Hi All ~ I just acquired an Edison A-250, with the relatively low s.n. of 1429. This machine was given to me by its owner, who is moving to Mexico and clearing out his storage here in Santa Fe. While out of town some time back, he hired someone to move some of his things to a storage unit, and the A-250 was moved carelessly (I should say recklessly), either on its back or allowed to fall backward, with no regard to securing anything under the lid.
As a result, the heavy motorboard assembly tipped out during transit, swinging on its pivot pins with enough force to mash the turntable into the underside of the lid. It's easy to reconstruct this event by observing the gouged paint on the right surface of the motor board (in the shape of the t.t. rim), and the bent spindle shaft. There's corresponding damage to the underside of the lid that has ground through the first thick layer of veneer. Other damage includes the total destruction of the grill, missing crank, and of course the reproducer has a sheared diamond, broken link and bent limit pin. The upper part of the horn elbow was bent to the side by the force of the motor board against it. Miraculously, the cabinet on the whole was mostly spared, with no dings at all to the vulnerable front pillars, and only superficial damage to the finish. It appears that when it finally reached the storage unit, it was probably dropped hard enough on its bottom to shear off the left front caster along with the outer half of the carved detail. Fortunately, although the grill and crank were somehow lost, this broken portion of leg, which is about six inches long, was not (lost), and all the rest of the carved details are perfect. I was fortunate in being able to make a clean repair of the leg last night and the cabinet now looks and sits as it should, which makes me very happy. Here's my inquiry (I may have one or two more as I learn more): Once I had it safely home, carefully cleaned and reconstructed (I removed the motor board, surrounds, turntable and reproducer before transporting), I noticed a few things that make this A-250 different from my other A-250 that I've had for several years. The most obvious difference (which I spotted when I first saw the machine at the storage unit) is that the start/stop lever arrangement is different from any I've seen: The turntable stop can be activated to manually start as well as stop by a single lever with a round knob; and the stop lever, though separate, is smaller than the one on my later (s.n. 13417) A-250. Also, the stop lever is not adjustable with the familiar lock-down screw under the turntable, and the "finger" on the lift post is a separate piece, mounted with a snug swivel, making it a user-adjustable stop (as opposed to a rigid finger). This allows the user to easily preset the stop according to the end of the playing area on each disc, if desired. All of this hardware is gold-plated, and appears to be factory, so I assume its an early, perhaps first, version of the D.D. control levers. I'd love to know if any of you with more experience can tell me when this lever arrangement was abandoned. The other differences that I noticed during the cleaning are: 1) The keyhole trim is different from my later A-250, being nearly flush and fitted within the millwork of the keyholes, as opposed to being affixed to the surface only, with two small round-head gold pins through round upper and lower rings, as found on the later machine. 2) The veneer on the sides is a richer grain, and in one piece (my later A-250 has the side veneer in two sections). 3) The inside of the horn compartment has a high-class factory finish which is as smooth and shiny as the drawer fronts and inside of the door. 4) There are two pivoting oil hole covers in view (with the turntable installed), whereas the later machine has one. 5) The veneer is noticeably thicker (based on chips at the bottom of the back panel near the base of the machine). All in all, this cabinet appears to be higher grade and I wonder if it may have been produced by a different cabinet maker. I'm not aware of any documented cabinet cheapening as early as the (possibly) November-December 1914 origin of my newer A-250, but clearly the one just acquired appears to be superior. This find excites me, as I've had a passion for the Edison Disc machines since I was 12 (I'm 45 now), and am especially fascinated by their early development and introduction. I would love to know more about whether any of you have noticed these comparative details, and whether its possible to date this machine by these details. As near as I can tell, this would be a late 1912 - early 1913 machine? According to Frow, the first requisition of the A-250 numbered some 3,600 (Frow Chapter 2 "Early Days", footnote 28). This would make my new A-250, s.n. 1429, part of this first order? Any and all insights would be most welcome. Best regards to all, Andy Baron
