The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Curt A wrote: The first thing to do, is to take the cylinders out of the boxes and inspect them for cracks, or obvious distortions. If they are basically good, just dirty, wash them with soapy water and dry them. Once cleaned, play them on the machine and see what they sound like.

Do not submerge Blue Amberols in water! (The plaster cores will be damaged.) Wash the Blue Amberols with a cloth.

George P.

Thanks, George... I should have said that.

Thanks, Curt. I hope to find the time to really go through the cylinders. I am a musician and it is pretty obvious that most if not all the titles are fairly common popular or novelty cuts. What is the best resource for checking what people are looking for in cylinders? This machine is really loud. Is that because the top plate is missing?

Adding my two cents on this.....

I agree with the early statement on the Edison Diamond Stylus. The cost of replacing these with new stylus are running around $ 150.00 each, and there have been some collectors mentioning that the quality is questionable, if these stylus fail, they can severely damage the records.

A good original stylus, is probably the best bet, but they are not easy to locate and can also be in the $100.00 range. You have to look at the condition of the reproducer, some are swollen into the horn and have broken "short neck" syndrome. A good rebuilt reproducer with stylus is in the ball park of $ 200-250.00. Back around 2005, I was able to find the reproducers for Amberola machines quite easily, rebuild them, and could not keep them on the shelf, they were easily fetching $ 200.00 each.

How is the motor on the machine? Condition of cabinet etc. I also second the comment about the gear covers. I had a missing gear cover on my machine, and it took me about 6 months to find one, and the cost was $ 75.00.

When I collect, I used to just look for a machine, but now if something catches my eye, I try to assess how complete it is and the cost to restore. I have machines worth 200.00-300.00 that I have over $ 500.00 into. I love Edisons, but nowadays the deciding factor to buy, or not to buy can be wrapped up in the condition of that small diamond stylus.

Gone are the days when we could call up a supplier and ask for a part and a dollar to a donut they had the part. I remember calling APSCO, Wyatt's and the rest, and you could get just about any original part. Back in 2006, I called Patti at Apsco, needed a feedscrew to repair a guys Columbia, and she remarked they did not have one....I can only imagine that its no better now.

It it helps a potential buyer and the seller, I can get the machine to the CAPS show. Jerry Blais (Albany, Oregon)