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Blue Amberol Cylinders with a Pathé phonograph....?

Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2011 11:36 am
by NanoNet
Hello; could I play blue Amberol Cylinders with a Pathé Model O Democratic..
a Pathé Coquete...any othe Pathé Model.? I thank you all.

Re: Blue Amberol Cylinders with a Pathé phonograph....?

Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2011 1:36 pm
by VintageTechnologies
All of the Pathé phonographs that I have seen were designed to play 2 minute cylinders whose groove pitch is 100 threads per inch. I don't know if any Pathés were designed to also play 4 minute records, but to do so, they would have to be geared to move the reproducer carriage at 200 threads per inch. You would also need a smaller sapphire stylus to fit the smaller grooves.

Re: Blue Amberol Cylinders with a Pathé phonograph....?

Posted: Sat Dec 10, 2011 2:41 am
by NanoNet
Thanks a lot for your answer.Here in Europe is quite easy to find Pathés Machines,and as I´m been buying blue amberols I was thinking to hear them with a Pathé model. Thanks again.............

Re: Blue Amberol Cylinders with a Pathé phonograph....?

Posted: Sat Dec 10, 2011 3:05 am
by Valecnik
Nanonet, You probably already know this but it's not so difficult to find Edison 2/4 minute machines or table top Amberolas here in Europe on which you would be able to play your blue amberols.

Re: Blue Amberol Cylinders with a Pathé phonograph....?

Posted: Sat Dec 10, 2011 3:29 am
by gramophoneshane
As far as I'm aware, Pathé stopped producing cylinders for retail sale in favour of discs sometime in 1906, before 4M cylinders were released, so I very much doubt they would have bothered making an upgrade kit for their machines to play someone elses cylinders.
There may have been such a kit produced in France by some unrelated manufacturer I guess, but if there was, I've never seen or heard of one before, and if such a convertion ever did exist, they must be rarer than hens teeth.
Pathé did make "Celeste" cylinders that ran for 4 minutes, but these were the same diametre as Edisons big Concert cylinders, except they were 8 ½" long- almost twice the length of a normal Concert, and still cut at 100TPI.