Re: Steampunk Looping with an Edison Phonograph?

[Ted Killian <tedkillian@charter.net>]

Hi there!

I have a working Victoria (wind-up record player) of similar vintage - 
1914.

My wife and I bought it at a farm sale in Indiana 38 years ago (along with 
a box of ancient 78s).

Ours also came with a box of spare needles.

I am sure that if you can research on Google and find out what info you 
can about your brand and model (there are all sorts of collectors out 
there, and these things really aren't all that rare).

Once you can determine your exact model it will become easier to locate 
spare parts (especially needles).

We live in such a consume and discard society these days . . . it is kind 
of interesting to think about old technologies that are 100 years old (as 
in the case of mine) and still function as designed. 

I never considered using mine for anything other than playing vintage 
records.

The tone arm is quite heavy and the needle would destroy the softer vinyl 
material of more modern LPs.

Good luck with yours. 

Best,

Ted


On Apr 9, 2014, at 7:53 AM, TripleOhNine <3x09@carlsonarts.com> wrote:

> Hey, everyone. 
> 
> Since I've moved to a new state and old stuff is really cheap here, I 
> bought an old Edison phonograph - Diamond Series from the 1920s. The 
> cool part is that it is crank wind-up motor powered, so no electricity!
> 
> However, you can also change the speed of the turntable, adjust the 
> volume, and so forth, so the thing is more flexible in function than I 
> had suspected at first. The motor still works, the turntable spins 
> quietly and on the level, and all of the controls operate, too. 
> 
> I tried playing one of the old records, but the old needle is completely 
> shot, but I want to try to experiment using alternatives to the needle 
> to produce sound. The old Edison records reproduced sound by up and down 
> vibration movement, but if I somehow put a modern stylus on there, I 
> think I could have a lot of fun. Or, who knows what else I could slap on 
> there to make music. 
> 
> I've been really intrigued by the whole steampunk style, and wondering 
> what steampunk music might be like. Maybe this is a step towards 
> figuring that out.
> 
> Peace and adventure,
> Michael Carlson