Hi Arvin,
I have several color photos of a Columbia 950 that show the electronic
chassis. I can email them to you if they would be of any value. Contact me
if you're interested.
Greg Bogantz
----- Original Message -----
From: "Arvin Casas" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, April 08, 2013 8:46 AM
Subject: [Phono-L] Columbia-Kolster 950 - Radio Phonograph Combination
Hi All,
I recently picked up a Columbia-Kolster 950, a "Radio - Phonograph
Combination" piece embedded inside a secretary (i.e., a desk - not a
human!). It seems to have been bouncing about for some time in my region
(New England) before I rescued it from an oddly forgetful seller's
disgruntled girlfriend (a very unnecessarily long story).
The desk as furniture is rather nice - it's a traditional secretary with a
built in hutch above. The secret of this secretary is the main drawer
which actually holds the phonograph. From what I can gather the
industrial looking GE motor is intact, as well as all the wires -
involving the motor and the electric pickup (with its volume knob in
place). I only brought it home Saturday evening and have yet to truly get
inside things.
Sadly the phonograph is all that remains of this unit. All during the
courtship process of buying, the seller insisted that "everything was
intact" including the amplifier and speaker, yet admitted that "I don't
know anything about these things." As you would predict with such kinds
of hyperbolic, bi-polar sales pitches, this was not the case. I noticed
quite loudly upon inspecting the piece in the freezer-cold room of the
storage facility, that these two key components were nowhere to be found.
The disgruntled girlfriend, who had been roused from sleep to meet us
after the appointment had been forgotten by the seller, was happy to let
us cart it away for a fair, adjusted sum.
If I can get the phonograph working again on its own, I may try connecting
the pickup wires to an amplifier. Ideally, but perhaps with less
probability of success, I would love to restore this to something close to
the original (if not the original itself). Does anyone here know what
once lived north of the phonograph in these late 1920's hybrids ? All I
have is an empty cupboard, so to speak, so I don't even have a visual
reference of what was once there. Is it possible to approximate the
original via Kolster radio components of the same specifications? If so,
what might those specs be?
Even if it sits idle as a desk I'm happy to have it. I feel like it's a
nice "bridge" piece to have in my Columbia collection, between the worlds
of mechanical and electric.
Thanks,
Arvin
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