The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Hi all,
Have not been on the forum for quite a while. Been doing a lot of metal detecting so my phonographs were put on the back burner. However got the bug again since it’s a frozen mess out there and I bid on and won a Talk-O-Phone last night at a local auction. Never owned one but this one is in exceptional condition except for a broken mainspring. Looking forward to replacing it and hearing it sing again. The horn only has one small dent but has blackish tarnish spots. Would you clean them, is yes how or leave it as it is?

Nice looking machine. If mine probably would polish up the horn. If it had an even patina without the blemishes would most likely leave it as is. What is the length of the horn and bell diameter?

Horn is 29” with a 13 ½ bell diameter. I am leaning towards polishing the horn although not sure how to do it without leaving polish marks

Take the horn to a local music store or find out who repairs band instruments locally and take it to them (likely the same person the music store uses).

Thank you for the horn dimensions. Have the same size horn on a Talk o Phone Clarke but was never totally convinced it was an original Talk o Phone horn given that I have never seen that size horn offered by Talk O Phone. Looks great and prefer the size to that of the rather large bell horn seen in Talk O Phone adds. Have used Simichrome and Mothers metal polish on brass horns. These paste do not have pumice on them so do not scratch. Also use the paste with supper fine steel wool to get the tough spots out. Grade #0000 or finer, nothing coarse than that. Not to hard to do the outside of the horn. A little harder to get way down the horn neck. Can usually find these products at an auto parts store.

Kevin Clark wrote: Fri Dec 12, 2025 2:19 pm Thank you for the horn dimensions. Have the same size horn on a Talk o Phone Clarke but was never totally convinced it was an original Talk o Phone horn given that I have never seen that size horn offered by Talk O Phone. Looks great and prefer the size to that of the rather large bell horn seen in Talk O Phone adds. Have used Simichrome and Mothers metal polish on brass horns. These paste do not have pumice on them so do not scratch. Also use the paste with supper fine steel wool to get the tough spots out. Grade #0000 or finer, nothing coarse than that. Not to hard to do the outside of the horn. A little harder to get way down the horn neck. Can usually find these products at an auto parts store.

So since you have a talk o phone are you familiar with how to remove the spring barrels? I didn’t look too closely but a quick look and did not see how the shaft was held in.

Will need to remove the motor from the case. You will find bolts that hold the spring barrel retaining bracket. Remove the bracket and the spring barrel assembly can be removed. Very similar to that of a bevel gear Victor motor. Single or double spring motor? All Talk o phone motors set up the same. Bolt heads not visible until the motor is removed.

Kevin Clark wrote: Sun Dec 14, 2025 1:05 pm Will need to remove the motor from the case. You will find bolts that hold the spring barrel retaining bracket. Remove the bracket and the spring barrel assembly can be removed. Very similar to that of a bevel gear Victor motor. Single or double spring motor? All Talk o phone motors set up the same. Bolt heads not visible until the motor is removed.

Gotcha thanks. It’s a double spring

I would also polish the horn by hand. In the UK we still have Brasso with ammonia which works wonders when used with a soft cloth. No polishing marks are left.

I would NEVER USE STEEL WOOL on a metal horn.

My Sousa came with a very dull, largest size witches hat horn which had some patchy marks on it. They've all long been hand polished out but after 10 years it's all looking very dull again. This just proves that you can't go wrong either way! Polishing isn't permanent.

Was wondering how long it would take for someone to post, never use steel wool on a metal horn. As a general rule of thumb this is correct. When using just paste the discoloration spots can be very difficult to remove, plus the additional rubbing on the horn puts additional stress on it. Earlier this year I used 0000# steel wool and mothers metal polish on a repro Zonophone horn that had a very heavy patina, discoloration and some sort of crud on it. A final polish with just the paste and a soft cloth gave me a result I was happy with, at least to my eye. Hard to really see in the photos if there are any scratches from the steel wool. Under magnification one most likely will find something but by the naked eye looks to have a nice polish. The elbow turned out to be copper but looked to be brass with the same heavy patina as the rest of the horn. Can see some fine polishing marks on the inside of the bell but can polish it out better with just the paste. So yes steel wool is not generally recommended but can provide good results if done with the right grade of steel wool, polishing paste and effort.