Featured Edison Phonograph

Too funny! While the volume is not a problem, I am struggling to get the cylinder to rotate at proper speed once I lower the stylus. It seems the weight of the stylus is slowing the rotation. If I manually lift the stylus slightly, it sounds fine. Is it simply a matter of adjusting the screw on the left in photo? I do not want to overstep the bounds of my limited mechanical competence and damage the piece. Any ideas?

 

I'm curious...how big of a disc could the piece take? Is it possibly an operatic?

 

Hi Dawn. The antique phonograph society has been very accommodating and is walking me through the "calibration". Trust me.....they need a lot patience to do this with me via email! The model d is able to play both two and four minute cylinders but you need the right reproducer. Stay tuned as I continue to converge on the solution!

 

I have been to both the little Edison museum in Edison, NJ on his original shop site as well as the plant in West Orange, NJ many times and have seen many of these.
I have 'heard' that the horns alone can have exceptional prices depending upon certain factors.

 

Our horn is oak and worth a silly amount. I bought it through a lovely man in Florida who restores them to gorgeous

The thing about an operatic is that it can take a much longer music piece...they tend to be longer where the piece slides on. The discs are stupid expensive, but the players are even stupider All in a good way. I just wasn't seeing a stop for a four min record on yours.

 

That screw is your guide. You can't over do it or under do it...that's how we get the proper sound from ours. And we adjust based on each piece we play..sometimes it needs the pressure of being tighter and on the speeches it has to be looser. Loser? I must be spelling that wrong...less tight LOL

 

More loose.
Or less pressure.

 

this guy broke one very expensive one live on tv the look on the owners face is priceless lol go and watch it at youtube heehee

 

That is hilarious, especially recognizing that I broke two of these cylinders tonight. Fortunately, not one of a kind.

 

This isn't the right Mother In Law song, but it's pretty funny.

 

you've got yourself a trophy with that one , Edison anything means bucks , all i have it a wind up 1930's (not Edison) no horn portable 78 Sp player . value at about what you paid, at the very most , good find.

 

OH! I forgot to mention!
One block away from me is a boat repair shop.
One of the two owner/partners is Dave Edison....
YES! A relation!!!

 

It's up there in the same category heh heh

 

Going to be more careful at the in-laws this thanksgiving! Too funny.

I am bringing my edison phonograph to a resident expert tomorrow morning for a "tune-up", as well as maintenance lessons.

 

Just back from getting the phonograph "tuned-up". A little bit of oil, a few adjustments to a couple of screws and up and running perectly. Since he was about 90 minutes away, he was very accommodating and took care of everything while I waited, watched and learned. He only charged me $25 for his labor which is was slightly more than the gas that my car used! Additionally, I was pleased to hear him offer me $300 more than I paid, indicating that would afford him a comparable profit.

Happy to have retained this conversation piece.