The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I just picked up another all brass 14 inch horn.. I now have 3 of these small horns, all brass but no two are alike. I believe all to be original yet surprised that they are all different. I've provided a couple pictures. Be sure to click on the picture to enlarge for a much better view.

All have the same size bell. The two that have not been polished out are 14 ½ inches mainly due to the longer, soldered in nipple with the polished horn coming in at 14 inches. The polished horn also does not have a seam at all and the nipple is rolled/reduced into the reproducer end.

You might note that one of the horns has a slight roll on the outside where the bell meets the body.

Just a fishing expedition to see what our members feel about these horns.

Any feedback is welcome.

Blizz

Horns were generally sourced from outside suppliers; and I suppose companies like Edison or Columbia wanted to get the best deal, so they would shop around for various manufacturers...

- Bill

Thanks Bill,, that makes perfect sense. For some reason I thought that these smaller horns were made in house by the individual phonograph companies.. Would like to see the machine in action that pressed out the no seam horn.


Blizz

fmblizz wrote: Tue Oct 19, 2021 7:21 am Thanks Bill,, that makes perfect sense. For some reason I thought that these smaller horns were made in house by the individual phonograph companies.. Would like to see the machine in action that pressed out the no seam horn.


Blizz

There really is a seam, but you can't see it. It's not a rolled seam, but instead more of a finger joint that's brazed. Sometimes, when a horn tarnishes a bit, (like all of mine...), the seam is revealed. The brass will tarnish to a slightly different color than the brazing, highlighting the seam.

Thanks Jerry... These eyes sure aren't what they used to be. I even polished the horn again and used 4X readers and can't find it.

Blizz

Jerry I think I finally found it... how in the world did they make it nearly invisible 100 years ago.

I think this might be what I've been looking for.. hard to photograph with all the reflections going on but I can finally see a small discolored line running the length of the horn. I put a black dot with a sharpie so I wouldn't lose it while photographing. A little photoshop manipulation made it more visible.

Thanks again for your input.

blizz