The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Good day
I recently went to an auction and saw a abused Edison DD a100 amputee dumped in a corner. I crept over and took a look. The whole machine was painted bright red and it had enourmous dents all around the cabinet. I reached my hand deep behind the horn and pulled out a crank. The spring worked well with no bangs. I also found a 78 adaptor tucked in the back. I am working o the cabinet with now over 14 hours of stripping the paint and finish off. I would like to give this amputee some prosthetic legs I am asking for a proud a100 owner to please mesure the height of the legs from the main unit and the width etc... Some detailed pictures of the detail would be appreciated too. I know this is alot to ask but I would be very grateful for and help. Also does anyone know what the four holes about 1 ½ inches in from the base of the main unit on the wood are for?

Thanks,
Brad

Hmmm... So after 6 collectors advised you against buying this, you did what???

The 4 holes were originally used to secure the machine in its shipping crate.

I don't own this model, so I can't be of help regarding the legs. Good luck!

George P.

I gather that in addition to the hideous paint someone had lopped off the legs and lower shelf? How sad.

If it is of any help at all, "The Edison Disc Phonographs and the Diamond Discs," by Frow, shows a total original height of 41 ¾" for A-100s.

Clay

Looking at what I've found online, the cabinet design is pretty straightforward, and the legs and shelf could probably be recreated with not too much trouble, if you can find the appropriate veneer --





I've seen a few nice DD-100 cabinets sans parts turn up on eBay and Craigslist, over the years, so another option would be to use what you have to restore an "empty" model. Should be a fun project either way.

I'd suggest that instead of going to a lot of trouble to manufacture legs that you find an attractive period table to set it on. Edison made a "Chalet" table model which was pretty much the same as what you now own- maybe you could finish off your base in a like manner.

http://www.mulhollandpress.com/EdisonChalet.htm

While generally I agree with most of what was suggested to you, I do have a streak in me that wants to rescue things that are abused as well. I have restored rather successfully several machines that many would pass. Maybe its the fun of finding a bargain that with some work can be made presentable again? It really depends on your ability to take the machine back to close to what it was before it was so abused. I do agree having owned a couple of table model edisons as well, that this could be very simply made into one of those. From the models like this I have seen with their legs it seems that many are very wobbly which is not a plus when winding them. So as was suggested making a table model of it and having it on a stable top might be an advantage and still let you enjoy the music. That however is one of the draw backs to all the work here, the sound quality of the small horn is just not anywhere up to the quality that the larger machines had. I spent quite a bit of time on a london console I got mainly to buy the records, which turned out to be almost totally a waste. But after a lot of hard work I discovered that the sound was harsh at best. It will be interesting to see what you can do with this find.

I will probably try to make it into a table model. Appreciate all the help!

Reproduction grilles are available (I bought one on Ebay) but in this case you could design your own- authenticity isn't an issue. Woven cane work would be attractive.

I spent the day stripping and I am thinking of using a thin sheet of mahogany and using the jigsaw to cut out a design. I agree with how the authenticity is not an issue, but I would like to keep what is original not messed with, if you know what I mean. I might give it more of an ornate cut out, like on the more expensive models. Larryh's comment got me worried about the sound quality and the volume. Is the quality still enjoyable? If the volume is anywhere as loud as the Amberola 30, which is pretty quiet, I would be happy. Can anyone inform me of the volume. Thanks again.

Brad