The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

apruizii wrote:I have an Edison 24 minute long play record that came with an H-19 Edison phonograph that I bought a couple of years ago. I understand that you need a special Long Play (LP) reproducer and LP conversion kit to play these type of records. Does anyone know how much such an LP reproducer and conversion kit would cost and have photos?

Thanks,

AR

AR, I've just sent you a PM. I'll just state on the thread also that I had no serious bites on my comprehensive offer and decided some weeks ago to withdraw it (after selling only one LP record on E-bay).

AR should be able to find what he needs eventually as the Long Play machines do pop up every few months.

I'm getting pretty close to "freezing" my collection; neither adding nor subtracting. Content to let the commercial/capitalist world march on without me.

Ralph

Ralph,

Thanks for getting back to me with a PM. I've noticed from doing some research on the internet that some of the BC-34, 1-C, and 2-C phonographs have a 10 and 12 button on the left hand side of the platter. I assume these machines have the LP conversion and the buttons are to choose the LP record size. If that is correct, then what is the short and long switch that I see on other upright phonographs such as the C-250? Does this switch do the same thing as the buttons? What variation do you have and on what phonograph model?

Thanks,

AR

There is no relationship between the LP system and the mechanical 10"/12" size guide, other than the fact that Edison LP records were sold in both sizes.

It's nice to have the little buttons when you have the LP system in place, because it helps you get a steady start on those fragile LP records and thus help avoid the groove damage to which they are so very prone.

apruizii wrote:Ralph,

Thanks for getting back to me with a PM. I've noticed from doing some research on the internet that some of the BC-34, 1-C, and 2-C phonographs have a 10 and 12 button on the left hand side of the platter. I assume these machines have the LP conversion and the buttons are to choose the LP record size. If that is correct, then what is the short and long switch that I see on other upright phonographs such as the C-250? Does this switch do the same thing as the buttons? What variation do you have and on what phonograph model?

Thanks,

AR

The buttons on these machines are a relic of a plan by Edison, about 1922, to realize their early promise of 12 inch records. In anticipation, they equipped many machines with these selector buttons; but the plan was never realized. It was not until the release of the 12 inch LP records that the buttons became particularly useful, and were included in the conversion kits.

Bill

A small point of interest:

The kit that Allen showed us in his post, did not have the 10"/12" button mechanism included with the conversion.

This makes me wonder if it was a separate accessory.

Best,
Fran

fran604g wrote:A small point of interest:

The kit that Allen showed us in his post, did not have the 10"/12" button mechanism included with the conversion.

This makes me wonder if it was a separate accessory.

Best,
Fran

I would have to concur, Fran. As you know, the 10/12 buttons, by themselves, do nothing. The machine also has to have a metal flange attached to its horn at a very specific point to make the buttons work. Neither the buttons nor the flange are in the LP kit. That would indeed lead me to think they were a completely separate item.

Thanks everyone for clarifying the point that there is no relationship between the 10/12 buttons and the short/long switch. So the true indication of a machine having an LP conversion is the presence of the short/long switch.

AR

52089 wrote:

fran604g wrote:A small point of interest:

The kit that Allen showed us in his post, did not have the 10"/12" button mechanism included with the conversion.

This makes me wonder if it was a separate accessory.

Best,
Fran

I would have to concur, Fran. As you know, the 10/12 buttons, by themselves, do nothing. The machine also has to have a metal flange attached to its horn at a very specific point to make the buttons work. Neither the buttons nor the flange are in the LP kit. That would indeed lead me to think they were a completely separate item.

It should also be noted that the 1-C was not equipped with the 10"/12" feature, however the larger consoles (2-C; 3-C; 4-C) apparently did. I believe these larger models utilized the largest horn at the time: the "250" horn. The elusive "Consolette" would be anyone's guess; my personal assumption is that the cabinet was based on what would later become the "Schubert" model, but that's admittedly only speculation on my part. This type of cabinet would've eliminated the possibility of the 10"/12" feature because of the horn and mechanism arrangement; as similarly did the smaller "100" size horn and mechanism arrangement of the 1-C.

As always, I encourage the input of others on this topic. Were any of the large L-P Consoles designated as an "Official Laboratory Model" (I don't believe any were)?

Best,
Fran

apruizii wrote:Thanks everyone for clarifying the point that there is no relationship between the 10/12 buttons and the short/long switch. So the true indication of a machine having an LP conversion is the presence of the short/long switch.

AR

Yes.

-Fran