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This is my most-prized Blue Amberol. Recorded for wax Amberol in Germany in 1909, it was re-released as Blue Amberol 26069 ("Groesser Gott, wir loben dich" by the Nebe Quartet and a children's chorus). Not strictly a Christmas hymn or carol, but with the children's chorus and chimes it is very appropriate for Christmas.

I marvel at how well-recorded this record is, and how well its plastic has held up over the years; none of the warping that afflicts so many of the Blue Amberols. Hard to believe it is a 1909 acoustical recording.

If your speakers on your computer/laptop are tinny, please take the time to listen to this clip with headphones. The vibrancy of this cylinder is stunning. It is the Gold Standard of my cylinder collection. If my Triumph plays this cylinder well, I know she's running up to par--and all the limitations I hear in my other records are due to deteriorating cylinders or less-than-optimal recordings and NOT due to my phonograph.

It is played here on my ultimate baby, my Edison Triumph, model D from 1908 (with upgrades through 1912).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CDbAtBi ... aQ&index=1


Ralph

I have listened to this so many times that I think it's mine! Thank you so very much for sharing, I subscribed you on youtube, I'm norfolk 33.......I was 33 once...many thanks, and Happy Holidays!

Patrick Jones

Patrick, bless you for listening to people's Christmas contributions. You've just become the Jimmy Stewart character in "It's a Wonderful Life" for being there for folk.

It IS an amazing cylinder. Thanks for subscribing to my You Tube site. I let it lie fallow for awhile, but I think I'm ready to break out some more of my favorite records.

Ralph

That is a truly stunning example. Thanks for posting. That type of Blue Amberol is hard to find, direct recorded or transferred from wax amberol master and in perfect condition.

This might be my gold standard. Note that some one has scratched on top of the box, "good for dancing"

(Double-click the video above or click this link to watch the video on YouTube in HD.)

Actually on a second read, someone wrote not just good but "VERY" good for dancing!

Valecnik, yes, yours is definitely a "gold standard" cylinder as well!!! I also have a copy of Blue Amberol 1766, but it doesn't sound anywhere nears as good as yours.

I'm no expert on Blue Amberols at all, but I imagine the quality has something to do with pressings from fresh masters that were unusually well-recorded--plus other factors. The best of the Blue Amberols are breathtaking--but they are only a small percentage of the total. The vast majority aren't anything special (and I'm talking about audio quality, not content. People can and do argue about the value of the content. )

Ralph

Valecnik wrote:That is a truly stunning example. Thanks for posting. That type of Blue Amberol is hard to find, direct recorded or transferred from wax amberol master and in perfect condition.

This might be my gold standard. Note that some one has scratched on top of the box, "good for dancing"

(Double-click the video above or click this link to watch the video on YouTube in HD.)

By transferred do you mean pressed from an original wax Amberol mold?

The video is neat, thanks for the upload!

Wolfe wrote:[By transferred do you mean pressed from an original wax Amberol mold?

The video is neat, thanks for the upload!

There were BAs that were "pressed" from wax Amberol molds, absolutely. A couple that spring to mind immediately are "Come Josephine In My Flying Machine" by Ada Jones and Billy Murray (BA 1949, a number I know by heart, but I digress) and the later beveled edge issues (well, some, anyway) of "The Preacher And The Bear" by Arthur Collins (BA 1560), complete with announcement! The original BA issue on flat edge has no announcement and I have at least one beveled edge copy that is also not taken from the wax mold. I read somewhere that the reason they resorted to using the wax mold for later "pressings" is because the BA mold wore out. Clean copies of either of these will show off exactly how good Edison stuff could sound when they had everything just right!

Sean

Thanks, Sean. I agree with you totally re. how superb the Edison Blue Amberols were when "they had everything right" on the production line (and the original recordings were top-notch). It is amazing how some wax masters were hardy enough to serve not only as the basis for a wax Amberol production line but also for a Blue Amberol production line.

Thank God for these "Gold Standard" Blue Amberols that show up from time to time. They justify all the $ one must spend on getting a top-line Edison external horn machine up to peak performance. (I used to own an Amerbola 50, but then decided that I wanted ONE machine that could play both waxes and plastics).

Agreed. A few years ago, I decided that I really only wanted one good "all in one" Edison for cylinders. I wound up with a D-2 Triumph in kind of rough shape and ended up selling my Standard D to a budding collector and my Amberola 30 to another collector. I still have a couple of others lingering, but they'll be going soon, including a 50 and also a 75 that's basically a "project" that I rescued. I stumbled upon an Amberola V a little over a year ago that was an absolutely great original for an incredibly fair price from a pretty well known phono-dealer who brought it to Wayne for me and I've now decided that I'll keep that and the Triumph. Gregg Cline is currently doing over the D-2 from the ground up and I bought an oak cygnet horn from Don Gfell and an O reproducer from another dealer. It's a fantastic machine and I can't wait to have it back here! I have a nice Fireside A as well that I'll also keep for now, it was kind of an impulse buy, the price was right and I really find it handy for sampling cylinders as I go through them, plus, it's the only working machine I have right now for 2 minute cylinders! It's also nice that it's small enough to "tuck away" and forget about!

Sean