easily disarmed if I just know a bit more about what's motivating people. You've been on a pretty intensive search for a part--and now I (and the rest of us) know why. Gosh, I am sorry that the Fed Ex people damaged such an important delivery! Unless you're quite rich, you've already blown a hole in your budget and now you can't even fully enjoy the investment.

I hope (now that people know of your particular Christmastime disappointment) that they will keep a special eye out for that part, or have suggestions on what else you might do. If you can't find help on this forum, I don't know where else you can turn; this is truly the top, international forum for antique phonograph enthusiasts. It's like a university with dozens of top professors (I'm not at that level--yet).

Ralph

P.S. My buddy Wolfe on here hasn't learned how to disarm me; matter of fact, he's my main arms supplier! But I'm hoping to win him over in due course.

P.P.S. I'm a big Edison fan and first saw you over on the Edison Forum. FYI, I own three Edison machines: two cylinder players (a Triumph model D and an Amberola V) and a Schubert Edisonic disc phonograph.

[edison_opera]

We'll leave the type of story up to Uncle Vanya. Given his avuncular name, though, you'd think he'd be good at telling stories/tales to us newbies.

Glad to hear a bit more from you! I know I'm probably more chatty than you, but you see I can be easily disarmed if I just know a bit more about what's motivating people. You've been on a pretty intensive search for a part--and now I (and the rest of us) know why. Gosh, I am sorry that the Fed Ex people damaged such an important delivery! Unless you're quite rich, you've already blown a hole in your budget and now you can't even fully enjoy the investment.

I hope (now that people know of your particular Christmastime disappointment) that they will keep a special eye out for that part, or have suggestions on what else you might do. If you can't find help on this forum, I don't know where else you can turn; this is truly the top, international forum for antique phonograph enthusiasts. It's like a university with dozens of top professors (I'm not at that level--yet).

Ralph

P.S. My buddy Wolfe on here hasn't learned how to disarm me; matter of fact, he's my main arms supplier! But I'm hoping to win him over in due course.

P.P.S. I'm a big Edison fan and first saw you over on the Edison Forum. FYI, I own three Edison machines: two cylinder players (a Triumph model D and an Amberola V) and a Schubert Edisonic disc phonograph.

Hi Uncle Vania!

So it seems that you are a fan of Checov too...
I'm a modest collector of phonographs I've got only a fireside not restored but as new with O reproducer, 10 panels cygnet horn, bought in London many years ago, and an Home phonograph with morning glory horn with low serial number too. I've had several others but I sold them when I became interested at European antique furniture and paintings. Now after several years I've decided for my first Opera (probably it wasn't a good idea:). My fairy tale was short just because I'm italian and then I don't want to fall asleep anyone. Any question is welcome

[Uncle Vanya]

Sounds fascinating, Uncle Vanya. Would love to hear the story sometime. Was there a particular period in time when this sort of mechanical adultery was widespread, or is it a more or less constant part of the antique phono field?

Ralph

Back in the early 1980's the value of Edison Opera machines soared, reaching upwards of $3500. The early Amberolas were not in great demand, as cabinet machines did not really come into fashion as collectables until the 1990's. The late Cecil Dancer, a man who offered many fine, correct reproduction talking machine parts (I still have a couple of his excellent 10" cast iron Victor turntables somewhere, along with one of his equally good Monarch Rigid Arm assemblies)) offered cast-iron horn support brackets to a few select customers. I can remember visiting one fellow in particular who had an even half-dozen Amberola mechanisms apart for painting. Their cabinets were stacked in his junk room. After his passing I purchased a couple of spare mahognay lids and one empty oak cabinet from his estate. When I was young and quite naive I found a group of twelve "Opera" handle sets which had been used on built-in cabine4ts in a mansion in East Cleveland, OH (these handles with their oxydised copper finish were a stock bit of hardware, made by Ives, as I recall). I passed them on to another collector, who used every one on a newly made "Opera". The three man that I know who built up these machines may have put together as many as thirty machines, as best I can estimate.