Instruction Manual or ANY Manuals for Amberola V

[joybird]

I would be interested in finding any and all information on the Amberola V I am about to become the proud owner of.

COPIES WELCOME

Also interested in same for the Amberola VI I have 2 model B . one Oak, one Mahogany
Thank you
Bob T

[gramophone78]

Your best bet is to post a "wanted" ad in our "Yankee Trader".... .

[Jerry B.]

If you want my two bits worth... The Amberola V was the finest table model Amberola ever built when you consider the beauty of the cabinet and the quality of the mechanism. You purchased a great machine. Jerry Blais

[VintageTechnologies]

If you want my two bits worth... The Amberola V was the finest table model Amberola ever built when you consider the beauty of the cabinet and the quality of the mechanism.

Yes, and why Edison followed up with the Amberola VI is a mystery to me. It must have promised to be cheaper to manufacture, but the motor was noisy and the short-lived aluminum gear was a poor solution. I own both.

[FellowCollector]

I would tend to agree that the Amberola V is probably the finest of the table model Amberolas. And while I would further agree that most of the early Amberola VI motors are noisy - some are not. I have 2 Amberola V's (one in 'tiger' oak and one mahogany) and 2 Amberola VI's (one early model A and one model D [yes, there was indeed an incredibly late 'D' model for the Amberola VI. The ID plate on mine is clearly stamped "D 6"]). The early Amberola VI motor sound is actually very acceptible and indeed is nearly as quiet as either of my Amberola V's. Nothing has ever been changed on the early Amberola VI. Perhaps it has had less use than most early VI's. But I do know that I would not consider the motor as noisy. That said I have seen and heard plenty of early VI's that are quite noisy - to the point of almost drowning out the cylinder being played. My Amberola D 6 has the late Amberola VI cabinet with (post-December 1914 fire) 2-spring Amberola (model 50 / 75) top works and motor and therefore is nice and quiet. I actually prefer the 'look' of the early Amberola VI bedplate configuration with the large, sleek sloping gear cluster cover over the nook-and-cranny Amberola V bedplate in spite of the rather interesting flywheel assembly cover. But that's me. I enjoy listening to any of them.

[Jerry B.]

Doug, Could you post a photo of the late Amberola VI with the 50 mechanism. The Amberola V and VI with the Amberola 50 mechanism are a couple of the rarities in Edison collecting and well worth owning if the opportunity presents itself. Jerry Blais

[FellowCollector]

Hi Jerry, Be happy to. Just waking up to some pretty messy early wintery weather here! My late Amberola VI stamped as "D 6" is still as I found it in untouched original condition so please forgive the rather 'raw' look to it. I will try to post the pics in the next day or two. For those who enjoy stories here is mine on how I got this one. Back about 22 years ago I had gotten up at about 4:30am and waited in a long line at a field of antique dealers in Brimfield, Massachusetts. It was wickedly cold (this was a September show) and the aroma of coffee was in the air and you could see the breath of people as they talked in line waiting for the opening bell. I rushed in and started going up and down the aisles of dealers and noticed a dealer with several phonographs. Two of them caught my eye. One, an Edison Gem B with nice original black Gem petal horn and one Edison Amberola VI with an original Edison Phonograph dealer tag (from Willimantic, Connecticut) on it. The Gem was marked $425 and the Amberola VI was marked $285. I asked the dealer if he could negotiate if I bought both. "Nope. The field just opened pal...Maybe at the end of day if they haven't sold...you want 'em or what?". I said, "Well, can you please hold this one here (pointing at the Amberola VI) for just 15 minutes while I take a quick run around the field? I just got in here and there might be more that I want.". Dealer: "I suppose so. But after 15 minutes it's up for grabs.". I thanked him and off I went. I found nothing else in the field and returned in exactly 15 minutes. The dealer: "You're lucky you showed up, pal. I coulda sold that one 5 times since you were gone." I paid up and carried it out of the field. And that in itself was a job. It is heavy! The Gem was still there by the way but I decided against it. On my way out of the field I ran into a couple of ladies who, on seeing me carrying out the Amberola, exclaimed "OH DAMMIT! You BOUGHT IT! We wanted that player 'cause we're from Willimantic, CT and we went all the way back out to the car for more money!". I said I was sorry and moved along. I didn't realize how unusual this Amberola VI was until I got it home and looked closely at it. "Hey, this is a model D! And with a "6" instead of "VI"." Anyway, that's the story on it! I'm reasonably confident that my late VI Amberola cabinet survived the December 1914 fire while it was waiting for a motor and works. After the fire, Edison probably said something to the effect of "Hey, put the new Amberola works in those few remaining Amberola VI cabinets and stamp them "D 6" and send 'em out". The dealer in Willimantic got one and now I own it.

Bob T: I am so sorry for seemingly hijacking your thread. An Amberola V original manual is really tough to find. I would first consider a repro one until you find an original. Good Luck! - Doug

[joybird]

I was not aware of all the responses here.
Will have to figure how to get e-mail to notify me of new post.

I am interested in anything for the V and VI. I am new to this. Hopefulll I can control myself and end with the 3 I now own.
I would like to find a Amberola X though.

Anyway I would be happy to get any copy of the V manual if one is out there.

I just found a Book Edison Phonographs Cylinder Models 24 pages. In process of trying to make it in pdf format and make a copy for my library .

I just purchased another Amberola B VI for $130. Oak Cabinet, the one I have now is Mahogany.

My VI is quiet , but not mounted to cabinet yet.

Thank you for the posts here. Very open to learning from you pro's

Regards,
Bob T

[jimmydonc]

I was looking for one too and only found a low res image. SO i did something a little nuts and recreated the booklet in photoshop. Ive posted it on archive.org for free as a pdf. To make it actually useful to a modern collector, I included an extra page with some additional modern notes.

https://archive.org/stream/Amberolainst ... 0/mode/2up

I'd be interested to hear from the community if you think there should be any edits or additional information on there.
Thanks!

Jim

[jimmydonc]

By the way. If anyone does have decent readable scans of any similar manuals/books, I'll gladly help you clean them up and make a pdf if you are willing to share with the world..