[Phono-L] Living Pictures
Bruce, Here's a link to the wiki page on Living Pictures: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tableau_vivant It was a fascinating read. See if you can find a copy of *Stars and Stripes Forever* with Clifton Webb and Robert Wagner. If you can't I'll loan you mine. There's a perfect presentation of Living Pictures in it. ;-) Phonographically, John B.
[Phono-L] Living Pictures
Folks, I'm with Loran and Andy. I think the song title may refer to exhibitions of actor reproductions of famous works of art. *Music Man* comes to mind as well as *Stars and Stripes Forever* by Twentieth Century-Fox. There is a enjoyable scene in a Burlesque Theatre. I found a bit on-line referring to these as* *Tableaux vivants. They have a very long history I find, both legitimate and risque. Phonographically Yours, John B.
[Phono-L] Phono-L No More E-Bay Pranks
Gents, Bob, you're right E-bay doesn't care about you...or me or Tom, Dick or Harry, but they do care about all of us together. That's the only way to make a difference-a large (and noisy enough block of buyers and sellers need to make their feelings known. Yes they have gotten to big and complacent. I agree with Douglas-it's the middle management bookkeeper types who are trying to squeeze every penny out the clientele. That seems to be S.O.P. these days. They seem to have forgotten lower price per unit means more units sold, means more profit! Yes the buyers are the key, we need to at least begin looking for options, the sellers will follow. The antique hobbies are now a smaller part of E-Bay than they once were. They know that too, just look at their advertising. That could be an opportunity for us. But Tim you can't compare them to the old Ma Bell, The old Telephone Company provided us with the best telephone service in the world. So if we phono-nuts all leave and find a new viable option and E-Bay stays the same-so what, good for them! We at least won't need to deal with them. Norman, I'm with you, I don't really have to many other options myself. Without E-Bay I wouldn't have one tenth of what I have phonographic-wise without it. I couldn't do without as things stand right now. Brantley, I too have met some very good people through E-Bay so it's not all bad, if it was I'd be gone, but it's up to the clientele to force the issue. To paraphrase-We get the E-bay we deserve Regards, John B.
[Phono-L] More Ebay Pranks
I just finally joined PayPal after over four years on the 'Bay with very very few problems.I'm into my second Paypal transaction and I having trouble already. GR! I had to open a special bank account for the damnable thing. The E-Bay rep. I spoke with last week informed me the change is supposed to make E-Bay safer and troubel free. He claimed nearly all the payment/damaged-not as described disputed arose from money order, check or cash transactions. I was calling to complain about a seller who will not refund my money for a broken record so he tried to use my complaint to convince me of the benefits of the change rather than help me with my issue. (Which is still unresolved!, I'd love to give you all the name of the seller in question...) I think everyone who uses E-Bay should call or e-mail them to tell them they need to retain the non-electronic option, even if you don't use it, options are a good thing. ;-) Regards, John B.
[Phono-L] Patching Pot Metal Reproducer
Gents, I'm attempting to rebuilt a generic sound-box from a Berg Artone portable phonograph. The potmetal shell parts are still solid but showing numerous cracks and the supports for the needle-bar have cracks dangerously close to the screw holes. I had planned on filling the cracks with JB Weld, any opinions, ideas? I need a flat rubber gasket material as well, any ideas where I could locate such a beast? Finally I was unable to melt the solder holding the needle-bar to the diaphagm, which appears to be copper or copper-plated, it seems to be a lump of solder holding a small nut in place to the front of the diaphragm. The needle-bar appears to unscrew from the diaphragm, an earlier repair possibly? Any tips would be most appreciated. Regards, John B.
[Phono-L] Vienna In The Thirties
Folks, I've been asked an interesting question by a fellow YouTube member who's researching a book she's writing. I have posted this question few other places-my apologies if you seen it elsewhere as well. ... [W]hat [would] urban, somewhat sophisticated middle-class Europeans... have in their homes in the 1930s. Would some people have stand-alone Victrolas and others still be hanging on to the lovely art nouveau flower-shaped horn gramophones that came out early in the century? What would be the most common or average phonograph owned by an upper middle class family or person in Europe, specifically Vienna in the thirties? Specifically, she is looking for what music was popular in middle-class (Jewish) Viennese homes from about 1932-38, and even more specifically, 1935-38. She's also asked the following-a bit off topic I know, but I thought I'd forward it as well: Here's some more questions for your international circle: I know that February was a month of many fancy dress balls in Vienna. I'd love to know what music was likely to be danced to during the dates above--polkas, waltzes, popular music? Would this be a live orchestra/band or records? And finally, if there are any fashion folks in the know, what what people have worn?? Another part of her question is; would they be winding or plugging into the wall? I wonder if there would many wall outlets at all? (I did tell her that the term Victrola wasn't used in Europe.) Thank you all. Regards, John From lhera...@bu.edu Wed Feb 13 08:20:41 2008 From: lhera...@bu.edu (Ron L) Date: Wed Feb 13 08:27:22 2008 Subject: [Phono-L] American Scientist Online Article Message-ID: 10473166.1202919641550.javamail.re...@localhost Ron L thought you might be interested in this article from American Scienti= st Online.=20 Found it. Our Edison fans will like this. -Article Starts-- Published in American Scientist:=20 Vist http://www.americanscientist.org/template/AssetDetail/assetid/56694 to= view the article with illustrations Edison's Final Revenge David Schneider The story of how our nation did away with gas lamps and adopted electrification has been told many times. And why not? It's a dramatic tale, with the larger-than-life Thomas Edison fighting for the direct-current (DC) system he had built to power his light bulbs and electric motors, while George Westinghouse championed the more sophisticated alternating-current (AC) approach that Nikola Tesla had devised. That Westinghouse's forces won this War of the Currents very early in the 20th century is no surprise. The voltage of AC could be easily transformed, allowing long-distance power transmission by virtue of the fact that electricity sent at high voltage (and correspondingly low current) suffers very little loss in the wires. Edison's DC system, by contrast, required that the generating station be located within a mile or so of where the electricity was to be used. Though far less practical than the AC distribution system that soon supplanted it, Edison's DC system did not die immediately. The power utility that serves Manhattan, Consolidated Edison, continued for decades to offer DC power to those who needed it--say, to operate ancient DC motors in old elevator machine rooms. But Con Ed had been urging such customers to switch to AC and, as of last November, it ceased supplying DC power altogether. So Edison's brainchild, a system of distributing electrical power as DC to equipment located just a short distance away from the generator, is now completely dead--or is it? In fact, Edison's concept is alive and well, particularly among people who manage data centers. These facilities, which might belong for example to an Internet service provider, typically contain racks of furiously cooled file servers, which are set up to operate through short power outages. These computers can continue to run because they are not directly connected to the grid. Rather, they are fed by uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), which contain batteries that are continuously being charged off the grid. When the lights go out elsewhere, the file servers draw their power from the center's many UPS batteries. But batteries are DC devices. And file servers, like the computer that sits on your desk, normally run on AC. So a number of conversions have to take place: from the AC that the grid provides to DC to charge the UPS batteries and then back to AC for the various servers. Actually, the situation is even worse than that, because the output of the kinds of UPS systems found in data centers is typically transformed to a lower voltage before it is sent to the many computers. And within those computers, that AC is converted to DC, and that DC is converted yet again to low-voltage DC, at least once if not twice. So there can easily be five or six power conversions between the grid and the circuitry that's actually doing the computing work. The inefficiencies of each of these
[Phono-L] Portables
Bob, I agree, Birches and similar are a step down from the top of the line machines. I will add on to my collection someday, if I find one cheap enough. I am surprised they sell so well on E-Bay though. Art, I've seen those Columbia 140s with the lid horn an louvers. Really neat. How does it sound? Somebody really wanted that Carryola (?) Keith, I haven't yet had a chance to compare the HMV 101 102. I would imagine the 102 would have a leg up on the 101 due to the Ortho-type Sound-Box, yet I've heard of collector who prefer the 101. I'm hoping to get to do a direct comparison in the near future. If only other portable manufacturers had copied HMV's handle design! I'm a fan of the HMV No.4 Sound-Box, yet some say it's the worst reproducer Victor/HMV ever offered. I use an HMV No.4 on my VV-X. I replaced the gaskets (Same as VTMCo. Exhibition tubing) today and put a few drops of oil on the needle bar pivots. This is my first reproducer rebuild-I don't know if I did it right or not, but I was blown away by the sound. LOUD and crisp sound about the same as the HMV 101. Regards, John B. From gack...@earthlink.net Wed Feb 6 17:44:37 2008 From: gack...@earthlink.net (Gregory Acker) Date: Wed Feb 6 17:52:18 2008 Subject: [Phono-L] Portable Phonograph Message-ID: a431aae314ae8076488cfd39b88f5...@earthlink.net I have had 30+ portables over the years - the one that I like the best and I think has the best sound is a VV 2-60 with the Victrola 4 reproducer. It really sounds good on 1930's electric recordings. Greg Acker
[Phono-L] Deutsche Grammophon HMV101 Variant
Folks, I recently acquired a Deutsche Grammophon portable very similar to an HMV 101. The motor-board is painted wood with a plate which reads: Grammophon - Niederlage JOHANN ARLETT Geriohtlich Beeid Sachvarst?ndiger F?r Die Erzeugung Von Sprachmaschinen U. Platten WEIN, VII Kirchengasse 15 It is cover in a very thin cloth backed black leatherette type of material. The tone-arm is very similar to the HMV 101, but doesn't stow like it, it has a clip at it's base to hold it when stowed. It has a Polydor 28 motor. I can't seem to find anything on the 'net regarding DG phonographs. Any help/info would be most appreciated. Below is a link-which I hope will lead to a photo of it on Photobucket. I hope that's alright? http://s143.photobucket.com/albums/r126/steamerpunk/?action=viewcurrent=DG-12.jpg I have asked a few other on-line sources-sorry if you've read about this one already. I have gotten an excellent translation of the plaque and some information on Johann Arlett. I'm hoping someone here has some knowledge of D-G portables, model. years of production, etc. I'd also like an idea of rarity-so I can get an idea of what level of restoration I should undertake. Thank you in advance for any help. Regards, John B. From rich-m...@octoxol.com Mon Feb 4 18:00:38 2008 From: rich-m...@octoxol.com (Rich) Date: Mon Feb 4 18:01:02 2008 Subject: [Phono-L] Idelia on eBay In-Reply-To: 20080204.191024.3560.44.msprin...@juno.com References: 20080204.191024.3560.44.msprin...@juno.com Message-ID: 47a7c346.3080...@octoxol.com You have no idea what phonogalerie had placed as a maximum. All you know is what the max bid of h***9 was and that phonogalerie met the ebay minimum increment for the increase. There is nothing strange here. This is the normal bidding behavior of the single FB digit midget bidder. They just keep sending the boy out to bid. Merle Sprinzen wrote: Item number 200195851628. I'm very suspicious about the bidding pattern. Looks like h**9 stopped at just the time he knew the winner had maxed out his bid. This is exactly the reason I use esnipe to place my bids. On Mon, 4 Feb 2008 09:40:16 -0800 Peter Fraser pjfra...@alamedanet.net writes: Missed that! Does anyone have the item number? Sent from my iPhone -- Peter pjfra...@mac.com On Feb 4, 2008, at 9:07 AM, wilenz...@bellsouth.net wrote: Guess y'all saw that the Idelia on eBay sold for $31,100. Nice machine and price, but not quite as nice as the one Guido sold just two years ago this month for $41,100. The market may be soft, but rare machines are doing ok, as always. Ray ___ Phono-L mailing list http://phono-l.oldcrank.org ___ Phono-L mailing list http://phono-l.oldcrank.org ___ Phono-L mailing list http://phono-l.oldcrank.org From rvu...@comcast.net Mon Feb 4 18:06:07 2008 From: rvu...@comcast.net (Bob) Date: Mon Feb 4 18:06:22 2008 Subject: [Phono-L] Triumph on eBay References: blu112-w2109b60a0897f74ad8d778dc...@phx.gbl Message-ID: 001601c8679b$acdf3440$6500a...@your4dacd0ea75 Can you tell us the item number so we can do a search and see it? - Original Message - From: John Maeder appywan...@hotmail.com To: phono-l@oldcrank.org Sent: Monday, February 04, 2008 7:07 PM Subject: [Phono-L] Triumph on eBay Last night I told my wife that while everyone was watching the Superbowl (I'm not a sports fan), I was going shopping on eBay. In my search, I found a magnificent unrestored but clean Model F Triumph that had been listed just a short time earlier. It had an oak cygnet horn, O reproducer, and sat on its original drawer-front cylinder cabinet with carved claw feet that was chock full of assorted cylinders. I saw at least one maroon opera box in a photo of one of the open drawers. Something highly unusual . . . the umbrella signature/Trade Mark decal that is typically on the front carriage support casting was instead affixed to the rear casting! The whole shooting match had a Buy It Now of $3500. I told my wife I was buying something on eBay. She asked, What? I replied, I'll tell you as soon as I hit the Buy It Now button. I hit the button, the page reloaded and . . . I wasn't the buyer!!! Someone else must have hit it a second ahead of me. It took me a couple of hours to get over my disappointment. Did anyone happen to see that beautiful Triumph? The seller was unwilling to ship, so on the bright side, it saved me a trip to New Jersey!John ___ Phono-L mailing list http://phono-l.oldcrank.org
[Phono-L] Columbia 611
Ron, How do? I hope I'm doing this right. Yes the Viva-tonals had a semi auto brake-or at least some of the portables did. I have a 163. I can send along some photos if you like. Good luck with it. Regards, John B. Hi gang, I've just become the owner of this little cutie and have a couple of questions for the group. Did any Columbia Viva-tonal machines have an auto or semi-auto brake? Is the 611 supposed to have one? What is the finish on these machines, lacquer or shellac? It looks like lacquer to me. I've already dismantled the tone arm to grease/seal joints which improved the sound already. I want to rebuild the reproducer. I think it is leaking and it looks like the gaskets are cracked and dry. Anything I should look out for? Thanks. Ron L -- ___ Phono-L mailing list http://phono-l.oldcrank.org End of Phono-L Digest, Vol 4, Issue 232 *** From lhera...@bu.edu Sun Sep 23 17:22:39 2007 From: lhera...@bu.edu (Ron L'Herault) Date: Sun Sep 23 17:26:58 2007 Subject: [Phono-L] Columbia 611 In-Reply-To: 3c7aed05070910m5b746e3ep78ec7d288d54a...@mail.gmail.com Message-ID: 000501c7fe41$080fc8d0$2f01a...@ronlherault You did just fine, John. I haven't figured out how a brake might work. There is nothing on or under the tone arm to trigger a brake. I don't think this little upright had one. Ron L -Original Message- From: phono-l-boun...@oldcrank.org [mailto:phono-l-boun...@oldcrank.org] On Behalf Of J.F. Bennett Sent: Sunday, September 23, 2007 1:10 AM To: phono-l@oldcrank.org Subject: [Phono-L] Columbia 611 Ron, How do? I hope I'm doing this right. Yes the Viva-tonals had a semi auto brake-or at least some of the portables did. I have a 163. I can send along some photos if you like. Good luck with it. Regards, John B. Hi gang, I've just become the owner of this little cutie and have a couple of questions for the group. Did any Columbia Viva-tonal machines have an auto or semi-auto brake? Is the 611 supposed to have one? What is the finish on these machines, lacquer or shellac? It looks like lacquer to me. I've already dismantled the tone arm to grease/seal joints which improved the sound already. I want to rebuild the reproducer. I think it is leaking and it looks like the gaskets are cracked and dry. Anything I should look out for? Thanks. Ron L -- ___ Phono-L mailing list http://phono-l.oldcrank.org End of Phono-L Digest, Vol 4, Issue 232 *** ___ Phono-L mailing list http://phono-l.oldcrank.org
