The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I noticed today that on the lid of the earlier Amberola 30 that I have, the "Edison" decal is silver and on the later model it is gold. Any one know when they changed the color ?
Jeff

Are you sure you're looking at decals in good condition? I've noticed when stripping cabinets that a gold decal on surface has an underlying silver layer. Is it possible that you are comparing a worn decal against one in better condition?

Happy New Year, Jerry Blais

I agree with Jerry. What you're seeing is the bottom layer of the decal which is silver. The top color is transparent. They're delicate and it's easy to remove the top layer when cleaning. Parenthetically, I had a decal that had gone all silver on an Ediphone and was able to golden it up using an artist's brush and amber shellac. Good luck with your machine!

Regards,
Martin

Thank you for the fast replies. This is a golden oak cabinet that I picked up on Ebay. It had been stripped of all of the shellac and the decal is silver. The other one that I have is gold with a black outline and it has what is left of the original shellac on it. I can see where a coating or two of amber shellac would give the silver a golden tint.
Jeff

MidMich wrote: I can see where a coating or two of amber shellac would give the silver a golden tint.
Jeff

No, the decal has a silver base under the gold, then orange shellac is applied over the gold. If someone strips the finish off, the gold may be removed and the silver base layer is left. You can get perfect replication decals from Gregg Cline at http://phonodecal.com/.

Good luck
Andreas

" and the decal is silver" --- Sorry what I meant is--- What is left on the lid is a silver decal. Oddly if the amber top coats of Shellac gave the Silver decal it's gold color, then what happened to the Black outline. Was it also cleaned away with the shellac?
Jeff

Here is a couple of Of the Early Amberola 30 decal and cover with the Silver and of the Later one with the Gold with Black outline.
Jeff

Yes, the silver one with no black accents is a partially stripped decal. You are best to finish removing the decal and replacing it with a good reproduction. Jerry

That is what I thought.
Thanks Jerry

I have been trying to contact Gregg Cline for a decal .. Is he away on vacation.??? Tom B