Edison Bell Portable

[gramophoneshane]

I'm not sure why Edison had to use an outside manufacturer instead of doing the work in his own plant. Maybe he was embarrassed by creating a machine for laterally recorded records!

I think it was simply that Edison's phono division was going broke fast, and it couldn't afford retooling the factor to break into the lateral machine market.
They probably should have done it a decade earlier instead of wasting time and money trying to stick with vertical cut recordings, long play and Edisonic development etc.
Even his phono-radio combos came on the market much later than they should have, and stock market crash were the final nails in Edison's coffin.
Perhaps if he'd followed Pathés market strategy, we might still be seeing the Edison name at the end of movies today.

[mrrgstuff]

They also made "Electron" records, which this machine was obviously designed to play, but I've never encounted one of these myself. I've only managed to find an Electron record cover, which I've pictured below.

As it happens I recently acquired one Electron record - but no sleeve:

[Inigo]

Hey, thanks for the corrections! Ortho, the web wiki about Edison Bell is really interesting. One of the books in the final references and bibliography section leads to another interesting book readable on the Archive.org site, something about 100 years of recorded sound.

[dzavracky]

Hey everyone,

I will post a video of it playing a 20's record hopefully later today. As gramphoneshane noted, there is no lid stay. I am most impressed by the motor. It is completely silent and with these new springs can play two 10" records on a full wind.

The machine is pretty beat up... I am considering recovering the case at some point. But at the same time I like how beat up it looks. What do you think? Should I leave it as is or re-cover it?

Cheers,

David

[dzavracky]

Update: the machine seemed unusually quiet… so I took the horn out and gave it a shake. And what falls out? A needle tin

It sounds a WHOLE lot better now. Here’s a video of it playing a 20’s record : https://youtu.be/NdMzJ82tpcA

David

[OrthoFan]

Update: the machine seemed unusually quiet… so I took the horn out and gave it a shake. And what falls out? A needle tin

It sounds a WHOLE lot better now. Here’s a video of it playing a 20’s record : https://youtu.be/NdMzJ82tpcA

David

That sounds great! Nice upper and middle-range with a good hint of bass, like the HMV, Victor and Columbia portables of the late 1920s/early 1930s. Obviously, it has a well designed sound box and horn.

And, congratulations on finding the Edison-Bell needle tin!

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OF

[gramophoneshane]

Nice find David.
I had the same experience with my very first portable, but found 3 different tins were wedged in my horn. It wasn't until about 6 months later that I found them after pulling the machine completely apart to recover the case.

As for your machine, unless you can find an exact colour and texture match to the original, I'd leave the original Rexine intact. Otherwise it will never look right against the original interior which looks to be in excellent condition.
As long as you glue down any loose Rexine, you can probably improve the overall look of the machine greatly with a good clean followed by a coat of good quality shoe cream in a matching colour.
If an exact match can't be found, you can always try mixing your own using another colour of the same brand to tint the closest red you can find.

I really like your needle tin btw.
It's one I haven't come across before.
I actually didn't know they made "medium tone" chromics.
Earlier they were only made in "loud tone", or you could get double pointed chromics for use with "sympathetic chromic grip" which was a volume control device as pictured below.
I've also posted the steel and chromic needle tins I have, and an ad I found on the net.

[dzavracky]

Those needle tins are awesome! Mine is full of needles, but they of different kinds. There are some unused originals (I am assuming the longer gold colored ones are the right needles for the tin). They sound really great on the portable. Is the clip on the left side of the lid for the needle tin? I have often wondered about the needles that claim to play 10 (or more records). Is it okay to use those needles 10 times?

I am still somewhat disappointed at the volume of the machine.... the youtube video I posted makes it seem much louder than it really is. BUT all things considered, maybe that is a good thing as there is no volume control for portables anyways.

The main reason I was considering recovering the case is because the rexine is completely gone from the right side of the machine. But I will just leave it as is.. it adds some charm

Thanks for posting those photos and the Edison Bell advertisement! I might print it off and hang it above the machine.

Cheers,

David

[gramophoneshane]

Chromic needles are gold, so I'd assume your good needles are original to your tin.

To be perfectly honest, EB chromics are the ONLY needles that I've ever come across that actually do play 10 sides as they claim, on an acoustic machine, and they don't appear to do any damage at all to records.
Every other brand I've tried have deteriorated after 4-5 sides, even with an electric pickup, so I don't know what EB used to plate them with that made them last.

Can't really comment on the clip, as I've never had an EB machine before, but I'd say if the tin fits it probably is.
I normally won't use tin clips though as they usually end up scratching the paintwork on the tin.

Perhaps seeing as so much Rexine is missing fr the case, it might be better to recover the machine if a close colour match can be found, and do everything except the record holder that carries the EB decal.
Proper Rexine is pretty expensive though, at least here in Australia, so it might be worth inquiring at book binders etc for a cheaper alternative so you don't end up spending more on the covering than the machine cost.