The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I was offered the cabinet of a SI-19, serial number 1406, this afternoon for $80. The shellac is alligatored throughout, one of the legs has damage at the base, and the grille is gone.

Nevertheless, I have always found the inlaid Sheratons attractive and so I am tempted to take on the project.

Would be curious to know others' thoughts regarding this.

Could a junker S-19 be the donor for all the mechanical parts? Or did the SI's have a different mechanical fit up?

-Peter

The mechanical parts of the vast majority of Diamond Disc machines are completely interchangeable. The early machines (A/B/C 60, A/B 80, A 150, C 250, etc.) use their own parts. The Edisonic machines (Beethoven, Schubert) use a larger, longer horn. Otherwise spring barrels, governors, etc. are pretty much freely exchanged. It's not at all unusual for example to find what is ordinarily a one spring machine upgraded to a two spring machine.

Many of us, myself included, have partial DD motors and/or parts lying around, so you should be able to find anything you need at low or no cost quite easily. The only thing that will cost you more than a few dollars would be good springs in the barrels.

Good luck with your machine. I almost bought a B-275 once (predecessor of the SI-19). They are good looking machines!

Good catch! The SI-19 is a rather attractive cabinet.

Luckily, the regular S-19 is fairly common; so you can probably find one with a trashed cabinet cheaply, and transfer the mechanism into your cabinet.

Good luck with your project!

-Bill