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I have seen diamond C reproducers in plated nickel and painted black. Does anyone know which one came with which machine, or a time period for the changeover?

Hi Bill-- I never declare myself an expert on anything, but in my experience... The amberola 30's that have the speed control knob protruding through a hole in the back of the gear cover are the bit earlier machines, and usually were equipped with the nickel plated "C"s.. The later machines, with the speed control hidden beneath the gear cover used the black C's

Brad

I agree with Brad... The earlier 30's, 50's, and 75's had the nickel plated brass reproducers. The later ones had the black pot metal Diamond C. Jerry

Any nickel plated ones I have seen are potmetal with brass horn connector tubes pressed or cast in. I have not seen brass diamond reproducers of any type, although I'm not sure about the diamond A. The black diamond C reproducers have the horn tube cast as part of the body while the early nickel ones do not. There was also a late version of the diamond C which had an extra cast weight attached to the bottom of the regular weight and I believe the entire reproducer was nickel plated. These were used on the Amberola 60 and 80 models in the late 1920s.

Jim

I think Jim is right-on-- All the nickeled "C"s I've seen are plated pot metal that have a brass horn tube-- Later (black) top-housings were all pot metal, which explains why so many horn tubes get stuck in the horns. They absorb moisture and oils, swell up and get stuck. I've had numerous 30's over the years with pieces of broken reproducer stuck in the horn.

Brad

I'm not too old to learn something new. I assumed the nickel plated ones were brass because I never had the typical pot metal problems with them. Thanks, Jerry