The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Thanks to the comments of those forum members who read my last post asking if this was a good price for an Edison W-19,
I went today and looked at it & came home with it. The owner had this unit for 20 years and he got it from an antique
shop. He told me he only played it a couple of times and it just sat in his living room taking up space. I took along
a couple of records to play on it, so I could listem to the motor and see how it sounded. To my surprise it played very
nice and the motor was so quiet and ran strong. The reproducer will need to be rebuilt, hope I can find the parts to do
it, and a little advice on how to do it, it's a little different than the No.2 & exhibitions I've done, I'm not even sure
if it's an edison reproducer or not since there is nothing saying what brand it is on the housing. So I'm including some pics
so you guys and gals can see what you all think and let me know. Over all I'm pleased with the original condition it's in and
pleased with the price, the owner came down to 200.00 from 250.00 when he found out how far I drove (80 miles) just to look at
it not knowing if I was going to buy it. All in all a good drive and a good buy.
Gene

Hi Gene,
I think that you got a good deal on a fine looking machine! The reproducer you have with it is an adapter head for playing 78 records. You will need to buy a Diamond Disc reproducer so you can play Edison Diamond discs. If you place a want ad in the " Yankee Trader" section of the forum someone should have one for sale.
Pete

I think you got a great deal. I have been looking for a W19 in that shape for along time. I passed several as they were the extra dark finish. Long ago I had that lighter toned version and always enjoyed the cabinet.. Of course I do have the console which was the very style edison which started my interest in them. When you find a good reproducer it should have fine sound..

Larry

Try and look behind the grille, if you're luck they stored the Edison DD reproducer there. Nice machine.

Andreas

Very nice machine. The cabinet looks great!

Looks very nice and I think you will really enjoy it. That reproducer isn't hard to rebuild at all. I just did one a couple of days ago. It uses the same size gasket tubing as the exhibition and was an easy one to take apart and reassemble. It will realy make a difference when you get those old hard gaskets replaced.

Nice!

Congratulations, Gene!

Looks very nice!! Good luck with the rebuild and with finding the DD Reproducer. I'd try Yankee Trader first for the DD reproducer, I have had good luck there.

Matt

Thanks guys & gals for the comments, the more I look at and play this machine
I really am pleased that I bought it. Does anyone have an idea as to what color grill
cloth was on these machines when they were new? I was thinking either the camel color
or red both of which I have seen on ebay. Also there are some DD reproducers on
ebay for anywhere from 80.00 to 300.00, whats a fair price for one? The cabinet needs
a good wiping down and maybe a little Howards restore a finish, which I have in
dark walnut, which I believe is the finish on it.
Gene

Gene,

If I were going to buy a reproducer for this machine, I'd call around before buying one on eBAY. George Vollema is good place to start, in my humble opinion.

http://www.victroladoctor.com/

I'm sure it won't be long until others chime in with advice. Did it come with any Edison Re-Creations/Records? I think you're going to be quite surprised at the quality of sound when you get the correct Diamond reproducer on it and play a good Edison recording! I was stunned when I heard a "New Edison" for the first time! Mellow sounding and arguably more accurate playback of recordings than Victrola (excepting the Orthophonics).

Fran