The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

! Are they on the heavier side for needing a crane?

Actually, they are quite lightweight. The little horns are perfect for a Gem or Col Q and the larger horns are light enough to ride on the reproducer on a Standard or Home. The gourds were very dry when purchased. The first step was to clean the outside. Next I cut off the end which became the opening or bell of the horn. The inside was also very dry and contained seeds which were easily scraped out. Next I drilled a hole at the small end. I used an inexpensive copper plumbing connector which is ⅝" at one end and ½" at the other. Next I used a fairly aggressive steel brush connected to a cordless drill to really remove the inside of the gourd. The thickness of the gourds ranged from about ⅛" and the thickest at ¼". Even the thickest gourd is light enough to use on a Standard. I then inserted and JB Welded the plumbing piece to the small end. If you intend for the horn to ride on the reproducer you insert the smaller end into the gourd. If you use a crane with the largest horn you glue the larger end into the gourd. The gourds were colored with leather dye. The first coat was to color the gourd. The next coat I used an excessive amount of the dye and played with the applicator to give a swirled wood grain look. The next day they got a couple of cotes of lacquer. Now you know all the Gourd-A-Horn secrets!

Jerry B.

Did I misunderstand something? I thought you purchased the horns at an antique store?

Either way I am definitely going to try this this fall. What is the inside/outside of the gourd covered with?

dzavracky wrote:Did I misunderstand something? I thought you purchased the horns at an antique store?

Either way I am definitely going to try this this fall. What is the inside/outside of the gourd covered with?

On the surface he comes across as a really nice guy, but you gotta watch that Jerry B fella every second...

Did I misunderstand something? I thought you purchased the horns at an antique store?

If you'll go back to my original post you'll see a bunch of smiley faces after my name. That was a subtle way of giving a hint to my tall tale. The "market" I referred to was actually a gourd festival. I tried to fashion my tall tale in a way that was similar to claims by a backyard maker of a patent medicine which cured all sorts of maladies. In truth the patent medicine was probably part alcohol, cocaine, and water.

Jerry B.

I was curious about the actual weight of the Gourd-A-Horns so I weighted a few and weighed an original cone horn and an original 14" horn. I spent so much time with DeeDee's food scale and doing the fraction to decimal math that she thinks I'm going on a diet. Wrong! The results are:

Original 10" cone horn is .28 pound
Small red gourd horn is .19 pound.
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Original 14" black & brass horn is just over .5 pound
Larger green gourd horn is .65 pound (this gourd had the thickest skin)
Larger red gourd horn is .56 pound
Larger brown gourd horn is .38 pound (of the three larger horns this one appears to be physically the largest)

Jerry Blais

Jerry B. wrote:

Did I misunderstand something? I thought you purchased the horns at an antique store?

If you'll go back to my original post you'll see a bunch of smiley faces after my name.

ah haha it went right over my head that’s for sharing how you made them!
Just for fun I’m going to make a paper horn mounded over a large traffic cone .... I totally understand the desire to make horns out odd objects

I used a traffic cone to shape a recording horn out of thick cardboard, and it does a far better job than using my 14" black and brass witches hat horn.
(I slipped it on my Diamond B to take the picture)

gramophoneshane wrote:I used a traffic cone to shape a recording horn out of thick cardboard, and it does a far better job than using my 14" black and brass witches hat horn.
(I slipped it on my Diamond B to take the picture)

Nice horn! I was taking about using a much bigger cone though !! I’m glad someone else has tried it!

David,
When you mentioned traffic cone, did you mean something like this?

Well yes indeed I did!!


(Except mine won’t have the flat bottom)