Is this a speaker or automatic reproducer?

[Mormon S]

I dont have much experience with these early cylinder reproducers, can anyone tell me which one this is? It looks like an automatic to me since you can see a copper diaphragm inside, but I'm not sure. The picture is pretty low quality, but maybe someone can tell

Thanks
Martin

[fran604g]

Disregard my earlier statement.

[52089]

That reproducer is specific to the early Gems. It's designed to be similar to the Automatic. Frow says this was supplied with Gem from about 1900 to 1902, after which a standard arm and reproducer were supplied.

[Mormon S]

Thanks for the replies. How often do these appear/how uncommon are they

And it posted 3 times for some reason, sorry about that.

Thanks
Martin

[OrthoFan]

Hi Martin:

If you haven't seen it, this might be useful for identifying the various reproducers:

Cylinder Reproducers -- a primer for the novice collector -- http://www.edisonshop.com/reproducers/ducer.html

HTH,
OrthoFan

[Phonofreak]

Good link. The Gem reproducer was not shown, unless I missed it. The earliest Gems(Drip Pan Gem) had a reproducer built into the carriage arm. The reproducer shown is for the Branded Cased Gem. The recorder is very similar. Off topic, in the link,there is a picture of the Edison Bell reproducer. It looks like a Columbia 2/4 min. reproducer. The black circled diaphragm, and the heavy spring screams Columbia.
Harvey Kravitz

[Mormon S]

So I have this gem that I'm thinking of buying. Its $225. I would be using it as the first thing I own to play brown wax cylinders. Is this a good deal? It's missing the lid and doesnt have a horn.

Thanks
Martin

[Fonotone]

The reproducer is novel, but it's not a good choice for any type of cylinder. It's among the worst reproducers ever made -- for cylinder or disc or anything else. Raspy and distorted, with no dynamic range. Even my deaf dog hates them. You're much better off saving up a bit more money and buying a nice Columbia Eagle with a good floating reproducer for, say, $350-$450 than you are spending $225 on a phonograph with which you'll ultimately be unhappy. Eagles are great little phonographs, and floating reproducers are ideal for brown wax. At the risk of sounding preachy, I would suggest that, even when funds are limited, good phonographs not "good deals" are what you should be considering as you build a phonograph collection. You'll be happier in the long run.

-- Grant

[MicaMonster]

The reproducer is designed to be played with listening tubes. As soon as you put a horn on it, the downforce of the horn sandwiches the diaphragm together harder at the bottom edge, and makes it distort like crazy. This is why it was a short lived option. The earlier drip pan GEM had a semi-built-into the carriage arm reproducer that was slightly more sensitive. These excelled at brown wax cylinder recordings. The black wax cylinders had higher modulation, which made these early GEM reproducers get pushed to their limits. I like them. They actually sound quite good on brown wax.

[Fonotone]

I'll sensibly defer to Wyatt in his assessment of the earliest Gem Speaker (the one built into the Drip Pan Gem's carriage), but I'll stick to my guns with respect to the later Gem Speaker. Even re-built, it sounds pretty dreadful. Either that, or I've had a long streak of bad luck. I've bought and sold many "branded case" Gems, most of them with their original carriages and reproducers, and sonically speaking they've left a lot to be desired. Maybe if I'd had Wyatt rebuild even one of them, I wouldn't be trash talking the whole bunch.

-- Grant