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Hello Together,

There is only little documentation about Edison 5" Concert cylinders. Obviously there was at least on experiment bases activities. I believe they where available at some stage as from time to time 4 Minute reproducers for Edison Concerts appear with machines or on the market. I own one of these reproducers.

I would be happy to buy such a cylinder and hope to get more documentation about those if you have something to share.

Thank you for your efforts

Jürgen

Concert cylinders are 5".

Interesting reproducer!

aahh. Corrected.
Thanks.

The reproducer in the pictures looks a bit odd to me. While it may be a legitimate Edison factory released reproducer, the hole made for the limit loop wire to pass through the weight is fairly rough and the scoring on the weight near the point where a model H weight could be "straightened" might suggest a model H reproducer weight MAY have been modified to make this reproducer. The snapped off (hard to see if they are present?) lateral movement limiting pins on the weight at the end of the 4-minute stylus bar also seems odd for a factory reproducer. I cannot, however, explain the "D" stamping on the weight. It appears cleanly done. I could be way off on this but having owned several factory model D reproducers this is what I observe in the pictures.

Doug

Your picture does not show the neck completely, however, it appears that it may be longer than standard. Can you confirm this, please?

The neck is the same length as on "usual" reproducers and the flange was not bend. I provide better pictures when I am next time back home.
Last year there was in Australia a Model J 4 Minute reproducer for sale which had the same angle for 5" Cylinders. This Dodo seems not to be alone and such kind of reproducers only make sense if also cylinders where brought to the market.

FellowCollector wrote: Mon Sep 22, 2025 8:19 am The reproducer in the pictures looks a bit odd to me. While it may be a legitimate Edison factory released reproducer, the hole made for the limit loop wire to pass through the weight is fairly rough and the scoring on the weight near the point where a model H weight could be "straightened" might suggest a model H reproducer weight MAY have been modified to make this reproducer. The snapped off (hard to see if they are present?) lateral movement limiting pins on the weight at the end of the 4-minute stylus bar also seems odd for a factory reproducer. I cannot, however, explain the "D" stamping on the weight. It appears cleanly done. I could be way off on this but having owned several factory model D reproducers this is what I observe in the pictures.

Doug

Is that an "H" stamped on the underside of the weight, near the hinge?

- Bill

I'm no expert on Edison reproducers...

That said, I'm noticing some plating loss and other scratches that I would normally assume would reveal brass under the nickel plating. Instead, I'm seeing a "white metal" base material. Zinc alloy? I kind of recall that some reproducer tail weights were in fact castings. If that's the case here, it may explain the crude clearance slot for the limit loop. The slot being left "as cast" and not machined.

Of course, none of this explains the purpose and markings of this unique reproducer, but maybe it helps to explain what we're seeing and may help to confirm its legitimacy.

Can any, more knowledgeable, Edison reproducer folks confirm the existence of cast tail weights?

Hello,

There was a J reproducer, that was the the Howard Hazelcorn collection that was marked "2 min." It was probably created, by the factory, when someone needed a now obsolete Model D, and none were available, and a model C stylus simply was installed and then the designation of 2M stamped on the weight. Your reproducer looks like it may have been a Model H, and the weight has been bent, and the H modified to a D. See the coments Doug made. My first thought was that it possibly was a Model D, and someone needed a Model J, so the factory simply modified what was on hand. But, I seem to agree with Doug, upon closer examination of the pictures. Still, a very interesting reproducer! The 4 min J reproducer was created for use on a Concert machine that has been converted to play standard sized cylinders--and thus the Model D could be also used to play standard 2 min cylinders. I wrote a short article about this in Ron Dethlefson's Concert Cylinder book. Somewhere I also have an R weight that someone bent to create basically a Model J reproducer. It did not look as nice as yours, and didn't have any modification to the "R" stamp.

Mike Sorter
Riverside, CA