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FOR SALE is my Edison Standard Model-A (2-clip) SN-S283. It has the early beaded case, an Automatic Reproducer, an original crank., and an original Edison 14" witches hat horn with the PAT APLD FOR stamp. This machine does have a gear cover. Can be delivered free to the Wayne NJ Show. PM me with any questions you may have.

It goes to the first person to PM me "SOLD"

Rich Gordon

Will sell the machine separately without horn or reproducer if that is what you want.

Rich Gordon

Rich, I have a question on your machine. Was the gear cover a later addition? I have a 2 clip Standard with a 35XX S/N with no gear cover. There are no holes or any indication that one was ever on my machine. About when did gear covers become standard(pardon the pun)?
Harvey Kravitz

Martin can offer more detail but in looking at his "spotter's guide" on antiquephono.org, specifically his extensive serial number study, there are some Standards as high as 4918 without a gear cover, yet many with far lower numbers do have the cover. There is no simple cut-off point.

From his study it appears that 283 may have been updated at the Edison factory at some point. The patent plate has an 1898 date, whereas others in that low range have 1893 patent dates. So it's possible the factory added the gear cover when the machine went in for repair. Just speculation but it would seem logical since most machines under 1000 don't have covers, and have earlier patent plates.

Care to chime in, Martin?

Hi Harvey,

Got beat to the answer by TinfoilPhono. He is correct in that it is thought that this machine may have been returned to the factory for repair and at that time the machine was updated. That is why you find some machines with gear covers and others without. The very early Standards were found to have problems so that may be the reason it was returned to the factory.

Rich Gordon

Factory returns may account for some of the inconsistency in gear covers, but if the Standard assembly line was anything like the Home line, it took time for old inventory to be exhausted even after new inventory was added to it. It seems to be human nature to assume that one day, all Homes (as an example) were equipped with brass mandrels, and the next day they were equipped with nickeled mandrels. That's not the way it happened, as surviving evidence makes clear.

In the case of Standard gear covers, such inconsistency is even easier to explain. There would be no need to hold a group of Standards because the factory ran short of gear covers. Demand was high for a $20 Edison, so they could simply be sent out without the gear covers, if/when necessary.

George P.

Thanks guys for the info. I love these various inconsistencies of phonographs. That's what makes them interesting other than the cookie cutter variety.
Harvey Kravitz

I concur with Rene; I think the machine was one of a number of returns to the factory. Frow remarked in his book that there were a number of rejected machines early on. I suggest that it received the type 2 patent plate, gear guard and the serial number in the straight edge at the factory about 1900. Flipping over the bedplate and looking for an extra hole (for the smaller type 1 plate) would bear this out. On the other hand, the straight edge looks a little thicker than the earliest castings, so perhaps the bedplate was replaced wholesale. Generally, the main run of machines with the serial number in the straight edge began in the 19,000s. There are a few machines out there that have early serial numbers and much later attributes. I think it makes them more interesting in that we can see a bit of their history.

If you want to look up all of my notes on 283, here is a copy of my latest data sheet:
Regards,
Martin

Hi Martin,

Well I got up this mornings and went upstairs to my phono room and checked out S283. I flipped it over and took a couple pictures of the underside of the bedplate. And yes there are extra holes from the Type1 ID Plate. So I guess it's safe to say that this machine was returned to the factory for repair. I would further conclude that is was during the period of time when serial numbers were being stamped on the rail edge. That being said I would think it's safe to say this is the original bedplate. My thought on why the ID Plate was changed was to possibly indicate the time period that the repairs and updating took place, just seems logical. I hope this answers some of the questions about the machine. I think it a very desirable little machine that I've enjoyed having and now would like to pass on to someone else to enjoy.

Rich Gordon

martinola wrote:I concur with Rene; I think the machine was one of a number of returns to the factory. Frow remarked in his book that there were a number of rejected machines early on. I suggest that it received the type 2 patent plate, gear guard and the serial number in the straight edge at the factory about 1900. Flipping over the bedplate and looking for an extra hole (for the smaller type 1 plate) would bear this out. On the other hand, the straight edge looks a little thicker than the earliest castings, so perhaps the bedplate was replaced wholesale. Generally, the main run of machines with the serial number in the straight edge began in the 19,000s. There are a few machines out there that have early serial numbers and much later attributes. I think it makes them more interesting in that we can see a bit of their history.

If you want to look up all of my notes on 283, here is a copy of my latest data sheet:

Edison_Std_Data_03_01_17.xls

Regards,
Martin

Martin,
Is there another option to open this file , i do not have Microsoft Office?
Thanks Eric