The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

When viewing the Youtube video links for this show, at least to me...
the bell seems too small to be a genuine Edison Opera horn.
Could this have been a repurposed radio horn?
I'm in no way condoning what was done to it, but at least if this is the case, they didn't butcher an original.

Tim Weeks repairs an old Edison Phonograph and recruits Will Kirk's help to get the wooden components up to standards.

You know you have to cater to that discriminating person with the perfect living room setting.

Skihawx wrote:Tim Weeks repairs an old Edison Phonograph and recruits Will Kirk's help to get the wooden components up to standards.

You know you have to cater to that discriminating person with the perfect living room setting.

Hf didn't seem to know how a Gem worked , had to ask the clock repairer !

He doesn't use the workshop wood restorer for his best clients!


"I can now offer a premium renovation service.

Renovating a machine will include work to the casing of the machine as well as carrying out a service and any necessary repairs. This includes re-covering typical portable models in brand new leathercloth (to match the original Rexine) or re-poli"hing cabinet and table models to produce a museum quality item looking as close as can be achieved to how it did when it was new. This work is undertaken by an expert furniture restorer with 50 years’ experience in antique"

edisonphono wrote:When viewing the Youtube video links for this show, at least to me...
the bell seems too small to be a genuine Edison Opera horn.
Could this have been a repurposed radio horn?
I'm in no way condoning what was done to it, but at least if this is the case, they didn't butcher an original.

I thought the same thing as I watched the video. The bell of the horn is very narrow compared to an original Opera horn. Maybe just the video, but I agree, probably a radio horn. Maybe even a horn that was cut down because of some damage before the experts got their hands on it.

Larry Crandell

Whatever the "reality" is with the authenticity of the horn, several obvious questions arise that should have been considered by the "expert woodworker" and the "gramophone guru", before attempting this, as well as contacting the owner and explaining their ridiculous methods to see if she was OK with a "golden oak finish on a mahogany horn".

#1 - Why would anyone assume that a mahogany colored horn should be a "golden color", especially when you have it in your hands and can examine it? Are neither of them familiar with mahogany wood or do gramophones come only in oak?
#2 - If something like a wooden horn is separated from its supposedly original metal "cygnet" portion and you are unfamiliar with how it should be attached, why in the world wouldn't you research what an original should look like and how it should be re-attached? Also, what does stripping the original finish off of it have to do with how it should be assembled?
#3 - If you are truly an "expert woodworker" and competent restorer of antique things, why would you use a power disc sander on anything made of wood? Disc sanders work fine on metal, but not on wood... they wear uneven spots in wood surfaces, especially cylindrical pieces like a horn, as most woodworkers know - expert or not...

Curt A wrote: #3 - If you are truly an "expert woodworker" and competent restorer of antique things, why would you use a power disc sander on anything made of wood? Disc sanders work fine on metal, but not on wood... they wear uneven spots in wood surfaces, especially cylindrical pieces like a horn, as most woodworkers know - expert or not...

Not that it makes it right, but that's not a disc sander, it's a random orbital sander. Not quite as bad, but still not the tool for the job.

And as for the Opera, the 'renovation appeared to degrade the sound quality to a very low standard.
My Fireside sounds far more dynamic, stable and clear.
It should have been impressive. Even on the TV!
I wont be contacting the 'Guru'

An out of round cylinder playing far too fast made the tenor Ernest Pike sound like one of the Chipmunks. A non collector listening to it might think that this is what an Opera is supposed to sound like, so not only was this Opera ruined, but an erroneous impression of the model's sound quality was given.

All the radio horn loudspeakers I have seen have been metal, so I doubt that the Opera's horn started life on a radio. Music Master horns were supplied to several manufacturers, so perhaps this one was not originally destined for the Edison factory.

There was a funny side to my appearance on the programme in Series 2, featuring my wife's desk. My friends had assumed that I would be on it to repair a gramophone. I don't claim to have been able to repair that Opera, but I could have chosen a better cylinder, adjusted the speed control correctly and given the horn no more than a light clean.

epigramophone wrote: All the radio horn loudspeakers I have seen have been metal, so I doubt that the Opera's horn started life on a radio. Music Master horns were supplied to several manufacturers, so perhaps this one was not originally destined for the Edison factory.

Music Master made wooden radio horns as well. There were smaller ones than the Opera sized horns, but also some that were the same size as an Opera horn. The radio horns had different decals and nickel plated collars, otherwise, pretty much the same.