The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Hi from Australia Guys, and thanks for membership

There doesn't appear to be an introduce yourself area, so I'll update this thread later with the proper pics.
I won on an Edison Standard Phonograph at an antique "shop clear-out" auction on Sunday,
but I actually took this photo eight months ago and had my eye on it ever since.

I was hoping someone here could fill me in on anything I don't know about it, such as unoriginal or mixed parts from a different revision.
The serial appears to me as: 142986, and there's a patent label with the last date being May 1898.

I will put some better photos of other areas if it helps.
Cheers, Art.

Hi Art, Welcome to the Forum! Judging by the slip-on slotted 'S' crank I can see peeking out a bit on the side you have an Edison Standard model A (later model A) with a nice original banner decal. From what I see in the one picture the phonograph itself looks original and in nice condition. The handle on the crank may be a replacement as it looks black but cannot tell from the picture. The horn I am not familiar with so others will comment on that I'm sure. The cabinet looks a bit taller in the picture than I usually see for the Edison Standard model A and I had thought it might be an early model B Standard with the banner decal but the slip-on slotted 'S' crank only appeared on the later model A Standard within the Edison Standard 'family'. Hope you also received some nice playing cylinders to enjoy it.

Best,
Doug

Hello Art, and welcome!

Your machine is definitely a Standard Model A as the speed control knob will attest. Doug's right about the crank too. The metal part that can be seen looks original, but if the wooden handle is painted black, it was either done by a former owner or replaced with a different piece. That particular horn was not original equipment here in the States, but may possibly have been in Australia - - I'm not familiar with the horns typically supplied Down Under.

Standard No.142986 left the factory about April 1904.

You may find this article interesting:

http://www.antiquephono.org/spotters-gu ... honograph/

Have fun with your new Standard!

George P.

Welcome and congrats on your purchase. Looks to be a nice machine.

Clay

Hi again, and thanks for the replies and info

I figured some data might have been gathered and organised about them by now,
the same has been done for some valve radios here.

I must have a reproducer from another photograph
unless there's a model-C reproducer that still can come with model A phonograph.
You can notice as I just did, a nasty scratch across the cylinder while it was turning.
I didn't do it! I watched some YouTube videos before playing it.

Hi Art, The model C reproducer is absolutely correct for your Edison Standard model A. As a precaution, you should consider removing it from the carriage and examining the stylus before playing any cylinder records. Loosen the thumbscrew on the carriage "eye" to remove the reproducer. The sapphire stylus should look like a tiny doorknob under magnification. The stylus itself should be free of any defect. The scratches you see on the cylinder surface can sometimes be caused by a bad (or missing) stylus and sometimes from wear in loud passages on the cylinder from repeated playing by previous owners. I have a number of 2 minute wax cylinders in my collection that show worn groove "lines" in loud passages of the cylinder. George W. Johnson, for example, recorded very loud passages in many of his cylinders and as a result of numerous plays over the years the loud passages have developed wear "lines" similar to what you see here in the picture. Many xylophone wax cylinder recordings exhibit similar wear lines in the loud passages as well. Early disc recordings can develop similar damage in loud passages also. However, just be sure to check your stylus and to be safe I would also avoid playing the cylinder in the picture or any cylinder that has damage (cracks, pits, mold). The crank appears to have been nickel plated (??) or painted silver long ago. As George and I mentioned earlier, a black crank handle is not normal for the 'S' slip-on Standard crank. It may be plausible that this crank was made for a special order nickel plated top works Edison Standard model A but I don't have my reference books in front of me to confirm that a nickel plated top works version was available for the late model A Standard. I know that a special order Mahogany version of the Edison model A Standard was available as I have actually seen an original one so it would not surprise me that other special order options were also available at this time.

Doug

Ok, it's too late not to play it though, I have played it a total of 3 times since I got the phonograph,
and it does have at least one skip (and maybe two).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoCeWQWvS9w
I think I see the wear grooves you mention in some of the track lines.

Hi Art, I just watched your video and your reproducer stylus sounds fine. And my comments about the lines being caused by loud passages from a xylophone solo are realized as that is exactly what you are playing in the video. Since the wear lines are caused by repeated play in this instance you should have no concern about playing the cylinder but it will sound bad in those areas of wear. Just avoid pitted and cracked cylinders for sure!

Doug

The crank is interesting because it has a step up in diameter along the shaft. Most Edison split end cranks I have seen are the same diameter throughout. Your matches one currently on Ebay even down to the nickel plating except for the crank handle color....

http://www.ebay.com/itm/EARLY-EDISON-PH ... 2c90807bab

It makes me wonder if these were for a different more specialized Edison machine?