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 Our collection contains more that just pianos and organs. We have 3 accustic phonographs. Accustic means that there is no electricity used for reproducing the sound which is recorded on the disk or cylinder. The amplification is done by either a horn (bell) or a mechanically driven paper cone, as in the case of the Pathe Actuelle.

The oldest phonograph in the collection is the Edison Amberola.

 

To the left is the Edison Amberola machine. The horn which amplifies the sound from the reproducer is enclosed in the bottom of the box. Above is a close-up showing the cylinder and the reproducer (silver), you can also see the end of the horn (black) attached to the reproducer. The reproducer travels from left to right across the cylinder.

Here is a sample of a cylinder record, being played on the Amberola. The song is the 1915 hit Good-bye Broadway, Hello France. I have made a small file which is one minute long, or there is also a large file, which is the entire song.

Another interesting phonograph in the collection is the Pathe Actuelle. This uses a mechanically driven speaker cone to reproduce the sound.


This is a fiber needle trimmer, see text below for information.