The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Before my wife's grandpa died, he gave us Grandpa's Zon-O-Phone and their entire record collection.
Her grandfather, born in 1914, was a mail carrier and her grandmother, born in 1921, was a stay at home mother.

I would like to return this to working condition to surprise my wife and her family and play their old records this Christmas.
Mechanically it is in perfect working condition except for the missing reproducer. Sorry, the turntable is not pictured.

The turntable is 10" and it appears to be the Tiger Oak case brass and nickel Horn similar to what I have found at the auction website here:

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/ ... 1883561059

I am not sure of the exact model but the hyperlink above shows good detail on the reproducer.

Does anyone know where I can find the reproducer or best replacement so I can get this playing again?
Thank you,
Dwayne
St. Louis, Missouri

One of the fine gentlemen on the forum let me know that a Victor Exhibition reproducer, much easier to find, with the black rubber connector removed, will work on the Zonophone. That's what I did.

Steve

schweg wrote:One of the fine gentlemen on the forum let me know that a Victor Exhibition reproducer, much easier to find, with the black rubber connector removed, will work on the Zonophone. That's what I did.
Steve

Great! Do you recall where you purchased yours?

Victor Exhibition reproducers are readily available. If you place an ad in the Yankee Trader section of this forum, I'm sure you'll find one. Ebay also has many listed.

A flat rubber gasket should be placed between the arm and reproducer- I bought a sheet of red rubber in the plumbing supplies aisle of Home Depit & cut my own- a little rough but serviceable.

Congratulations on a nice machine.... Since your new to this hobby,,, be sure not to over clean.

Finish looks to be in great shape...

Do a search in the Tips Tricks and Tutorials for machine cleaning and you will find plenty of information.

Blizz

Congratulations and welcome to the forum. What a treasure to own an original machine that was owned by your family since new. Great decision to clean and service it, so it can be treasured for another 100 years.

I believe this to be a "Parlor Tapering Arm Zonophone" from around 1905, but others may have better information. Original Zonophone reproducers are hard to find and expensive, so a Victor Exhibition would be a suitable replacement. One of my Zonophones has such a replacement with a black sticker inside covering the Victor information. You can find flat black rubber gaskets/washers of the correct size at well sorted hardware stores.

Like others have said, your machine is in beautiful original condition. Don't let anyone talk you into "restoring" it. All it needs is a gentle cleaning, maybe some wax on the case, and the motor being cleaned and lubricated. You can either do that yourself or have an experienced professional do it for you. Should you decide to do it yourself, please search the forum and ask questions here, our forum members are always willing to help.

Good luck
Andreas

Welcome to the wonderful world of antique talking machines! Congratulations on your family heirloom, that is a privilege not afforded to many of us. I am one of the few, too. As has been stated by others, don't be hasty in anything that you cannot undo later. Your Zonophone is gorgeous; what an honor that you were given custody of such a fine specimen.

Best,
Fran

Wow ! I love this gramophone ! Very nice indeed.

The correct term for “tiger oak” is ‘quarter-sawn’ oak. You can Google that term to see charts showing the three ways to saw oak — plain-sawn, rift-sawn, and quarter-sawn. Plain-sawing is the most economical way to saw oak because it wastes the least, but it reveals the least figure in the wood. Quarter-sawing is the least economical (thus most expensive) because it wastes a great deal of wood, but it reveals the most figure. Rift-sawing is between the two. ‘Tiger oak’ is what I call an ‘auctioneer’s term’ — not what it is called in the lumber or furniture industry, but a term that the general public can understand when the auctioneer doesn’t know what it’s actually called.