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OldRestorer wrote:I do not see any other numbers on the cabinet sorry...

Kirk

Thank you, Kirk.

Best,
Fran

Kirk,

I've been informed by experts, whose knowledge and experience I greatly respect, that my earlier post in which I indicated that all the early production cabinets were stamped with serial numbers corresponding to the mechanisms, was INCORRECT.

Apparently this characteristic wasn't something that pertained to ALL of the early Amberolas (and probably the Disc models as well), but was likely only applied to those cabinets produced at West Orange (there were several other off-site cabinet manufacturers contracted by the Edison company, too) and those cabinets probably wouldn't have been marked with corresponding serial numbers.

What this means is: IF you can find another mahogany Amberola III cabinet, then swapping your mechanism into it would still maintain the machine as historically correct.

Sorry for any confusion I may have caused on the topic.

Best,
Fran

I was never worried about it but thank you for the info.
No one seems to have one anyway..

Kirk

OldRestorer wrote: No one seems to have one anyway..

Kirk

I'm not surprised. I saw this piece for sale as well, but wondered where one might find an original cabinet into which to drop a mechanism. After all, this is a fairly rare machine. Your best bet would probably be to cannibalize the legs and other parts from an A-150 cabinet. However, at some point, it will become more of a labor of love than anything else.

Regards,

Garret

Hey Garret,
Is the cabinet the same on the A-150? Or at least the bottom shelf and the legs?
I don't care about doing surgery but I want it to look as original as it can be..

Kirk

OldRestorer wrote:Hey Garret,
Is the cabinet the same on the A-150? Or at least the bottom shelf and the legs?
I don't care about doing surgery but I want it to look as original as it can be..

Kirk

The design of the bottom shelf is somewhat different. The III has rails on the sides and back of the shelf. The A-150 does not. Also, the crank hole is ~2 inches further back on the III, the motor mounts are in different places as is the woodwork on which the top grills mount. The A-150 also has a large additional hole drilled in the front, bottom of the cabinet into which the hardware is mounted to pivot the horn. There are other small differences that would have to be dealt with. Even if you went through all that, it would still be discernible that the combination was a cobble job.

Fran wrote, "IF you can find another mahogany Amberola III cabinet, then swapping your mechanism into it would still maintain the machine as historically correct."

Of course, because your Amberola III mechanism #793 matches the data plate #793 that is attached to the cabinet stamped 554, this means you have the original cabinet that went with your mechanism (albeit a cabinet manufactured FOR Edison, rather than by Edison. Thus, it would also be historically correct (and in my opinion, preferable) to have legs and a shelf made for your cabinet and finished to match. I say preferable because this would keep together the parts that have been together since the machine was offered for sale.

Just my two cents.

Best wishes, Mark

hey kirk,
i do have the legs in stock if your still looking for the legs..they are from a amberola 3..just email me at [email protected] and i will send you pictures.
kind regards,
mark and d'arcy
croakinfrog phonographs

I have sent you a message sir!