The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I had some success with my 1904 Home A yesterday, cleaning the governor and remounting the top casting to the bedplate, and tried it out with a couple of cylinders and a 14" witches hat.


It played through a 2-minute indestructible okay, though with some waver ( belt is glazed and crackly ).


I switched to a Blue Amberol and H reproducer and tried again, and was dismayed: the tone quality was crackly and skipping, and it sounded as though there were strange scraping noises. ( This BA and Reproducer play fine on several other machines.)

I stopped the machine and took a close look at the reproducer and cylinder, and to my horror, the NEEDLE-BAR was scraping the cylinder, between the pivot-point and the stylus.


I double-checked the seating of the reproducer in the carriage-eye, and that was correct, but it seems the carriage is riding too low at the straight=edge. I raised things ever so slightly with the lift-lever, and the geomoetry improved, and so did the sound quality when attempting to play.

Here's today's $64 question: this machine presently has a carriage with a sliding-friction at the straight-edge ( no shaver bosses on the back of the carriage ). Do these early machines with the two-piece upper-works require the early-style carriage, with the roller that rides the straight-edge ?

Machine in question is serial # H 102124, which left the factory for its jobber in July 1904, according to George Paul.

Unless it's a very late Home A I believe they all had the roller bearing and shaver boss. You can also shorten the link between the stylus bar and diaphragm to change the angle of the stylus bar so your stylus touches the cylinder before the bar does.

Best Regards, Larry

Phonolair wrote:Unless it's a very late Home A I believe they all had the roller bearing and shaver boss. You can also shorten the link between the stylus bar and diaphragm to change the angle of the stylus bar so your stylus touches the cylinder before the bar does.

Best Regards, Larry

My advice is exactly above as Larry stated. Shorten the wire link between the diaphragm and needle bar.

Larry and Andersun - thanks for the suggestion... I think I will save the link adjustment as a last resort, as that seems like I would be creating a "dedicated" reproducer for a machine with non-suited parts ? But it's good to know there is this option.


I guess I will start scouting for a "roller-carriage".

Frank, you may also want to see what the halfnut and feedscrew are doing when you lift the carriage trying to play a BA. I had a similar issue on an ICS Standard which went away when I adjusted the halfnut. Good luck!

- Martin

Frank, I had this same problem with my winged Model C. Since it needed rebuilding anyway, I sent it to Steve Medved. He shortened and adjusted the link, along with the rebuild. It plays perfectly.
Harvey Kravitz