The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Just brought home a very nice Bush & Lane upright phonograph today. The springs, all 4 of them, were toast. Fortunately, I had another similar motor and I switched out the spring barrel assembly and now it works great!

This has a lot of interesting features - consistent with other Bush & Lane phonographs I've seen, like an interesting auto-stop, a spring loaded lid support, 5 wooden needle cups, an unusual (I've never seen one) reproducer configuration, and a very attractive cabinet. The reproducer could sound better, I'll get to that in a day or so, but for now, at least it runs! YeeHaa!

You can see and hear it on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/S8aHAfp9oJE

Cliff

I believe from research that Magnola Talking Machine Co. merged into Bush and Lane Co. around 1927. I am curious of the motor type in this beautiful machine.

That is an early Otto Heinemann reproducer and tone arm. I suspect that the motor would be a large Heinemann unit of 1917 vintage.

That electric auto stop has turned up (rarely) on other machines with the largest Heinemann motor.

That Bush & Lane is a real beauty, by the way. Congratulations!

The motor is a fairly typical Heineman/Meisselbach type only this one has 4 springs. The arm that supports the 'outer' end of the spring barrels is extended to accommodate the extra 2 spring barrels. Here is a video of a similar motor, the one I took the spring barrel assembly from:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjgpFNPklVU

The auto stop activates a brake pad that connects to the governor flywheel, not present on this donor motor. Cliff

That looks like a nice motor there, I do question how strong that arm would be connecting the barrels.
That is a beautiful machine you have there.

A beautiful and very interesting machine. First time I've seen one of these. I like the auto-stop and wooden needle cups and he veneer is drop-dead gorgeous!

Clay

FloridaClay wrote:A beautiful and very interesting machine. First time I've seen one of these. I like the auto-stop and wooden needle cups and he veneer is drop-dead gorgeous!

Clay

I couldn't say it better. The inside of the lid looks quite distinctive. Congratulations!

How lucky you were to find the autostop piece still with the machine!
Thanks for the very nice demo video!
Bob

It resembles the case style used for Bush and Lane pianos- the same round columns and sinuous curves

What a great looking machine. The oak graining on the inside of the lid is a real show stopper. Jerry B.