The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Is there an on-line discography for Edison lateral discs? Asking for a friend.

I believe they are all listed in the Truesound project spreadsheet for Diamond Discs. The long-plays are listed as well. Just sort the spreadsheet by coupling number and keep the rows together. The needle cuts will then be listed right after the long-play couplings and before the Diamond Discs.

https://www.truesoundtransfers.de/discoenglish.htm

Thank you so much!

Yes that spread sheet is a great resource. Btw, does anyone know why some of the record numbers are followed by a ! ? Also, some are followed by a {ni}. I tried to contact someone on the site to ask the question, but never heard back.

Thanks in advance for any insights.

Gatyam wrote:Yes that spread sheet is a great resource. Btw, does anyone know why some of the record numbers are followed by a ! ? Also, some are followed by a {ni}. I tried to contact someone on the site to ask the question, but never heard back.

Thanks in advance for any insights.

Not sure about the exclamation, but I'm pretty sure that "ni" means "not issued".

Yes, I originally assumed that {ni} meant not issued. The problem is, I have found copies of some of those records. So, I'm still puzzled.

"ni" does stand for "not issued," although the spreadsheet could be incorrect (see below). For instance, 50366 is listed as "ni," and I don't believe a copy exists, except for perhaps a test pressing. I have also found that not all takes are represented, as I have alternate takes that were clearly issued that are not listed in the spreadsheet.

Coincidentally, two weeks ago, on the Diamond Disc Facebook page, Mr. William Scheckel asked the Truesound page owner, Christian Zwarg (in German), about the exclamation points. This had also baffled me for some time. Here is Mr. Scheckel's response:

I heard back from him [Christian Zwarg] about
the exclamation points. He wrote that the exclamation
point denotes the fact that either he or a colleague
had a copy of that specific record in their collection
when the list was put together in 2003.(He also strongly
advised using the DAHR site for more up-to-date information.)
Mystery solved!

Mystery solved, indeed. Thank you, coyote.