The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

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Looks great. A 30" horn and a Diamond B would be a fun combo especially if someone swapped it for a performance diaphragm.

The color isn't exactly alike for an original one of those horns (I used to have one; Martin AKA Mormon S has got it now) but it should present well. The original paint is very hard to duplicate!

Sweet-looking horn for sure though, and a Fireside is about the perfect size for a little phonograph.

You did a great job restoring this, and the repaint job on the horn is quite impressive, however I hope you don't mind me being a bit critical

I don think completely stripping everything down and redoing everything was necessary, especially the blue flowered horn since it was in around average to above average condition and is hard to find in the first place. The case would have looked great with a good cleaning, and the bedplate could have been touched up. I don't want to downplay you're accomplishment or deny you're skills in restoration, but I think were diverting a bit from the preservation aspect of the hobby. That being said, it looks great now as it is.

Martin

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VanEpsFan1914 wrote:a Diamond aB would be a fun combo especially if someone swapped it for a performance diaphragm.

Don't believe everything you read without listening to a live comparison of a restored original and "performance" diaphragm first

Even a badly warped original can be restored by brushing it with alcohol to rejuvenate the shellac, then sandwiched between 2 Sheets of grease proof (waxed) paper, and 2 appropriate sized heavy metal washers, they can be clamped together and left until completely dry, you can be left with an original that sounds every bit as good as the modern replacements.

The same applies to diamond disc reproduces too.
Provided there are no holes or rips in the diaphragm, or broken silk linkage, replacing the original isn't necessary to obtain the best possible performance.

I agree with Martin. Stripping the case and replacing a 100+ year old, perfectly acceptable decal is a real shame and was ill advised. I guess you got what you wanted -- an Edison Fireside that looks as close to brand new as you could get it.

I have no problem with refinishing "basket case" machines that are in such sad shape you have no choice. But the "before" pictures show that this Fireside was not a basket case. Gentle cleaning, repairs and touch-ups would have made more sense. These things are only original once.

Yeah, I echo the same... I would have just cleaned and maybe touched up the machine.... He went a bit too far on this one... He had already started with a decent machine, horn and finish on bedplate... It's only original once...

Preservation is the name of the game to over-restoring...unless the machine was trashed to begin with as was already mentioned.

The end result was eye appealing....but you'll know for next time I guess...

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Tony K.

Edison Collector/Restorer

Well, I guess that didn't go over too well...

From his user profile,

"[If] you folks were involved in Antique cars you'd all be driving rust buckets with all original interiors and acting like Original is Better... I'm done with all of you Snobs"

Well, I AM involved in antique cars and yes, I would prefer all original cars. Hardly see how that would make me a snob for driving a shabby old car. Oh well...

JerryVan wrote:Well, I guess that didn't go over too well...

From his user profile,

"[If] you folks were involved in Antique cars you'd all be driving rust buckets with all original interiors and acting like Original is Better... I'm done with all of you Snobs"

Well, I AM involved in antique cars and yes, I would prefer all original cars. Hardly see how that would make me a snob for driving a shabby old car. Oh well...

Yeah, I don't think we'll see this guy here anymore. He actually went and deleted the text and photos of whatever posts he could still edit!