The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Hello folks,

I have just gotten a great condition Edison B250 (which I plan on making a post about as soon as I have completed restoring it). I have been having trouble picking out a grille cloth since the original was missing as usual. I think the B250 had something like an orange or red grille cloth, but I'm not sure, and I'm all about historical accuracy. What do you think? Is this an appropriate grille cloth? Any help would be immensely appreciated.

-Steve

Here's an A250 with original.

http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewto ... f=2&t=4386

It was actually darker than appears in the picture, (due to flash), quite a bit darker green.

If you're all about historic authenticity then that bright orange grille cloth is totally wrong. I believe a rule of thumb on Edison grille cloths is that if the cabinet is mahogany, the grille cloth is a brownish gold color. If the cabinet is oak, the grille cloth is usually a light green.

marcapra wrote:If you're all about historic authenticity then that bright orange grille cloth is totally wrong. I believe a rule of thumb on Edison grille cloths is that if the cabinet is mahogany, the grille cloth is a brownish gold color. If the cabinet is oak, the grille cloth is usually a light green.

I thought the bright orange didn't look right! I found some residue of this same exact color on the back side of the grille and assumed that it must have been from the original grille cloth. However, I was under the impression that these earlier Edison A and B250s had a different grille color than that of the later models like the C250.

-Steve

Hello,
Here are a couple of pictures of the grill cloth color I went with on my A-250. When I got it there was still tattered remains of the original grill cloth and it was definitely green. The color I picked is almost spot on with the green that I found on the inside of the grill that had not been faded over the years.
Pete

marcapra wrote:If you're all about historic authenticity then that bright orange grille cloth is totally wrong. I believe a rule of thumb on Edison grille cloths is that if the cabinet is mahogany, the grille cloth is a brownish gold color. If the cabinet is oak, the grille cloth is usually a light green.

I think it's the other way round: green for mahogany, brown/gold for oak.

Of course, some of the later machines used a rose-colored fabric...

The orange cloth, however, would fit in on an Amberola 30.

Bill

Grille Cloth colors are a tricky subject as you could be right that the A machines had different rules on that than the later machines. Unfortunately, Frow does not address this subject in his scholarly book on Diamond Disc machines. It is also possible that the A-150 machines may have had no grille cloth at all as the horn was wood-grained to match the finish of the cabinet. I just talked to Uncle Vanya and he confirmed that he has seen old A model DD machines with green as the color of the Grille cloth.

I am no authority on grill cloth colors but I have noticed some Nippers that have green ears. I doubt if the ears were originally green. The brown ears faded to green over time. I think it's quite possible that a brown grill cloth faded towards green over the years. It's just my observation and opinion. Jerry Blais

For what this is worth, I have an original C-19, red mahogany, with the original gold grille cloth.

It has oxidized somewhat towards greenish, but was definitely gold.

I have only found a green toned chippendale type cabinet in a machine that was produced in England. The comments at the time were that the British for some reason preferred the green tone over the Brownish tints.. But everything I have seen produced here was a gold or brown tint on dark cabinets. After that I tired a green cloth thinking it might enhance the cabinet but I was distracting from the overall machine looks. When I put the current gold/brown fabric it suited it very well.

Larry