My Favorite Activity

Edison once said, “If we did all the things we are capable of, we would literally astound ourselves.” I find this to be true in everything that I do, especially when it comes to servicing my own Edison phonographs. By working on these antique wind-up phonographs, I have not only learned a wealth of knowledge about how to service them, but also found tricks of the trade that most people wouldn’t know about, such as how to clean and care for the old quarter inch thick records. I know the chemical compounds that were used in the production of these old records to be a mixture of phenol and a wood flour core mixture. Water must never be applied to these old thick records or else it will ruin them as I have discovered first hand.
I have also learned how to care for the fragile black wax cylinders and how to arrest mold from doing further damage by dusting the record surface with baking soda, then brushing away the excess with a soft bristle brush. I also know the chemical compounds of a black wax cylinder to be comprised of; Carnauba wax, Ceresin, and “Carbon” lamp black (soot collected from a coal oil lamp) just to name a few. For years I had to study Thomas Edison’s journals and submitted patent ideas in order to gain insight on how to be a better phonograph repair person.
Edison was not only a prolific inventor for his times, but also a very astounding man as well. It amazed me how a man who was extremely hard of hearing could go on to produce the phonograph starting with his first invention in 1877 with the tin foil phonograph. From there he perfected the phonograph as it went through several incarnations, and with the help of his assistants he created one of the first commercially viable wax cylinder phonographs that also included a class M motor that ran on a Grenet cell (wet battery) setup, so people wouldn’t have to hand crank the machine to hear a two minute record.
Edison may have astounded his competitors as well. To compete with the likes of Columbia Graphophone, Edison produced the four minute Amberola phonograph. A few of these early phonographs still exist today in museums and in personal phonograph collections such as mine, for example. What made the Amberol cylinder different was that the blue celluloid and camphor record surface was touted as being more durable than that of its competitors. However, the inner core of a four minute Amberola cylinder was made of plaster that has become extremely fragile by today’s standards.
Still, the sound quality in comparison to what else I have heard by other different phonograph makers is distinct and projects loud. When the disc phonograph started to push aside this format, Edison was at first reluctant to create a disc phonograph because he felt that cylinders would remain in popularity with the public. As the demand for the disc phonograph steadily devoured all other formats, Edison had no choice but to design the first “Diamond Disc Phonograph”. Once again, Edison prevailed by improving upon his previous design. Interestingly, he never liked to refer to his records as “records.” He called them re-creations because they closely duplicated the living artists as though they were right there in the room singing. “Diamond Disc” was a term to reference the fact that these thick records only played with a diamond stylus. Yes, a real diamond, which makes repair work on an Edison Diamond disc reproducer difficult since there aren’t very many individuals left today making a diamond stylus for these particular phonographs.
What I like best about the Edison Diamond Disc phonograph is the sound. The sound quality from these phonographs are baritone and pleasant. I loved the music so much that I had begun to think to myself, How to do I place it onto a CD or that of a cassette tape? The process was pure trial and error, but as I went on I literally astounded myself as I used Windows Movie Maker program on my Windows ME version on my old computer. By situating the microphone inside of the cabinet, I was then able to record these old songs into my computer and burn a CD of the songs. It was not uncommon for me to record twenty-two songs and pack everything away by five in the morning. The recording sessions are slow, but so much fun.
Thomas Edison proved his point again and again as he continued to astound the world with his amazing inventions, especially that of the phonograph. Through the inventions he left behind he has been one of the people that has inspired me the most. Thomas Edison was a genius and truly earned his title of The wizard of Menlo Park.


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