The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

PhonoJack wrote:
I don't ever remember seeing an A-100 at any of the shows let alone the record storage box. But I do believe I read something about these boxes that were availabe on other Edison machines were inadvertantly tossed because they are held in place with four screws. Blame it on a long day, but also I think I remember seeing a photo/story of a box that didn't look like it fit because the drawer opened from the side? Anybody remember this?

Yep - - I wrote an article on an oak "A-150" in the Sound Box a few years ago showing such a record storage box on its shelf. In the "One Collector's Perspective," I told how I had acquired a lateral attachment with oxidized bronze finish in 1999, then an oak Edison Record storage box in 2002. Naturally, I was looking for an oak "A-150" - - a bass-ackwards project if ever I saw one. But a year or two later, one miraculously turned up. Oddly, someone had sawn off each brace typically found on each side. I was considering replicating these two missing braces, but then tried placing the record storage box on the machine's shelf - with the drawer facing the front. It wouldn't fit - the surviving rear brace wouldn't allow the box to be centered on the shelf. But sliding the box on the shelf SIDEWAYS worked fine because those side braces had been removed! And the index numbers inside the drawer had been printed to be read more easily sideways as well. It was almost as though the machine and the drawer had originally been together...although the drawer was bought at Union and the machine was bought in Delaware.

George P.

I just ran across this photo in My Pictures, which illustrates the "A-150" described above...

George P.

Nice looking machine George! I wonder if anyone makes a reproduction record case like that. That's a great idea. Are the mechanics in the 150 the same as the 100?

To operabass78s: If It were me, I would go for it. Mine looked almost the same when I started, and I thought it turned out pretty good. You could always make an offer to the seller? The grill would still be an issue, mine had the grill, but the medallions were missing. I did find some that were similar, but slightly larger, but they fit OK in the corners. I used mine as a project to learn how to work with the finish, and didn't really intend for it to look like it does now, a learning project.

- Jim

Jim: From the photo, that looked like you did a good job restoring it.

And as always, George Paul has stunning photos to share with us.

For $50, I think it might be worth getting for someone who wouldn’t mind doing a bit of restoration, but it’s been a while since I’ve attempted restoring anything, and I’ve only done furniture.

— MordEth

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Antique Edison A-100 Phonograph (W Seneca)

Reply to: [email protected]
Date: 2009-02-09, 10:51AM EST

Edison A-100 phonograph, great for parts, cranks up and runs, cabinet is rough, 50 dollars.

• Location: W Seneca
• It’s NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests.

Craigslist PostingID: 1027199853

Thanks David, it was one of my first projects I attempted. It took some time, but I had learned a lot struggling through some of the issues. And of course, it was early enough I didnt take pictures of what It looked like before I started. Now it's the first thing I do when I get a machine. It's great to go back after time, and see what it used to look like and see what you have accomplished.

- Jim

Jack,

I'd also like to see pics of your wooden storage box. I have a complete set of wooden/cardboard cylider storage boxes for the Amberola III and a partial set for the A150.

Regarding restoration of the A100, if you want to take it on as a project to learn restoration techniques, I agree with Zeppy it's a good starting point. Don't expect to make money on it though. Even if you are lucky or skilled (or both) and do a good job on your first restoration you will have a tough time getting your money out.

Valecnik

Victor78 wrote:Are the mechanics in the 150 the same as the 100?

No. The "A-100" isn't really an A-series machine, having been introduced in 1915 and employing a New Standardized mechanism. The "A-150" dates from 1912-1914 and uses the earlier A-series mechanism. I may have a photo of the top plate of the "A-150." If so, I'll post it.

George P.

Yes - here's the top plate of the "A-150."

All good info (and great pics Jim and George!)

I think OB is looking for a "plug and play" DD machine, not something requiring extensive work which is why I would steer him away from it. If it were near to me, I'd grab it too and put it in my phono boneyard for either a future project or parts.

The A-100 was actually the first DD machine I ever had the chance to really play with. Back in 1986, I had the chance to get into a long-closed general store in Nassau NY that had once been an Edison dealer. The grandson of the original owners of the place had kept the place complete with contents for years, including lots of cool Edison stuff that I eventually bought. There were two DD machines there, the A-100 and a CC-32 with an Edisonic reproducer. The guy wanted to keep the A-100 because it was small, so I got the CC-32, hundreds of cylinders and DDs, a Triumph model A, horns, reproducers, parts and more basically for very little because the guy wanted the A-100 and a few DDs for his house. My dad and I fixed the winding pawl on it and a couple of weeks later we were taking station wagons full of Edison stuff home from the store before the contents were to be auctioned. That was a neat discovery. The only regret I still have to this day was leaving behind hundreds of NOS DDs that probably got auctioned for practically nothing. Even at age 13, I was smart enough to get all the paper label dance band stuff, though!

Sean

George, I really like the oxidised needle type reproducer with the A150. Looks like you have a real nice combination there. If you have another one of those reproducers let me know!

Hi Gang,

Here are some photos of my DD record storage box for the Edison A-100.
I can't take any credit for the work on this machine as it looks pretty much the way I got it.
You can see a big difference between the top plate on the A-100 and A-150. Hope this answers some of the good questions that came up on this thread.

Have fun,

Jack

By the way, if you want larger uncompressed images so you can digitally zoom in, those images are located at:
http://www.phonojack.com/images/A/

(Click on any of the images below for the full-size original photo.)