My first Edison...Amberola 30

[gramophoneshane]

I dont own one, but I believe another member (kiwi) has one. Perhaps he'll see this thread and post a couple pics.

[estott]

I thought they were produced at the Edison factory for export to NZ (much like the Amberola 80s made for the Australaisa market), but I really dont know for sure. The horn bell would have had to be modified (shortened) to fit the smaller cabinet, which seems like a big job for a dealer to pull off successfully. That would also mean the dealer cut down the entire front of the cabinet & lid?

I can't find my copy of the Frow book, but I seem to recall that the NZ dealer built them himself and had to buy several 30's to use the top works. He was attempting to interest the Edison company in supplying him with the mechanisms alone so he could construct portables but they declined.

From what I recall of the picture little if any of the original case was used in the NZ machines.

[antique1973]

As estott stated, you'll find the speed control under the gear cover. It's a knurled wheel at the back of governor. This indicates it's a later model, and not an early model as stated above. Early models had the speed control protruding though the top of the gear cover, a nickel plated reproducer, and the ID tag was located in the horn compartment, at first on the right side & then on the left.
As far as I know, the ID tag was then moved to the left hand lid panel towards the front, before finally being attached to the bedplate, as on your example. The earliest 30s also had grille cloth, but these later machines did not.
They're a great little machine, and the second smallest cabinet model Edison ever produced- the smallest being a 30 variation in a slightly smaller cabinet with the word "Edison" spelled out in the grille, that was only sold in New Zealand . They're very reliable & they sound fantastic considering the size of the horn. You dont get the noisy gear problems that some of the earlier Amberolas have either.
Congrats!

Thanks for the great info Shane. This is the oldest machine in my
collection now but ironically its the easiest to use. Its nice not having
to swap out needles every time, and after each cylinder I only have to wind
it about 10-12 times for the next one. I was wondering about the diamond
needle, does it wear out eventually? I am getting good sound from it if I
use a cylinder in good condition, but its kind of scary to think that the
needle may be 97 years old! The boatload of cylinders are a mixed bag, a few
so far sound excellent, some have a "wavy" sound like someone is playing
with the pitch. I guess that means they got subjected to heat at some point
and warped or the plaster expansion tweaked them perhaps. I noticed
quite a few Hawaiian selections. Was Edison a fan of Hawaiian music by chance?

[estott]

There was a craze for Hawaiian music in the early 20th C. A troupe of Hawaiian musicians appeared at an exhibition around 1915 and their style of music plus the Ukulele and Slide Guitar started to become popular. Songs even reflected the craze: "Honolulu, America Loves You" says "In Boston where they eat those beans They know what yakka-hula means"

[antique1973]

There was a craze for Hawaiian music in the early 20th C. A troupe of Hawaiian musicians appeared at an exhibition around 1915 and their style of music plus the Ukulele and Slide Guitar started to become popular. Songs even reflected the craze: "Honolulu, America Loves You" says "In Boston where they eat those beans They know what yakka-hula means"

Ok, so it was a trend at the time. Interesting!

[gramophoneshane]

It was a trend that lasted well into the 1950s out here, but I dont know about other countries.

As far as the stylus goes, you'll know when it needs replacing because you'll start to hear an echo on most of your cylinders. Recordings of talking tend to echo a little with a good stylus though.

[Brad]

........ I was wondering about the diamond
needle, does it wear out eventually? I am getting good sound from it if I
use a cylinder in good condition, but its kind of scary to think that the
needle may be 97 years old! .....

Brad, Most diamonds are between 1 and 3 billion years old, so you have nothing to worry about

I have seen a few bad diamond tips, however, my experience is that they either look fine or are totally destroyed. Since they use diamonds to cut through stone, one would think that the hardness of the record surface would be no match for the hardness of the diamond.

I have often wondered if the destroyed diamonds were in fact flawed (cracked, impurities, chipped) at manufacturing time, but used anyway.

[antique1973]

........ I was wondering about the diamond
needle, does it wear out eventually? I am getting good sound from it if I
use a cylinder in good condition, but its kind of scary to think that the
needle may be 97 years old! .....

Brad, Most diamonds are between 1 and 3 billion years old, so you have nothing to worry about

I have seen a few bad diamond tips, however, my experience is that they either look fine or are totally destroyed. Since they use diamonds to cut through stone, one would think that the hardness of the record surface would be no match for the hardness of the diamond.

I have often wondered if the destroyed diamonds were in fact flawed (cracked, impurities, chipped) at manufacturing time, but used anyway.

Well yeah, I know that! I guess I should have been more specific to include
the needle assembly in general, i.e. whatever substance holds the diamond in place, etc. I am getting good performance in general so hopefully I will be good for at least a billion more years.

[antique1973]

It was a trend that lasted well into the 1950s out here, but I dont know about other countries.

As far as the stylus goes, you'll know when it needs replacing because you'll start to hear an echo on most of your cylinders. Recordings of talking tend to echo a little with a good stylus though.

I get echos I noticed from time to time but like you are saying its mostly on
the talking comedy type cylinders. I think I will be good for a while.

I was wondering about the cylinders, the 5000 series and up are the valuable ones correct? It looks like the highest ones I have are 4000. If I can find some that
are rare but I don't care for the music I will likely liquidate them to free up
some cash.