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Picked up two nice Esison Standard Suitcase Phonographs at the Wayne show. I did miss out on a low 3-digit serial number Standard Suitcase at the show, but at least I got these. One machine has the rear crane mounts for which I have a real nice crane and a 30 inch all brass horn that is completely dent free.

Rich Gordon

Nice pinstriping on the second machine!

Nice machines. There were a bunch of nice square top Standards and suitcase Homes at Wayne and at reasonable prices. Jerry

Hi Rich,
What a nice pair of Standards In great condition! If you have the time please post a picture of the machine set up with the crane and brass horn.
Pete

Very nice machines Rich! The plating is way above average and the wood looks great too!

Do you remember the serial number of the 3 digit machine and what was the asking price?


Steve

Nice. I've always like the suitcase style cases.

Clay

Hey Pete, here are some pictures with the crane and horn. Hope you like them not sure where I'm going to place it yet. Tried it on the Hawthorne & Shelby cabinet but I like my Home Suitcase Banner machine on it better. Sure I find a spot.

I thought about having this horn polished to a nice brass finish. I would like to hear everyone's opinion as to polish it or leave it as is.

Rich Gordon

I would leave the brass horn as-is because it has a nice patina that conveys age and originality.

Leave the horn as-is.

I'd polish it to how it once looked when it was new (or near enough). I don't quite follow the rule where brass horns are concerned - they were never intended to be flat and dull looking with tarnish all over them. They were meant to have a mirror finish. Polishing does no harm, in fact, I read somewhere that NOT polishing does more harm!

My brass Talkophone horn that I polished up to mirror finish a few years ago is already looking "aged" so these things soon dull down after a while. There's nothing to worry about. You can always lacquer the horn when it mellows to what you consider to be the perfect colour and sheen to prevent further colouring and loss of sheen.

The only time I would advise against polishing brass horns is when they still have their ORIGINAL lacquer coating and it has turned into a deep golden colour with blemishes but is kind of "frozen in time". This finish is highly prized by collectors but quite rare to spot.