The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Hello All,

I am new to the forums. I am here to learn as much as i can in relation to Edison Phonographs, in particular how to service and maintain one.

I recently purchased an Edison Phonograph Fireside Model A. Pictures attached.

Are there particular books that i could read in relation to servicing this item?

Cheers

Steven

Congratulations on your purchase Steven! I would love to have a Fireside or anything with a cygnet horn some day!

For books I recommend “The Compleat Talking Machine.”

And don’t be afraid to ask the members here for advice. We’re very friendly here.

Congratulations,

Very fine looking Fireside.

First thing you will need is the flexible connector between the horn nipple and the reproducer. They can be found on Ebay or from one of the suppliers found from this list.

http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewto ... ?f=8&t=195

Herman

Congratulation Steven on your Fireside with Cygnet horn. Most of us collected for quite some time before acquiring such a nice machine. The Fireside was introduced during a period of high inflation. The price of the lowest model, the Gem, had increased as had the next model in line, the Standard. The Edison company thought they would take advantage in the price gap by introducing the Fireside as a machine priced between the Gem and Standard. The Fireside was introduced very late in the horn era so total sales numbers were a fraction of Standard or Home total sales.

Welcome to the Forum,
Jerry Blais

Looks like you got a beautiful example.

Normally it would have K reproducer. It could also have a C , for just two min or an H for just 4 min.

They are good runners and require very little maintenance. My suggestion would be to get a copy of Frow's book. It won't tell you much about maintenance but gives you a good idea about it's history compared to the other models. It's also available as an book for your iPad or phone if you are an Apple person.

If you want to optimize the sound quality, have the reproducer expertly rebuilt and optimized.

Congrats!

I just noticed it has the rigid (without a spring) connection between the horn crane and the horn. To the best of my knowledge that crane was never reproduced. So I'm guessing the crane is original. I've found that the best connection between the horn and reproducer for the rigid setup is a Tiz-et. Did they come out for this specific purpose or did the Tiz-et predate the Cygnet horn?

Jerry B.

Thanks for the info and warm welcome. I am waiting on this item to arrive. If i am unable to service this item myself i will probably look at driving interstate to get it serviced by a specialist.
I have held off buying one for over two years and when i saw this one i snapped it up.

I am scouring old books amd such for practical information on this item. Any advice or links to this info would be great

Cheers steven

Steven, in which city are you located?

George P.