The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Several months ago there was an Edison C-19
DD machine on Bloomington, IL Craigslist.
I think that somewhere in some older posts,
I had asked here about it, and had the CL
link up, that had the pics of it.

Well I drove over (20 some miles) today and
saw it. Cabinet is solid, not coming apart.
Cabinet has some dings at the corners from
rough handling, but nothing horrible.
Finish is so-so, not real great, not real
bad. I am no wood expert so I cannot say
what kind of wood it is.

Inside though is wonderful! I took the
reproducer off and inspected the stylus
using my pocket 60x microscope, and it appears
perfect to me, as does everything else about
this DD reproducer.

The machine plays perfectly. The mute ball
assembly is messed up and needs some work.

He is asking $400 cash for it, and he seems
firm about that number. I am seriously considering buying it, but wanted to ask
here what others think of that price.

It's quite high, isn't it?

Serial Number SM 101874.
Supposedly it is from 1917, that is what he
says. Does this agree with the serial number?

Is this anywhere near worth $400, or should
I keep looking?

Thanks,

Chuck

$400 is unrealistic for a CL seller for a common machine not in absolutely mint shape. The clean stylus is a good thing these days, but a C-19 is very, very easy to find for $250 or less. I paid $100 for one recently that came with about 35 records and a good reproducer. The exterior needs to be completely redone, but it plays quite well.

The fact that this has been available at that price for months should tell you something.

Also, the C-19 wasn't made until 1919. Prior to that, Edison sold the C-250 which was essentially the same thing.

Now, if the cabinet is full of late electric disks, that's another story, but it's pretty unlikely.

I have to agree, and even the rarer Edison Chalet (B-19) tabletop which I own in good condition, would probably not even hit the 400.00 mark, so I would not give him $400.00 for it. I might pay $ 200.00 - $ 250.00 and take it or leave it.
Take the other money and just buy some gaskets (maybe a extra stylus) and rebuild the reproducer, do some cleaning.


Just my two cents.

I'd have to agree. At $400, I'd keep looking.

Clay

Thanks! That is pretty much what I suspected.
That is precisely why I left my cash wad at
home, and just went and looked yesterday.

I am not in a big hurry for a DD machine.

The guy who has the LU-37 down in Ft. Meyers,
FL agreed to sell it to me for $75. I know
LU-37 is a fairly low quality machine, so that
is why I have not jumped on that one. But it's there, and will be there for some time.

Just as this supposed "$400" C-19 in Bloomington, IL will be.

Who knows, maybe someday he will get so tired
of it being in his garage, that he will allow
me to take it off of his hands for $100 or so.

You guys are great to talk to to bounce these
ideas around to keep me set straight as far
as not spending too much. Thanks again.

Chuck

it's always interesting to read and compare threads like this about prices that should be expected when buying, as opposed to those focused more on the "value" of something someone already has or is considering selling.

I would agree that prices in some cases are still down, and that there are a lot of cheap machines available and circulating in various places around the country. but I've never considered the cheapest or best buys as benchmarks regarding what's necessarily reasonable in terms of prices. I'm sure anyone would jump at the chance to buy most any edison, let alone a C-19, in decent condition with a bunch of diamond discs for a hundred bucks. the C-19, like the A, B and C 250s, is definitely one of the more "deluxe" models with the larger cabinet with more storage and a larger horn, etc. obviously, considering what's out there, you may very well do better than 400 for one, but I still don't think that's out of line if it's particularly nice and, especially, if it's nearby and what you want (if you're just buying it to flip and resell, though, then I'm sure you'd want to pay far less... and then maybe ask closer to 400 for it yourself).

The market you are in does definitely makes a difference. More of a seller's market if you are in a sparsely populated region of the country.

But the main thing seems to be a combination of quality and supply and demand. There are some perfectly fine machines, VV-XIs are an example, that are really cheap because they were made in huge numbers and the supply is therefore plentiful.

Clay

I see "common" Edison Lab Models sell regularly over $600 down in Texas where they are not so common as in the Northeast. Location is everything.

Well I emailed the seller back, thanking
him for showing me the C-19 the other day.

I also told him that I had done a bit more
research and found out that $400 is a bit
high and unrealistic for a machine in this
condition.

I told him that I found out that this machine
is actually worth about $200 to $250 tops.

I told him that I am not a scammer nor a liar
and that he can verify these numbers himself,
online, by doing the research.

So, that is where I'll leave things with this
one. Who knows? Maybe he will get so tired
of that boatanchor taking up space in his garage, that he'll take me up on it.

If not, oh well at least I went and saw it,
cranked it up, played it, etc. Thanks
everyone here for all of the help!
Much appreciated!

Chuck

Getting a decent machine that is ready to play is worth something. Even though a C-19 is a common machine, $300.00 wouldn't be too much for a good working example. I think I would have made an offer if I was interested, but with your email you may have cut off any possibility of bargaining. Be careful about that. Even if they appear to be firm on their price, they may still eventually deal. Make them an offer and leave your phone number. You never know when they may decide it's time to take what they can get for it.

Jim