The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Found this Columbia Type A in the wild. It's exactly the kind of machine that I love to find. I think it is complete other than the lid, and the horn is a beat-up brass repro. But it's got the reproducer which can be saved, I think, the crank, and miraculously the carriage is NOT frozen; explain that one. Plus the spring is good and I think it will run with a cleaning and oiling. Plus the decal is really nice, and I am also at a loss to explain that one because the rest of it looks like it has been out in the elements. I will need to figure out what to do about all that surface rust, though...

It's alway fun to find stuff in the wild.

James.

Nice find Mike! The carriage is not frozen because all A models had brass carriage parts--no pot metal! Same for the early AT phonographs--no pot metal carriage parts! Of course, then they went on from there to go pot metal, and that's where we have the problems!!

Mike
Riverside, CA

Yes, I found a late Columbia AT 'in the wild' several years ago in a bit of a sorry state, including the lift lever being frozen on to the tube that slides along the feedscrew shaft. I had to hacksaw through it (underneath, so the repair is not visible) to free it off and then repair the ring with some epoxy.