The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

To be honest, I am not sure anymore which cylinder type I am more concerned with. Brown wax and golden mounded cylinders are very susceptible to mold, black amberols are very brittle and can break for no apparent reason, indestructible records shrink so badly that they skip or slide off their core, and blue amberols split in their box without any apparent reason. I really try to love cylinders, but there is much less trouble with 78s I think.

Andreas

...But if it was easy, anyone could do it!

George P.

I have a few wax Amberols and seem to have been unusually lucky with them; I have not yet broken one, and they appear to resist mould better than either brown or black two-minute cylinders. It is certainly true, though, that they suffer wear in loud passages. Long ago I bought a copy of Peter Dawson's recording of Stephen Adams's 'Thora' which had worn so severely that even my tolerant ears could not often endure the blasting which resulted. For a while I had a Blue Amberol version of the same performance, and as a result the wax cylinder lay untouched in a drawer for twenty years or more. Recently, however, I bought a pimply old Model R reproducer with an exceptionally warm and rounded tone. I tried the wax 'Thora' with this and found that it played very much better than I remembered; the roughnesses are now masked by the power of the voice itself, and the surface is as smooth as that of a Blue Amberol.

Oliver Mundy.

I buy all the Edison wax Amberol cylinders I can find as there are artists and titles recorded on these cylinders that appeared no where else. Notable examples are Marshall Wilder (who grew up in Rochester NY) and, of course, Ernest Shackleton. Some of Sophie Tucker's earliest (and best!) recordings are found on Edison wax Amberol...and they are incredibly difficult to find. I have Sophie's "Some Of These Days" and a couple of copies of "Knock Wood" and "Phoebe Jane" on wax Amberol and the performances are excellent. I'm still searching for "Missouri Joe" by Sophie on wax Amberol. These are some of the reasons why I will never stop searching for and purchasing Edison wax Amberols. You never know what interesting title or artist will show up in a group of them.

While it's true that Edison wax Amberols are incredibly fragile and some are reaching their life expectancy having spontaneously cracked, there are some that have survived and have been cared for quite well. And when you DO find those, the performance is breathtaking.

Doug

I'd love to find a copy of wax Amberol,"By The Light Of The Silvery Moon Medley "by the New York Military Band.I got it when I bought my Triumph E from Jerry Donnell.Sadly,I had an accident with it.The number is 574.edisonplayerPS;Does anyone have a copy?

alang wrote:To be honest, I am not sure anymore which cylinder type I am more concerned with. Brown wax and golden mounded cylinders are very susceptible to mold, black amberols are very brittle and can break for no apparent reason, indestructible records shrink so badly that they skip or slide off their core, and blue amberols split in their box without any apparent reason. I really try to love cylinders, but there is much less trouble with 78s I think.

Andreas

This is a good reason why so many Edison dealers started calling them "Damnberols" - sometimes even to customers! Even when new, wax Amberols were incredibly delicate and have only become more fragile with age, whereas shellac 78s were always fragile too but have not really gotten MORE fragile with age, if that makes sense. It's strange to think that the same company which made Amberols also made Diamond Discs, which as long as they are not exposed to moisture or played on a Victrola, will probably outlast all of humanity!

I believe "Damnberols" was a term used in the U.K. for dubbed Blue Amberols.

No doubt that a minty, shiny Wax Amberol has probably the best sound of any cylinder! Unfortunately they are ticking time bombs. They have wonderful selections, and they don't get moldy. I know that just taking them from the summer outside, to an air conditioned room will make them crack, not even touching them, you will hear an audible Pop sound! .

A good wax Amberol can be an absolute joy to listen to. By and large they were excellently recorded with silent surfaces. Unfortunately tracking down a "good" Amberol is becoming more and more difficult and with playing they don't remain "good" for very long.

Whilst I still own about 120 or so of them, I tend now only to buy them or play them if the recording is not available on Blue Amberols. They are simply too delicate to risk with everyday playing. I'm sure we have all experienced that heart-sinking little "click" on pushing the Amberol gently onto the mandrel, denoting another one biting the dust.

Tim W-W

Wagnerian wrote:A good wax Amberol can be an absolute joy to listen to. By and large they were excellently recorded with silent surfaces. Unfortunately tracking down a "good" Amberol is becoming more and more difficult and with playing they don't remain "good" for very long.

Whilst I still own about 120 or so of them, I tend now only to buy them or play them if the recording is not available on Blue Amberols. They are simply too delicate to risk with everyday playing. I'm sure we have all experienced that heart-sinking little "click" on pushing the Amberol gently onto the mandrel, denoting another one biting the dust.

Tim W-W

I'm sure by now we have all seen the video of this guy (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnsizkVjGm8) smashing the poor Edison cylinder record to bits on live TV, but was this a wax Amberol or a regular two minute Gold-Moulded one? The camera doesn't really show the other end of the cylinder (where the title and artist info is stamped) but given how it shattered, I am inclined to think it was an Amberol.