The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I have a violin that for the past couple of days I was doing some research on regarding maker and date of production. There was a patent date on one of the pieces of hardware and I was able to look up the patent to help in my research. I decided to do a patent search for the gentleman's name affixed to the violin hardware to see if he was important to the evolution of violin design. Turns out he isn't. But I randomly clicked on a patent from 1905 that said "Talking Machine". It is a patent for a device to hold any violin, more specifically a violin body, to be used as a reproducer for a talking machine! I guess in theory it should work but is pretty over the top. Here is the link to the patent:

http://www.google.com/patents?id=veM-AA ... in&f=false

Anyway, here is a picture of the reproducer I didn't even know I had! (I'm just missing the bracket to hold it over a talking machine.) Does anyone else have one of these reproducers and not know it?

More than just a reproducer, it looks like it was intended to displace the horn, and the sound be produced within the body of the violin.
Weird idea, and pretty unwieldy looking.

But it's a violin, right?

As such it shall play all your records with the sweetness of tone and perfection of reproduction previously unobtainable from conventional reproducers. The masters shall now sing and play in your home as though they were standing before you...

According to Allen Koenigsburg's book on phonograph patents published in 1990, this device was actually manufactured in France in 1913. One survives in a Paris museum (or at least it did 20 years ago).

Maybe my memory is faulty, but I seem to remember a picture of that setup or something similar somewhere. Perhaps in one of Tim and George's books? Sound familiar, George? I can't look it up without remembering the name...

I visited a collector a few months ago, and he has one of these.

See thread regarding Featured Phonograph #33

There is also a purpose-made 'horn' that is shaped much -- but not exactly -- like a neckless violin standing upright with a fitting on it's bottom to seat into a back-mount bracket. Brian Gorrell had one at Union two or three years ago and it sold very quickly for a lot of money. I'm not sure of the maker or any other details.

Fascinating! I wonder if it was hard on the records? Seems like a lot of weight to bear down on one little stylus.

bbphonoguy wrote:Fascinating! I wonder if it was hard on the records? Seems like a lot of weight to bear down on one little stylus.

If you figure that a violin weighs in range of a pound or so, yes.

But that's probably not worse than contemporaneous machines that the had weight of the reproducer, horn and carrier arm all resting on the stylus.

coyote wrote:Maybe my memory is faulty, but I seem to remember a picture of that setup or something similar somewhere. Perhaps in one of Tim and George's books? Sound familiar, George? I can't look it up without remembering the name...

Good memory, Coyote. Here it is, from our book, A World of Antique Phonographs. Note the large sound holes in this purpose-made violin/reproducer. I believe one of our other board members owns one of these as well...

George P.