The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Today is my twin's 6th birthday and since they seem to like my Edison I got them this: Here's a view of the back of the box with a shot of the machine: These kits recently came out and unlike the Japanese kits that record onto a candle or a Solo cup, this one records onto aluminum tape: We will put it together (looks like it will take some time) and I will review it as soon as we've tried it out.

Please be sure to caution them about the sharp edges of the foil, to prevent cuts.

PeterF wrote:Please be sure to caution them about the sharp edges of the foil, to prevent cuts.

Thanks! I'll be supervising but that is good to know.

Well, it's about what you'd expect. If you shout as loud as you can it will make a recognizable recording. Since this thing is almost entirely plastic it is very lightweight and you can't do much to improve on it. Almost any attempt to use a better recording set up or playback horn puts too much weight on the reproducer and pulls the needle off the mandrel. The reproducer does use a nice copper diaphragm but it also uses a steel needle that doesn't directly attach to the diaphragm, just rests against it and bounces off it. To make a recording you are supposed to place a small plastic funnel onto the reproducer, put a paper cone in that and then hold a small plastic megaphone over that. You have to shout at the absolute top of your lungs to get a decent result. I had better luck making a small sound tube out of cardboard, rubber and the plastic funnel. That makes a decipherable recording but the quality is still terrible. Since it uses the sticky backed aluminum tape, you can't save and replay your recordings. The tape tends to come off the mandrel in shreds. I may experiment and see if I can find a better recording media. Overall I'd say it was a fun project for the money but it could've been better:

Bought one for my Grandson's 10th birthday this past weekend. Looking forward to helping him with this. A few months back, I had him make a recording on my Edison Home and he was pretty excited about it.