The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I'd guess that Amberola will sell for $1600 to $2100. Am I too low or too high? What do others think? Jerry

gregbogantz wrote:Will somebody please clarify the cabinet makers of these several Amberola 1 designs? George P? Can anybody comment?

The 1A and 1B cabinets can be better understood if they're broken into two designs: the earlier design is the Weber and the later design is the Pooley. But to make things interesting, there are Weber cabinets equipped with Pooley grilles. And Pooley manufactured both Weber and Pooley designs. And there were at least 4 manufacturers of 1A and 1B cabinets.

Attached is an article I wrote for The Sound Box about 3 years ago. It should explain the 1A and 1B cabinets as well as I'm capable of doing it. Be sure to go through to the end under "One Collector's Perspective" where cabinet characteristics are mated with the 4 known cabinet suppliers.

Brunswick indeed manufactured Pooley-type cabinets for Edison, but not until after Pooley went bankrupt in 1914.

Hope this helps!

George P.

Interesting and informative article, George. Thank you for sharing it. Personally, I would be surprised if the Amberola here in question sells for less than 2K. That said, however, the seller has imposed a reserve which will surely turn off many potential bidders once the bidding reaches a certain threshold and the reserve is not yet met. Most would recognize (including the seller) that the parts alone are of decent value. My guess is that if the reserve is met at less then 2K then it will sell for at least 2K or better. Heck, I would pay that much for it and I already have a nice Amberola 1A. The cabinet and grille can be repaired. Maybe not perfectly but close enough to look nice again. - Doug

Like Steve, the thing I would worry about with this one is the condition of the bedplate finish. Also the condition of the fancy finish on the metal work. A good cleaning would bring a huge improvement, but I suspect it would still look kind of rough without a complete restoration. That would be rather expensive for those of us who don’t have a shop (I live in a condo and do my work in the kitchen!) and the skills and equipment to do it ourselves to the high quality this machine deserves. I am not ever certain if there is anybody out there who I could get to do a high quality job on redoing the oxidized bronze metalwork.

Clay

P.S. I am rather taken with the lyre grille.

The oxidized bronze reproducer and upper horn assembly would clean up real nice. The mandrel is a different story. It shows evidence that this machine was used a lot!

The auto shut-off adjustment knob looks to be missing (hopefully all the other parts to it are there). Those are hard to come by.....

The damage on the case by the lid lock is interesting. Makes you wonder, how did that happen??? My guess is that someone didn't remove the mechanism for transport and it fell out. That happened to me when I got my first A1. Lucky for me I heard it shift and was able to stop it from doing damage!

My first Amberola A1 was #2448. The spring was broken in that one too.

These machines are all beautiful none the less!

Steve

The wear to the finish on the mandrel is probably due to lots of Blue Amberols having been played on this machine. Nothing will tear up the finish on a mandrel like plaster of Paris (or the steel end rings in Indistructibles).
I wonder whether owners may have removed the autostop mechanisms because they were inconvenient or malfunctioned in some way. I have seen at least 2 Operas with missing autostops at recent Stanton auctions.
Personally, I think this could be a good machine for the right person because there is nothing of importance missing and it could be used with a good cleanup, spring replacement and lube. I thought about it as it is close enough that I would pick it up, but I have so many things going on right now that it could easily spend its time here as an unfinished project. I also suspect that the reserve price is more than I want to pay for that particular machine. At this point, if I spend significant money on a machine, I want it to be an Opera.

Jim

It's only up to $520 (reserve not met). Jerry

Andersun wrote:I paid around 4k for it and spent another 1K for a nice piano finish. The result is here......

http://victrolagramophones.proboards.co ... age=1#5599

What did the specialist use for the piano finish, lacquer or shellac?

Starkton wrote:What did the specialist use for the piano finish, lacquer or shellac?

Lacquer

Andersun wrote:

Starkton wrote:What did the specialist use for the piano finish, lacquer or shellac?

Lacquer

Thank you.

I know that modern lacquer has advantages with respect to hardness and insensitiveness. On your Amberola the original surface of hand-applied shellac was already coated with brittle varnish (probably lacquer). A sad fact which is often found. Did the specialist consider to reapply shellac for the sake of originality after rubbing down the varnish?