Greetings Steve:
The Alva was made using a 2 minute Triumph B topworks with endgate, a 2-4
minute Triumph D topworks without the endgate, and the 2-4 Triumph E topworks
with the large horizontal carriage and deluxe O Reproducer done in brass or
iron with a brass top not made of potmetal. I have the first two models and
have seen the third. Since these paralleled the Triumph there is the
possibility that *a* Model C may have been made and that *a* Model G 4 minute
only may
have been made. The Alva machines were very few in number and I think that
the production count may have been less than 50 total. The serial numbers
are of little help since they are pulled out of the Triumph line. I would
have
bid to $25,000 on the eBay machine but there were too many incongruities
that left me with some nagging questions about it. My key question was never
answered by the seller so I bid as high as I felt comfortable.
Three distinct motors appeared on the Alva. The first was an Edison bipolar
open frame motor for a very short time until the Aluminum Edison motor came
along with the offset governor. The offset governor proved problematical so
the design was changed to the in-line governor which remained until the Alva
was dropped from production.
In all my years of collecting I have seen just 4 Alva machines and have only
heard of a couple more. I give the survival rate of the Edison Phonograph
to be around 10% of production as a rule of thumb. If I had heard of 100 Alva
machines I would think they made 1000 but that is not the case.
I would love to hear from anyone having an Alva off list.
[email protected]_ (mailto:[email protected])
Best wishes to the list,
Al
