The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

bearcat wrote: Tue Jan 25, 2022 4:38 pm

Pathé Logical wrote: Tue Jan 25, 2022 3:24 pm Bob

Congrats!!! Can't wait to see this in person (as long as you don't try to recoup your purchase price by charging admission)!

Bob

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Lah Ca wrote: Tue Jan 25, 2022 5:25 pm And PS: I don't think she has wound the gramophone up fully so that it will play at a slower speed so she can learn those killer licks on the cylinder more easily.

Actually, that’s a Type B Graphophone. Gramophones play discs. In the US (the country of origin), the term ‘Gramophone’ (with an upper-case ‘G’ refers specifically to disc record players manufactured under the Berliner patents. The term ‘gramophone’ (with a lower-case ‘g’) is improper in the US, although in Great Britain it has been colloquialized to mean any disc record player.

JPow wrote: Mon Jan 24, 2022 5:39 pm Cool early photo (the price isn't too cool though). I thought it was a Columbia Q at first but the positioning of the horn looks more like a Columbia Eagle.
"Cabinet card young woman playing a guitar along with a cylinder phonograph 1898"https://www.ebay.com/itm/134002031382?

Spotter’s Guide: The Type B ‘Eagle’ Graphophone has a smaller-diameter, fatter spring barrel than the later Type Q Graphophone. The frame is lower on the Type B, and the governor is mounted at the back and at the top of the frame, and is mounted between two of the frame plates; on the Type Q, the governor is at the front of the machine and mounted lower using a separate arbor to support the right end of the governor shaft.
You are correct that the carriages in the two machines are different (“horn positioning”) — the Type B has a carriage designed so that the reproducer is pointing up while the horn points out; the reproducer on the Type Q is on top of the record and in a straight line with the horn.

"it will play at a slower speed so she can learn those killer licks"
that is FUNNY... I wonder when guitarists started doing that?... I think horn players were doing that in the 1920's?

Anyone recognize the guitar maker and/or model number? Martin seems to have not used a metal tailpiece. The Levin is close but it and other guitar makers seem to have used an 'hourglass' shaped tailpiece where this one is 'scalloped'. Rosette give anyone a clue?

bob stutz

bearcat wrote: Wed Jan 26, 2022 2:39 pm
Anyone recognize the guitar maker and/or model number? Martin seems to have not used a metal tailpiece. The Levin is close but it and other guitar makers seem to have used an 'hourglass' shaped tailpiece where this one is 'scalloped'. Rosette give anyone a clue?

bob stutz

I floated the picture around among guitar enthusiasts, and nobody recognised the make of the guitar, which is not surprising. There were just so many manufacturers, most of whom have long vanished. General thoughts were that the guitar was not an expensive make/model because flat-top guitars with tail pieces were much easier to make. They were compression top guitars - the tension of the strings over the bridge saddle pressed down on the top. Expansion top guitars have the string ends attached to the bridge, either with knots or with bridge pins. There is tension over the bridge saddle, but there is also a very large force pulling up on the bridge itself, expanding the top. It takes a lot more skill to make an expansion top guitar, at least one that will not quickly self-destruct. Martin was the innovator here with steel string guitars. They were the best in the early days, and everyone copied their structural innovations. Counter to the impression that the guitar was a cheap mail-order or department store instrument, however, is the guitar's rosette. It is large and complicated, expensive work if it is not a painted or stencilled job. So who knows?

Some of the guitar enthusiasts also dabbled in talking machine enthusiasms. It was wondered whether the young woman might not be depicted recording a cylinder rather than listening to one. Any thoughts here?

"Some of the guitar enthusiasts also dabbled in talking machine enthusiasms. It was wondered whether the young woman might not be depicted recording a cylinder rather than listening to one. Any thoughts here?"

This occurred to me also. I am unsure of the recording capabilities of Eagle Model B. There appears to be grooves on the cylinder. The picture could have been taken after the performance and recording. Of course the machine would have been placed in front of the performer for recording, then placed on the table for the picture.

If this is the case, that is some high-tech cutting edge stuff for the time. Recital teacher was pretty forward looking if that is what happened.

bob stutz

Regarding the guitar, a common repair/modification was to add a tailpiece. The guitar’s top shows a lot of playing wear, so it is possible that it once had a bridge that used bridge pins, (it looks like a pyramid bridge to me). It’s a shame that the head is not in the picture.

Django wrote: Thu Jan 27, 2022 6:07 pm Regarding the guitar, a common repair/modification was to add a tailpiece. The guitar’s top shows a lot of playing wear, so it is possible that it once had a bridge that used bridge pins, (it looks like a pyramid bridge to me). It’s a shame that the head is not in the picture.

That is a very insightful and interesting observation. Thanks.