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Rizbone posted a link to an auction in Connecticut next weekend that includes an Oak Amberola I A.
The bedplate finish looks to be gun metal.
Question:
I thought only the early oak, lyre grill machines could be had with a gun metal finish.
The machine listed (see Craigslist/ebay Alert section) has the later Rococo grill.
Am I incorrect in thinking that the machine should have a lyre grill, if the finish is in fact gun metal?
Thank you to those who respond.
Gene

I know of six of this type with "gunmetal" mech. A guy here has one with hoofed feet. I don't think they are as desirable as the regular maroon mech.

Gramophone 78,
Do they all have the lyre grill?

No, they do not always have the lyre grille. That feature is found only on the cabinets supplied by Herzog and its subsidiary, the Saginaw Table and Cabinet Company - and only until February 15, 1910, after which square grilles were provided. The early Weber-type cabinets were supplied with three different grilles, while the Pooley-type cabinets were always equipped with the rococo grille as seen later on the 1B and Disc Phonograph A/B-250.

An article appeared on the September 2009 issue of The Sound Box which explains the cabinet differences from all 4 suppliers of Amberola 1A cabinets.

Specific to your question of gunmetal finishes, these were typically supplied with oak cabinets of Weber or Pooley design; both lyre and the two types of square grille. The example in the auction photo could well be legitimate. I'd recommend comparing the mechanism number to the cabinet number, to determine originality, but gun metal mechanisms were certainly provided with this type of oak cabinet.

George P.

phonogfp wrote:No, they do not always have the lyre grille. That feature is found only on the cabinets supplied by Herzog and its subsidiary, the Saginaw Table and Cabinet Company - and only until February 15, 1910, after which square grilles were provided. The early Weber-type cabinets were supplied with three different grilles, while the Pooley-type cabinets were always equipped with the rococo grille as seen later on the 1B and Disc Phonograph A/B-250.

An article appeared on the September 2009 issue of The Sound Box which explains the cabinet differences from all 4 suppliers of Amberola 1A cabinets.

George P.

What George wrote... .

Yeah

You can see all four styles here. Scroll down towards the bottom. Be patient, lot's of large file sizes can take awhile to load if you have a slower connection.

http://phonographcompany.com/index.php? ... facturer=2

gramophone78 wrote:I know of six of this type with "gunmetal" mech. A guy here has one with hoofed feet. I don't think they are as desirable as the regular maroon mech.

I would agree that the maroon mechanism is very attractive but except for a few rare exceptions oak and gun metal were always paired up. I wouldn't agree they are less desirable. The hoofed feet usually turn up on the fourth style cabinet and also, in at least one case, on an A300 Diamond disc machine I posted here as a featured phono.

My dark oak 1-A with a late cabinet, serial #2553, has a gun metal deck with the same serial number. The lid is the two step style instead of the single swoop. It has the rococo grill.

phonogfp wrote: I'd recommend comparing the mechanism number to the cabinet number, to determine originality,
George P.

George,
Do you mean mechanism number to cabinet nameplate number? I have had two A-1s that were original mech to cabinet and neither one had a matching cabinet number to mechanism. The mech and plate numbers did match.