Phonoland

Hello all, well after about a year, and some technical difficulties loggin on, especially after phonoland changed servers, and revamped itself. I am finally able to be back on here again.

Paul

Welcome back!!!!!!!! Sorry to hear that our change of host caused some techtroubles! (cache problems?) anyway, glad to see you are back.

Welcome back

Thanks guys. Actually, evevrytime I tired to log on, it told my either my user name or password was incorrect, and had used up all of my log in attempts. However now, everything is fine.

Hi Edison Fan,
Maybe you can help me out. I have a Thomas Edison Gem phonograph in good condition it needs some parts like a horn, needle ect. It works but I don't no what I should ask for it can you help me out. Thank You Evie

Hi Eveia,

Normally a Gem would go for about $450.00-500, if it's complete. However, since yours needs parts, I would suggest, between $75.00-200. If it were complete, then it would be worth more, but since it's not, it's not worth a whole lot. Most collectors, are looking for a complete machine, unless of course they went to restore it.


paul

Eveia,
The first thing you'll need to do is identify which model Gem you have, as there were quite a few. The earliest Gems from 1899 are known as Drip-Pan Gems, because they had no wooden base board or lid but came with a small metal tray which sat under the machine to catch any oil that dripped from the motor.
The second model included a wooden base & lid, and used a reproducer (the part that the horn attaches to & holds the needle/stylus) which was a unique design specifically for that model, and I believe this particular reproducer is fairly hard to obtain. The third style Gem replaced this reproducer with the same standard reproducer used on all other models at the time.
Even though these 3 machines were different, they were all called a Model A Gem.
In 1905 the Model B range was introduced with slight mechanical changes to the machine, and the Model C was introduced in 1908.
Then in 1909, the Model D underwent more changes, and the most noticable of these was a change in colour from black to maroon.
Further models from this time were also maroon.

The best way to identify which model you have, would be to take a few pictures of the machine and post them here.
Unfortunately identifying the model by using the serial numbers isn't possible at the present time, as the information is in private hands, and has not been made public.
To upload pictures, you'll have to open an account at one of the free hosting sites like imageshack or boxnet. Or if it's easier, you could send pictures via email to either myself or Paul, and we could upload them here for you.
This would also help us identify which parts may be missing, and perhaps suggest a source for replacements.
If you get stuck, just give as a holler through the message system here

Ooo! That's a good idea Shane, thankes for mentioning that.