The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

It looks a bit out of line to me but may be an illusion due to the angle the picture was taken.

All complete, apart from the long bar...........!

Looks odd, is this an EMG product? and what would be the purpose of that asymetric long bar?

Yes, definitely an early EMG product Carlos and it was known as the "Longbar" which, in this case, is missing ironically ! The extension to the left in the photo seems to have been designed to allow plenty of room for the fourth spring mounting but the right hand side had to be truncated to allow the correct soundbox angle on the record. There might also have been thoughts of partially balancing the weight and/or increasing the pressure on the disc ? An interesting "work-in-progress" item but one which was available and which works well in my experience. Here are a couple of examples :

Quite interesting, Graham, thanks! Do you perceive any difference in sound in comparison with the better-known symmetric models?

Interesting question. The short answer is no. To a certain extent the answer can be slightly subjective but personally I tend to prefer the sound generated by the later, larger diameter diaphragm models. However, I am really thinking of the larger horns in this instance. My everyday Xb Oversize performs best (in my opinion) with the large 56mm diameter horseshoe two-spring item.

Of course, the Oversize horn was still many years into the future when the long-bar soundbox came onto the scene in the late nineteen-twenties and the available horns, and their bell mouths at that time, had much smaller diameters---viz; the contemporary Wilson horn which has a final diameter to air of about 24 inches (Oversize 33 inches).

The soundbox under discussion has a case diameter of around 50mm and I would say is therefore more suited to the smaller, shorter horns where they can sound pretty good, as can the more conventional smaller boxes of similar diameter.

Great, very enlightening, Graham!

This is one of the most interesting EMG soundboxes. The first one with 4 springs, produced around late 1928 to 1929. It’s most likely the result of input from a few people, mainly W S Wild and David Phillips. The only patent on all EMG soundboxes is that of the Meltrope back. It’s probably why it could be sold as the “Wild Connoisseur” in a plush box and also marked EMG. There can’t be very many of these about.

I see somebody retracted a bid - I wonder why.