Help and ideas for amberola 1B works

[Jerry B.]

To convert an A or B-250, you'd have to consider:
Finding or fabricating a horn
Finding the metal drip tray that protects the fibre horn
Mounting brackets for the mechanism
Cutting a divot in the lower case
Adding the divot to the lid
Finding an ID tag
Fabricating the grills around the mechanism
Removing the two big record drawers and fabricating the four cylinder record drawers complete with clips

What have I missed?

Jerry Blais

[phonogfp]

How difficult would it be to convert a b250 cabinet to a correct amberola 1b?

Quite difficult.

Three slots would need to be properly cut on each side of the cabinet into the horn compartment. A near-hemispherical piece would need to be cut out of the sill to correspond with the mandrel for record insertion/removal. The piece would need to be attached to the lid's edge so as to fill the void when closed. The interior trim pieces would need to be cut in the correct Rococo pattern in matching wood. A horn made of appropriate fibrous material would need to be located or fabricated, and an original metal end piece would need to be located to connect to the mechanism. The original "Edison" script decal would need to be removed from the lid's interior (it's beneath the original finish), and an "Edison Amberola Phonograph" decal placed in the appropriate spot. The two drawers for disc records would need to be removed (along with their interior slides and associated bracing), and replaced with 4 drawers for cylinders equipped with metal clips (25 per drawer) and their necessary interior slides and bracing. The large cast mounts for the cylinder mechanism would need to be located or fabricated. The crank hole of the B-250 cabinet won't align with the Amberola mechanism, so an additional hole will need to be drilled, and the original hole filled.

And in the end, if it's a first-class job, you'd have a very expensive reproduction Amberola 1B cabinet. If the result is anything less than perfect, you'll have a buggered-up B-250 cabinet that won't make you happy, and can no longer be put to use to house an Edison Disc Phonograph mechanism.

To my mind, this conversion is not a good idea.

George P.

Jerry - we were tying simultaneously - - and we each noted a couple of things the other missed!

[FloridaClay]

If it were mine, I might put it into some temporary base so I could play it and then wait for a real 1B cabinet to come along.

Clay

[PeterF]

Here are some pix of a 1B mech in a Triumph case. Again, this was merely a convenient temporary spot to park the mech, and it was nice to find out that the crank hole and shaft lined up.

As you can see from the pix, the gold pivot stub shaft things will need to be removed for the bedplate to fit flush on the frame. I've seen a few fake Operas made in this way over the years, and the presence of semi circular cutouts on the bedplate from the removed stubs was one of the tell-tales. I wonder how many Amberola IIIs gave their lives for such things?

But in your case, you can create something useful and fun to use until the right cabinet comes along.

[dutchman]

I believe that short shaft goes in this bracket on a 1B cabinet:

Cheers

Bill K

[PeterF]

Well, yes, of course it does. But he's got no correct cabinet, so we're looking for alternatives.

[dutchman]

Thanks Peter F. I have a cabinet but no works, I was wondering what that bracket was for - your photo cleared that up. Cheers


Bill K

[alang]

Bill, maybe you could contact the original poster and the two of you could agree on some kind of deal to create one complete machine again?

Andreas