Looking for information- Melodius Upright

[dg001]

Hi all, 

I have an upright phonograph that I'm having trouble finding information on. This was a piece from my grandfather and has been broken for the last 40 years or so. I took it apart and repaired the double clockspring mechanism, regreased and reassembled the geartrain, and got things working again there. The head spring is not adjusted correctly and there are two rotary slipjoints that I'm also not sure how they should be positioned or when they should be adjusted. (Total vinyl newbie) I'm aware that the drum head probably needs resealing as well. It's a variable speed unit with a dial adjuster for 70 to 100. I assume this takes the one-use steel needles. I found two in the workings when I took it apart. 

 

The manufacturer appears to be the Melodius Phonograph Corporation of Newark, NJ. Cursory google searches don't turn up much. Is this an off-brand cabinet? Anything else I should be aware of? Thanks for your time.

[phonogfp]

Welcome to the APS Forum!

 

Your Melodius phonograph falls into the category of what we collectors call "off brands" of the teens and twenties.  Starting around 1916, as many basic patents held by Victor and Columbia were expiring, enterprising businessmen were starting their own talking machine firms.  Most of the time, this involved having cabinets made up by a local furniture company or cabinet maker and ordering generic motors, tone arms, and other hardware from one of the several large companies that sprang up at around the same time.  These small off brand firms proliferated like weeds in the economic boom of the 1916-1921 period, but most quickly succumbed to the recession of the early 1920s.  There's no way of knowing how many of these small operations existed during the period, but research conducted by R.J. Wakeman suggests there were at least 450, and probably many more that couldn't afford to advertise beyond local newspapers.  Mr. Wakeman's article on "off-brand" phonographs is on our website in the "Introductory" category:

http://www.antiquephono.org/brand-talking-machines-r-j-wakeman/

 

The good news for owners like you is that your Melodius is undoubtedly a rare brand.  In the article I referenced above, it does not appear - - one of many virtually undocumented brands of this period.
 

The bad news is that, among off brands, "rarity is common."  There are so many of these off brands - - many undocumented - - that finding an off brand is relatively easy.  (Of course, finding a particular off brand can be almost impossible!)  Among collectors, there is only marginal interest in off brands unless the machine has something distinctive to offer, such as an unusually ornate or unusually-designed cabinet, unique mechanics, or a strange feature (one off brand used a real conch shell for a horn!).

 

If you are a new owner, I would highly recommend you read through the Introductory articles on our website (http://www.antiquephono.org/category/introductory/), particularly "Basic Antique Phonograph Operational Tips" and "Collecting Antique Phonographs."

 

If you can post pictures of what you mean by a "headspring" and a "rotary slipjoint," we can direct you.  It looks like you did a good job of cleaning and lubricating your motor.

 

I hope this is helpful.

 

George P. 

[dg001]

Thanks George, that was all incredibly helpful. I'm not concerned much about collectible value. The cabinet is missing the upper and lower front doors and the finish is in poor shape, so most of this is my own curiosity.

 

Apologies for the terminology mistakes. I'll try to correct them here. The tone arm has two rotary joints that allow angular adjustment of the soundbox. You can see in the first picture I posted that the soundbox is laid over at quite an angle. Adjustment of this (IE, should it be off-vertical ever? Why?) and the actual surface pressure that the steel needle should be exerting on the proper records are the two open questions I have even after reading through all the guides present on the website here. The spring in the back of the tone arm needs adjustment or replacement, I believe, and seems to not be tensioning the tone arm/soundbox properly. I can adjust it, but have no idea what I should be aiming for.

 

 

[phonogfp]

4 hours ago, dg001 said:

The tone arm has two rotary joints that allow angular adjustment of the soundbox. You can see in the first picture I posted that the soundbox is laid over at quite an angle. Adjustment of this (IE, should it be off-vertical ever? Why?) and the actual surface pressure that the steel needle should be exerting on the proper records are the two open questions I have even after reading through all the guides present on the website here. The spring in the back of the tone arm needs adjustment or replacement, I believe, and seems to not be tensioning the tone arm/soundbox properly. I can adjust it, but have no idea what I should be aiming for.

 

To play the common, laterally-recorded records made by Victor, Columbia, and hundreds of other companies, the diaphragm of your sound box should be perpendicular to the record's surface.  (in other words, vertical.)  Your tone arm and sound box were designed to play both laterally- and vertically-recorded discs, but the latter require a special sapphire ball stylus.  This interchangeability was the reason your sound box can be rotated on the tone arm.

 

Most tone arms in the acoustic period lack any needle/stylus pressure adjustment.  Those that do may have been an attempt to play the vertically-recorded discs better.  In any event, I wouldn't worry too much about it.  It probably wouldn't hurt to adjust the spring so that the least possible weight is on the needle - you probably won't hear any difference in sound.  It may be that the adjustabilty was more gimmick than anything else.

 

I hope this helps.

 

George P.

[dg001]

Many thanks, George!