C250 I'm Looking At

[ukfan4sure]

First, hello from a newbie. If i do anything wrong here, please let me know. Compliance to the forum's rules is my goal and anything I do incorrectly is purely an accident or ignorance.

I have found a gorgeous c250 in working condition. Its the mahogany version. Other than a ⅛ chip off of one of the corner details, its very nice. The two cabinet drawers are full of discs seperated by tissue paper. Very heavy I might add. It has the Duncan stop but missing the battery. The reproducer is the correct one with the hole for that device. I'm not real familiar with how these are supposed to sound (I've read amazing for the time), but there is a slight scratchiness in the background when playing a disc. I checked the disc after running the reproducer on the runout area and there appeared to be no scratches. I believe the diamond is OK. Anything else Ishould look for?

Now the price.....

He's asking $795. Ouchie! He said he'd "work with me" on that, but I'm reading experienced posts here that say values can be all over the board. But certainly this is on the upper limit of that.

Value is varied i know depending on area. But can anyone tell me where to start on negotiating on it? Maybe $500? Remember that its in my "backyard" so to speak, and that alone is worth $100 of driving in my opinion.

Thanks!

[gibsonj]

Hello ukfan4sure, and welcome!

I'll start by saying that the C250 is a fine Edison diamond disc example, with dual springs and the large horn--one of my favorite pre-war models.

In my opinion, this asking price is quite high, regardless of condition. Mahogany C250s (or their post-war counterparts, the C19) are quite common, and show up often in most parts of the country. Oak versions are more rare.

The "scratchiness" you mention may be record surface noise from a worn record, but could also be reproducer related. The reproducer quite likely needs gasket replacement at a minimum. Your method for testing the diamond stylus is good, but I would also take a close look at the stylus using a jeweler's loop. If you don't need a stylus replacement, costs to replace gaskets are minimal. However, replacing the diamond will take at least $100.

Value is always relative to what it means to the buyer. And, I agree that picking up a machine down the street is always good. Personally, though, I would not look to invest more than $300-350 for a C250 in decent shape. They show up too often at or below this price range for me to go higher.

Just my opinion and hope this helps.

John

[JohnM]

$795 is way off the beam. Many C-250/C-19's were produced and many survive today. Therefore condition becomes paramount. If that particular C-250 had a snowball's chance in Hades of being worth $795, that ⅛" chip negated that possibility.

[mf77]

I think a lot depends on location. In USA they may sell for half that price or cheaper, but where I live, a nice mahogany C250/C19 will often sell for between $600-$800 on Ebay, particularly if they come with a cabinet full of discs.
In a shop, they can fetch $1200 or more.

[OrthoSean]

I was going to say the same thing...location. You just don't see DD machines at all in my area and when you do, they're usually a mess. You almost never see Diamond Discs, either. This just wasn't Edison country unless you were more rural. I hunted for years for a C-19 before I finally found one in Western Massachusetts. I paid all of $140 for it on eBay, but I was willing to pay a lot more than that. It was a filthy mess and I had to do a lot of work to get everything looking and operating properly, but it was worth it to me. Last year, I picked up a second C-19 at an estate auction in the $250 neighborhood that is in beautiful shape and needs nothing. I was expecting it to sell for more and I only bought it because of how clean it was and thr price was very reasonable in my opinion. Now I have to decide which one I want to keep!

Sean

[larryh]

Agreed,

People can ask all kinds of prices. Personally I got mine at a auction for 25.00. It was missing the reproducer and needed quite a bit of cabinet work. But I enjoy a bargain and as mentioned they are quite nice sounding machines when everything is working right.

The scratch is one of the downsides to many Edison disc. They just simply had noisy surfaces at times.. Other times as mentioned its made worse by a worn stylus causing damage. That is the one thing about Edisons I don't like, the records are quickly damaged and produce poor sound if exposed to a defective stylus. It seems that the standard victrola type machines with steel needles were a bit more forgiving of stylus issues. It may be too that since at least the suggestion was to change the needle after every play that they sometimes weren't exposed to long term damage by a defective diamond.

Larry

[ukfan4sure]

Thanks for the replies. I have to agree the price is way off base. But the truth is, every time I run into any kind of player, it usually is beat up or needing work that puts it back up into "crazy" money again.

I think I'll offer him $450, "take it or leave it". I think he'll leave it in hopes of getting a nibble from an uneducated buyer with deep pockets. That's usually how that works. I neglected to mention that I would have to pay the shop a ridiculous 9.75% sales tax, too. It's getting out of line with my logical thinking at this point.

To be honest with you though, this is the nicest player I've seen in my 10 years of romping around antique stores. It's 100% original and had all of the discs I could ever hope to play (maybe 40?).

[JohnM]

I'd offer him $350. They're a dime-a-dozen, really.

[schweg]

There are definitely some out there that are more affordable.

http://kansascity.craigslist.org/fuo/3882647056.html

[Uncle Vanya]

I have a nearly perfect mahogany C-19 which I purchased at a phonograph auction for $70. At that same auction I purchased several other mahogany C-250 and C-19 machines in lesser condition for between $25.00 and $60.00, a couple of oak 250's for either $125 or $150 each, and a W-19 for $50. Now this was at an auction which had an excessive number of Diamond Disc machines, which was held right after the financial panic in 2008, but since then I still see the big "Lab Models" selling well under $250 in most cases, with the exception of the rarities. Heck, I just saw an art case machIne, the C-450 "Eighteenth Century Adam" not sell with a $350.00 reserve.

Which part of the country are you in? Please pardon my curiosity, but it may help us as a group to find you a nice machine for relatively little money.