The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Just brought home an Edison C450 (serial #----690) cabinet. The record storage compartment seems intact, the 2 spring hinges are present, as are the 2 grills and the wood frame around the motor. There is no motor/brackets, horn, or reproducer.

I also have a C250 with a pretty tattered cabinet. The motor, horn, brackets and such from this C250 should fit right into the C450 cabinet since both use a 2 spring motor with a 250 horn, right?

Also, is there any estimate of the number of these made? 690 seems an awfully small number.

Cliff

Certainly a C-250 motor and horn would be a match for the cabinet.

As for production, the C-450 was never a big seller, although sales did pick up a bit when they reduced the price to $375. According to Frow, the factory stock was 998 in August 1922; production continued until 1927, when a remaining stock of 97 was reported.

Bill

For a minute, I thought you had bought the 450 that has been for sale near me in Temecula, CA for years, I think. Don't know what you paid for yours, but I bet you got it cheap without the motor and horn. These take up a lot of space, but have excellent record storage from above and when the artwork and cabinet are in good shape, it can be a stunning phonograph! The one near me has been for sale, it seems like for years. I didn't buy it because it had a poorly repaired broken leg in back and the price was a bit too high for me.

http://inlandempire.craigslist.org/atq/4346693057.html

In my experience, the Adam style is found more frequently than the other period models.

marcapra wrote:For a minute, I thought you had bought the 450 that has been for sale near me in Temecula, CA for years, I think. Don't know what you paid for yours, but I bet you got it cheap without the motor and horn. These take up a lot of space, but have excellent record storage from above and when the artwork and cabinet are in good shape, it can be a stunning phonograph! The one near me has been for sale, it seems like for years. I didn't buy it because it had a poorly repaired broken leg in back and the price was a bit too high for me.

http://inlandempire.craigslist.org/atq/4346693057.html

Picked this cabinet up in Seattle for $75. Saw it for sale some time ago and made an offer that was declined then the seller contacted me again last week asking if I still wanted it. the rest is history.

And, by the way, the C250 motor, brackets, horn, and such fit nicely, though I did have to modify one of the motor supports - cut off a corner to fit around the wood frame support. Probably not a motor variety you'd normally see in a C450 but it works. View it playing on youTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ue1OHGwKL64

Cliff

Quite a bargain I would say.

Clay

FloridaClay wrote:Quite a bargain I would say.

Clay

If you have the space for such a giant and imposing machine! One of our members has one and I've seen and heard it in person, they're very big machines.

There was one for sale here locally for quite some time and I couldn't justify even looking at it. Given the fact that relatively "few" seem to have been made, I've seen quite a number of them turn up over the years.

Sean

OrthoSean wrote:

FloridaClay wrote:Quite a bargain I would say.

Clay

If you have the space for such a giant and imposing machine! One of our members has one and I've seen and heard it in person, they're very big machines.

. . .

Sean

I know what you mean. Even some of the Edison uprights are large. I just picked up a C19 and did not fully realize until I got it inside my place and saw it in context what a really BIG machine they are. Have no clue where I am going to put it once repairs are done.

Clay

The same thing happened to me when I bought a W-250. When I picked up the machine, I hadn't realized just how big (bulky, really) it was. A C-19 takes up less of a floor footprint than the W-250 does, but I managed to squeeze it into the machine room somehow.

Sean