The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Wolfe wrote:

what looks like the usual crapo reproducer

Actually, it looks like a typical Viva-Tonal soundbox to me..... probably came with the tone arm.

If there was a real model like this I would be all over it. I wonder if there are any
real ones similar to this with a brass case or gold plated case, etc.

Lucius1958 wrote:

Wolfe wrote:

what looks like the usual crapo reproducer

Actually, it looks like a typical Viva-Tonal soundbox to me..... probably came with the tone arm.

Yeah, I get it now. Columbia arm and all. Thumbs up.

Lucius1958 wrote:

Wolfe wrote:

what looks like the usual crapo reproducer

Actually, it looks like a typical Viva-Tonal soundbox to me..... probably came with the tone arm.

That's definitely a Viva-Tonal Columbia sound box -- most commonly found on US models --


FROM -- http://myvintagetv.com/updatepages1/cha ... bia161.htm

-- coupled to a "turned upside-down" British Columbia "Plano-Reflex" tonearm, as shown here --



It would probably sound quite good, providing the sound box is in good playing condition, and the tonearm's end is riding smoothly and not just stuffed into the elbow, and the motor isn't cobbled together from various junker parts, and.....

I wonder if this--



-- is what the "creator" of this "object d'art" had in mind?

David Spanovich wrote:
It would probably sound quite good, providing the sound box is in good playing condition, and the tonearm's end is riding smoothly and not just stuffed into the elbow, and the motor isn't cobbled together from various junker parts, and.....

There you go.

I could just imagine winding that baby up and having the first record wind down in the middle, and the next, maybe the spring blow out the side, and...

In it's gaudy way, it looks kind of neat.

there where real goldplated and silverplated parts like horns and arms and sound boxes made in pre revolutionary russia probably for the aristocracy i once saw a goldplated horn,arm and soundbox on a russian g&t but these machines are as rare as betini phonographs and i heard stories of pre revolutionary russian disc machines beeing inlayed with actual gem stones and sound boxes with radium lettering that glow in the dark (and give you cancer!)but probably like the anastasia story its more a fairytail than fact

one thing however is true at that time russia had a surplus of platinum it was so comon that they even made low value coins out of it its therefore not hard to think that it might have ended up in phono parts it has a very aluminium like look to it a horn of this material could easely be misstaken for aluminium


tino

Looks like it was made by the Franklin Mint