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Does anyone have a Mag-Ni-Phone phonograph in their collection? I need an actual photo of the machine posted with a clear shot of the tonearm. (not the magazine ad) I just found a Mag-Ni-Phone but it is missing the entire tonearm and reproducer assy. It's a very cool ½ metal (fake wood) and ½ real wood single spring talking machine. I attached a photo of a very old Salem Beer "tip tray" which was also made by the Charles W Shonk Co.(lithographer) Chicago circa 1891. This machine dates to 1916.
Thanks, Brian Keith

i think this pic comes from somwhere else on this forum but im not sure
anyway here it is (better late than never!) tino

That tone-arm is identical to those found on many cheap generic American portables including the Portelec (made for the US Army and Special Services units during WW2) made by Pacific Sound Equipment Co. of Hollywood California.

I had a spare until very recently but chucked it after it sat there for 9 years and I couldn't think of what to do with it! Oh well.....they are cheap and easy to find.

That is not the original arm for the mag ni phone, but since the originals seem to be missing in most cases I guess a substitute has to be found.

but since the originals seem to be missing in most cases

That's a pity. What is the reason for that?

Steve wrote:

but since the originals seem to be missing in most cases

That's a pity. What is the reason for that?

I've never seen one close up, but I think the arm had a drop-in fitting, probably to make it easier to pack. A lot of the earlier portables and cheap tabletop machines had removable arms. If I recall it was non-tapering with an adjustable reproducer to play lateral and vertical discs.

The correct arm is tubular, with a constant bore, fitted with a Union Metal die cast reproducer on a swivel which allows it to play both vertical and lateral records. The tone arm has a cross-pin which fits into a single slot on the tone arm base. This is a rather high friction arrangement, and combined with the poor needle point alignment of the short tone arm, it makes odor a machine which would wear records terribly.

The tone arms were made by Union Metal, of a very poor die cast alloy, ant they seldom if ever survive intact. the proportions and shape of these tone arms generally echo those of the Aeolian-Vocalion arms, though of course the Aeolian-Vocalian arms are much better built.


These machines were built in the Adrian MI plant of the Schronk company, a plant whcih had originally been built to make cartridges for the Allies during the Great War. The plant was later taken over by Arvin, and later by Addison Products. It ended its days as Addison plant where air conditioner condensers and evaporators were assembled for Addison's "Weather King" brand.

Here are pictures of an intact one, lifted from the victrolagramophones board http://victrolagramophones.proboards.co ... hread=736- it looks as if you could reproduce the arm by bending a copper pipe with a plumber's spring, but replacing the reproducer and base could be tricky.:

Is this where the term "shonky" comes from?

(No disrespect to any collectable or collector is intended!)

I've won a Mag Ni Phone complete with arm on Ebay & I'll post better pictures when it arrives: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mag-Ni-Phone-Ph ... true&rt=nc