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Hey everyone. I have located a rather interesting phonograph, a Columbia eagle phonograph with a sears base. Generally speaking, the sears base was made to put a Columbia Q on top of, but the one I found has a Columbia eagle directly bolted onto the base itself. I believe the base is original, the ones made roughly 30 years ago by Aaron Cramer were made of brass as far as I know. Has anyone seen one with a Columbia eagle before?

I would also like to see pictures of the underside of an original base if possible. Thanks!

Martin, post some pictures.

Sorry about that, here are a few

Martin, without seeing your base in person, it is hard to tell. What metal does it appear to be made of? I have seen only a couple of originals and a number of replicas. The originals were made of nickel plated cast iron and had deep, defined decorative details. The replicas were copied and cast from originals, so they lost some detail in the copying process, as compared to being cast in the original molds. I can't be 100% certain, but from your pictures, it seems that the details are less defined than on an original. Whatever it is, it is still a desirable accessory, as replicas are very hard to find and originals are impossible and very expensive.

I wish I had better pictures, the machine is not in my hands yet. One thing I found interesting are the wooden/felt interst that were inserted in an indentation in the casting, something not present in the reproductions, at least not the one in this post. This is one of the main things that leads me to beleive it is original, but I could be wrong

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Maybe someone with an original could post some pics for comparison...

This picture purports to show an original Sears base (I stand corrected, they were nickel plated cast iron, not brass).

I had an original (Q) years ago. I always thought that a magnet was the easiest way to tell an original since the replicas were aluminum.

They definitely came with an Eagle on them! Though much less seldom found than with the Q on them.
Shawn

My original base, I bought it about 25 years ago never cleaned or polished, it has a black base Q mounted on it. You can see the casting relief is much crisper in the originals than the reproductions.
They are cast iron and weigh much more than the reproductions.

Chuck

All nice examples. If a magnet sticks to the fancy base, then it is most likely original. Here are photos of mine with the Transitional Q (Nickel plated base with 2nd style motor) and original Columbia table crane and horn.