The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Did Edison make a 4 minute Recorder?

Yes.

George P.

Are they rare? I have never seen one.

Yes, they don't show up too often. I've never run across one in the wild, but I've seen a few in collections - with an anodized green tube plate.

George P.

They are rare. They have a 20 thousandths stylus, and dome center on the holder.

Aren't those the recorders intended to be
used with those hard, hard, black 4M blanks?

Seems to me I heard somewhere that those
blanks are so hard and abrasive that those
tiny 4M recorder cutters would only stand up
for about the first dozen blanks recorded, before starting to get dull.

From the stuff I have heard, that whole
format of those 4M blanks was not so great.

Chuck

I've got one, but it is missing the stylus bar and cutter. Can post photos if there's interest.

PeterF wrote:I've got one, but it is missing the stylus bar and cutter. Can post photos if there's interest.

That's ok Peter. I was just thinking I had never seen one.

Chuck wrote:Aren't those the recorders intended to be
used with those hard, hard, black 4M blanks?

Seems to me I heard somewhere that those
blanks are so hard and abrasive that those
tiny 4M recorder cutters would only stand up
for about the first dozen blanks recorded, before starting to get dull.

From the stuff I have heard, that whole
format of those 4M blanks was not so great.

Chuck

It would be interesting if someone could locate an authentic 4M blank, and analyze its composition: it is possible that some of the negative opinions might have been based on shaved GMs - one never knows…

Bill

Paul Morris is making 4-minute blanks for quite some time now since I once asked for them. He should now. So far, I used mine only once on a 2-minute blank, which would cause some echoing with the wax being too soft. Otherwise it did record quite well, but I am not using it to preserve the original stylus, which is still in good shape.