The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I just inherited this unit from my uncle. I know he had the reproducer for it at some point, but I've so far not been able to put my hands on it. I don't know much about these units, so this is probably a dumm (sic) question, but does the reproducer need to be for the same model? Or just get one for Bell-Tainter/Columbia?

Congratulations. The Columbia Perfected Graphophone Type G is a very early, rare and desirable phonograph. The correct reproducer would be the Columbia #1 Gutta Purcha reproducer. Does yours have the early wooden mandrel or later metal mandrel? Would love to see pics.

Thanks for the info! Much appreciated! If i can't find that piece in the mountain of "stuff" i have, what should i expect to pay for that part?

Here are a few pictures of the player.
And I have the metal version of the mandrel

The other two players in this picture (as well as 4 others) were also part of the package that made its way to my home. That and hundreds of old 78 and cylinder records.

Very, very nice!

George P.

A beautiful example of the Columbia Type G. I have a Perfected Graphophone Type G which was also missing it’s original Columbia #1 Black reproducer, so I have been in your shoes - hunting for a correct reproducer. A Columbia #1 Black reproducer for sale (not already on a machine) can be difficult to locate. If you can find one, experct to pay several hundred dollars for it. I originally purchased a Columbia #2 Eagle reproducer for my machine. While it is not correct, it makes a suitable replacement until a correct reproducer can be found. The #2 Eagle reproducer is almost identical to the #1 (including the embossed ‘REPRODUCER’) except that it is made of aluminum instead of the black Gutta Purcha. The #2 Eagle reproducer often comes up for sale on eBay in the $200-300 range. The Columbia #1 Black reproducer was also on a few other more common early Columbia machines such as the Columbia N. At one point, before I found the original Columbia #1 Black reproducer and recorder in original box (which was not cheap), I considered trying to find a Columbia N machine with Columbia #1 Black reproducer (these come up for sale occasionally in the $2K-$3K range) so that I could get the correct reproducer for my Type G and put the incorrect #2 Eagle reproducer on the much more common (less valuable)Type N machine. That summarizes my search and thought process in finding a Columbia #1 Black reproducer for my Perfected Graphophone Type G. I finally found mine by advertising on the Yankee Trade of this forum.

Beautiful machine. Nicest looking Perfected Graphophone decal I have seen.

Mlund2020 wrote:A beautiful example of the Columbia Type G. I have a Perfected Graphophone Type G which was also missing it’s original Columbia #1 Black reproducer, so I have been in your shoes - hunting for a correct reproducer. A Columbia #1 Black reproducer for sale (not already on a machine) can be difficult to locate. If you can find one, expert to pay several hundred dollars for it. I originally purchased a Columbia #2 Eagle reproducer for my machine. While it is not correct, it makes a suitable replacement until a correct reproducer can be found. The #2 Eagle reproducer is almost identical to the #1 (including the embossed ‘REPRODUCER’) except that it is made of aluminum instead of the black Gutta Purcha. The #2 Eagle reproducer often comes up for sale on eBay in the $200-300 range. The Columbia #1 Black reproducer was also on a few other more common early Columbia machines such as the Columbia N. At one point, before I found the original Columbia #1 Black reproducer and recorder in original box (which was not cheap), I considered trying to find a Columbia N machine with Columbia #1 Black reproducer (these come up for sale occasionally in the $2K-$3K range) so that I could get the correct reproducer for my Type G and put the incorrect #2 Eagle reproducer on the much more common (less valuable)Type N machine. That summarizes my search and thought process in finding a Columbia #1 Black reproducer for my Perfected Graphophone Type G. I finally found mine by advertising on the Yankee Trade of this forum.

Thank you for that! Unfortunately, the kind of confirms now what I've found (with regards to the original), but it was good to know about the #2. I'm still hoping it will show up somewhere in all of the "stuff" as I know he did have it at one point. I'm just afraid someone might have tossed it if it was in a separate box by accident.

DId a quick search for the #2 Eagle and found this - link - doesn't mention #2, but..?

Thanks to all for letting me lean in on your expertise.

I don’t see a Columbia #2 reproducer currently listed for sale on EBay. The #2 can be easily identified by the word ‘REPRODUCER’ stamped on the back face of the reproducer. Here is a link to one that sold on eBay a few weeks ago. If you are patient I’m sure that another will come up for sale soon.

https://m.ebay.com/itm/Columbia-B-Eagle ... SwYSBbYahQ

So there's a happy ending to this story... after literally unpacking ALL of the records and going through all of the other players, I took at a second/third/fourth look at the various players. And I swear this is true, on my last player I was going to look through, ever, I found a little box inside... In the example picture above, the metal cap at the end is attached to the reproducer. On the one I have, it's attached to the player itself and i didn't see how to take it off. I can slide the reproducer on and i'm sure it'll work, but what would be the proper thing to do at this point?

I have a question -- what expectations should i have for playback of the cylinders? I played one, and i can tell there was something there, but it wasn't as clear as I remember. I'm not expecting a whole lot, but the coupleof tubes i played were hard to understand what they were saying.