The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

This is a very interesting, not to mention cool, project... Completely home made (bespoke in British lingo..) and very well designed. I would love to know what parts were used to get this working so well...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwVfLsuYWgg

Has anyone on the Forum made a cylinder player similar to this? If so, please post pics or videos of your creation...

Interesting.

Very neat and best of all doesn't damage the cylinder.

Is it common for Blue Amberols to go out of shape in the middle as the specimen in this video seems to have done? It looks as if part of the plaster core may have gone missing, leaving the relatively thin celluloid skin unsupported. None of my Blue Amberols has suffered in this way, but admittedly I only have about a dozen of them. Perhaps, though, there is room for improvement in the vertical compliance of the playing head: surely not an insoluble problem.

Oliver Mundy.

Do you know this site about other modern phono makers? This one could be featured also here:
http://www.christerhamp.se/phono/
Also interesting is the orthophonic phonograph, as it may have been designed and made by Edison, would he had waited ten years more...
Listen to that sound!
https://youtu.be/jhLjcfswHb0

Yes, I have seen the phonograph makers page, sometime in the past few years. I lost track of it, so thanks for referencing it. I think it would be interesting to try to make a modern electronic machine. My thought was to try using a junk Edison Standard or Home upper works and powering it with a stepper motor and adapting a modern stylus and arm to the original setup...

Kinda like this Curt https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TDiUd_iLCY

That Edisonic really tickled me. They took the late model Amberola mechanism (the best solution for an inexpensive 4m project) and even left the hand-cranked motor intact. The use of a Diamond B instead of the electronic styli really helps minimize surface noise. Ever notice how old records sound scratchier than ever when you play them on new phonographs?

There is felt or rubber round the rim of the bedplate to dampen vibration from the clockwork motor, and the double cranes to isolate the horn is ingenious. I love it! Besides, it's just a hot-rodded Amberola, and I absolutely love my Amberola 30 especially upgraded with new model diaphragms. Reliability, sound quality, and no needle to change--not to mention it doesn't seem to chew up records.

VanEpsFan1914 wrote: The use of a Diamond B instead of the electronic styli really helps minimize surface noise. Ever notice how old records sound scratchier than ever when you play them on new phonographs?

That is true to an extent. Its possible to optimize a setup and greatly reduce the surface noise and get a really clean sound. Add on top of that post processing and music can sound better than you expect. The only issue is that it is really difficult to optimize and quite expensive. Not only is the equipment expensive, but to archive old music as best as possible, you would preferably find a copy in as best of condition as you can reasonably find.

With the enormous amount of records that are owned by members here on the forum, we could easily bring better quality recordings of some classic songs.

Martin

Menophanes wrote:Is it common for Blue Amberols to go out of shape in the middle as the specimen in this video seems to have done? It looks as if part of the plaster core may have gone missing, leaving the relatively thin celluloid skin unsupported. None of my Blue Amberols has suffered in this way, but admittedly I only have about a dozen of them. Perhaps, though, there is room for improvement in the vertical compliance of the playing head: surely not an insoluble problem.

Oliver Mundy.

Yes, I've had a couple of them do that. The plaster loss allows the celluloid to shrink.

- Bill