need to fix a K reproducer

[Iva]

Hello,

I bought a sweet Edison Standard player this last weekend. I'll post more on that later as I'm a bit confused on what model I bought.

I was excited to find it had a K Reproducer...and then bummed to find it was missing the 2 min stylus.

I found a couple of sites online that seem to do this repair, however is there someone on here that does this kind of thing and what is the approx price?

thanks for any help in this.
Iva

[phonogfp]

You can find exactly which model Standard you own, and learn everything you'd ever want to know about it, by looking through this excellent article by Martin Kauper (our own "Martinola"):

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

George P.

[Iva]

Thank you so much George,
I have actually been over that site a few times.
Although it has some wonderful information, I'm still a bit lost on what I have.
Everything I read says it's the ever popular Standard B
Do all Standard B have a tall case though? I'm not sure I have the tall case. What is the measurements on a tall case?
And the gear cover isn't the same as the picture for the Standard B, the one I have looks like the Standard A gear plate.

the speed control is under the bed plate though and I'm guessing it can play both 2 and 4 min cylinders?

The number is 443 951. Which points to a Standard B as well.
I'm just a bit lost on the gear cover being different.

Thank you to Martin Kauper for such a great site for those of us that have no idea and need some info.

Iva

Edit to say:

Ah HA! I think I found it. It looks just like this...a Standard D. I don't have the reproducer info under the hood though. ugghhh
But that would explain why it had the K reproducer with it.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Old-Oak-Edison- ... SwA4dWGBv2

[phonogfp]

The machine in the eBay listing is a Standard B. It has a Standard D lid, but trust me that the machine is a Standard B.

The serial number of your machine indicates April 1907 - - also indicative of a Standard B.

I think you've been confused by the particular Standard B shown in Martin's article, which has an Amberol Attachment on it, allowing the playing of 2 minute & 4 minute cylinders. (These attachments were offered by Edison after the 1908 introduction of the D Model machines so earlier machines could be brought up to date.) Originally, Martin's Standard B had a gear cover that looked like that of a Standard A (and yours, and the one pictured below with a horn). Here's the Amberol Attachment as shown in Martin's article referenced above:

Careful reading of the caption to this photo in Martin's article explains the Amberol Attachment.

If you read the Introductory articles on the APS web site, you would find one article titled, Encountering Antique Phonographs:

http://www.antiquephono.org/encounterin ... onographs/

There is a Standard B pictured in that article that is originally configured:

Don't let the banner decal on the cabinet fool you - - the first of the Model B Standards carried this Model A-style banner decal before changing to the smaller script decal.

Posting a photo of your machine would, of course, answer all questions. Still, the information you provide consistently points to a Standard B. If your gear cover looks like the one on the Standard b pictured with the horn, your machine plays only 2 minute cylinders. Don't use that Model K on it until the 2 minute stylus is replaced.

George P.

[Iva]

Yes George, you are right.

The gear cover had me fooled as with the tall case.

And to make sure...the Standard B is a 2 min player?

so the K reproducer with the 2 min stylus missing is no good for this player.

I did find 2 sites online that deal in fixing reproducers, I was just hoping to stay with folks on this board. I feel there would be some good recommendations from here.

George I did take some photos and I will post them in another thread.
Thanks with taking the time and making sure I understood what I have.
I really do appreciate it. I'll post some pics soon.

Iva

[victorIIvictor]

Hello, Iva, you asked, "And to make sure...the Standard B is a 2 min player?"

Yes, as originally configured. But as George suggested, reread the caption under (figure 21) in Martin's article that George referred you to. To rephrase what George said, Edison offered a conversion kit to update Standard Model B phonographs such as yours so that they could play both the 2-minute cylinders (one usually encounters the black wax Gold Molded variety) and the 4-minutes cylinders (the black "wax" Amberols and the celluloid-with-plaster-of-Paris-core Blue Amberols. Many Standard B owners took Edison up on this offer, and (figure 21) in Martin's article shows just such a Standard B.

You say your gear cover is different than the one in (figure 21), and looks like the Standard A gear cover shown in the article. The reason folks need to see pictures to better advise you is that in the 100+ years since these machines were made, owners have often made do with the parts available, resulting in machines that are a mix of parts like nothing that ever left Edison's factory. For example, a photo would show that your machine was actually converted to 2-minute/4-minute playing capacity, and then somebody came along and put the wrong gear cover on it [this is offered as an example only, as I have no idea if such a thing as possible]. Someone may have used the K reproducer on a 2-minute only machine because that's all they had available to use. I would counsel making sure you know what your machine is capable of before investing money in a reproducer rebuild.

Apologies if I'm telling you things you already know.

Best wishes, Mark

[phonojim]

If you can do your own repairs on the model K, Ron Sitko sells a new stylus mounted in a bar for about $35.00. All you will need to do is remove the old bar and replace it with the new one.

[martinola]

It looks like I'm late to the party. Yes, Iva, the other folks have it right. I've had qualms about only showing the adapted version of the Model B. The article was meant to UN-confuse people.

As far as the model K reproducer goes, unless you're thinking of getting a 2&4 minute machine, you might want to think about getting a model C reproducer and selling off the model K. If I'm not too mistaken, model Ks in good shape tend to be more money than a model C (2 minute) or a model H (4 minute). Perhaps you might use the K to fund the C?

In any case, thanks for sharing with us and welcome to the delightful madness of antique phonographs.

Regards,
Martin

[Iva]

Mark thank you for this
"(one usually encounters the black wax Gold Molded variety) and the 4-minutes cylinders (the black "wax" Amberols and the celluloid-with-plaster-of-Paris-core Blue Amberols."

That kind of answered one of my questions I was going to post. I am still a bit confused about the Gold Molded variety. hummmm so all Gold Molded ones are 2 min?

Iva

[Iva]

If you can do your own repairs on the model K, Ron Sitko sells a new stylus mounted in a bar for about $35.00. All you will need to do is remove the old bar and replace it with the new one.

Goodness, I realize now that I'm calling the bar the stylus. I thought the whole bar and "needle(stylus)" was called the stylus. More correctly, it's a stylus bar..lol

The reproducer is missing the 2 min bar. The pointer is broken in half and will need a replacement.

I'd have to take it apart to see how damaged it is. Maybe what holds the bar has been damaged as well.
Hang on....
Damn it...there is no holder....oh for pete's sake!
Looking at parts list...

Ughhh..ok...so this is one bad reproducer...I don't think the stylus is even the right one for this.
It sure don't look the same as what I see on parts list.

So from what I can tell this needs a new weight also. (The part that holds the stylus bars and bar holders) It looks like the 2 min side is broken on this one.
and I would need both 2 and 4 min stylus bars.

This stylus looks like it has a small pyramid point on it..a bit large I would think.

ok off to take a pic....