1901 Columbia AB Grand Graphophone Cylinder Phonograph All A Beauty
Item History & Price
| Reference Number: Avaluer:4333899 |
Make sure to check out all of my auctions after you've looked at this one. I'm listing another top shelf assortment of mechanical, technical and musical antiques -- including three near mint, all original antique phonographs -- and I suspect that there will be something of interest to just about everybody. And if you're heading out on vacation and would like me to hold your purchase for a week or two until you return, I'll be happy to do that. Just let me know be...fore you remit payment if you need me to keep your item, and I'll send you a special invoice reflecting delayed shipping. Regardless of when you'd like to have the item shipped to you, all payments for purchases are due when the auction ends.
Here's a beautiful turn-of-the-century Columbia AB Grand Graphophone, Columbia's smallest 5" Concert cylinder player but arguably its most reliable, with a skeletal, open works mechanism based on the Columbia B, a sliding mandrel shaft, and dual mandrels that -- like Russian nesting dolls -- fit hand in glove and allow for the quick interchange of conventionally sized cylinders and huge 5" Concert cylinders.
Condition overall is excellent, and the ornate "gingerbread" trimmed cabinet is outstanding, with a pristine original finish and a nearly perfect original Graphophone decal. Like the Columbia BXP, the AB has highly polished nickel surfaces, and this example has Columbia nickel-plated governor weights as well. There's spot oxidation and pitting on the mirror-like surface of the bedplate, but I suspect that most if not all of this can be polished out with a bit of elbow grease and metal cleaner. Vertical surfaces are clean, the motor is strong, and the phonograph runs well regardless of what size cylinder is being played. Correct Columbia "heavy" floating reproducer, with curved feet for the lift lever. The reproducer has a good sapphire, a good diaphragm, and it sounds good too.
Concert mandrel fits snugly over the standard mandrel (see pictures) and the locking nut at the end of the mandrel shaft is original, like everything on the phonograph, including the Columbia aluminum horn, which is in outstanding condition, with no dents or damage. There are scattered scratches in the surface of the aluminum Concert mandrel, but this has no effect on the machine's performance.
I'll include two brown wax records with the phonograph -- a 2" standard cylinder and a 5" Concert cylinder. They're both in good shape, with scattered surface mold but good playing surfaces.
I've been selling and shipping antique phonographs, antique radios and antique scientific apparatus for more than 25 years. When you purchase an antique phonograph from me, you'll receive a phonograph that arrives safely because it's been carefully packed (by me, not by some well-intentioned but nonetheless confounded, doe-eyed teenager working at the UPS store who wouldn't know a phonograph from a farm tool), and you'll receive a phonograph that includes thorough but easy-to-understand set-up and operating instructions, so you won't be left scratching your head, trying to figure out how it works. Sure, you can probably get a lower price from Joe and Janet Barn-Find, but when your "bargain" arrives broken, and without any hint of how it works or how you might be able to put it back together, you'll realize that you really do get exactly what you pay for.
That's about it. I will carefully prep everything for shipping and pack everything carefully and properly. Overseas bidders, please contact me in advance for a shipping quote and for my confirmation that I can ship it to you. The phonograph will be expensive to ship, as it will need to go out in two large packages (phonograph in one package; horn in the other). Auction participants with no prior feedback history, or with hidden feedback, should contact me before placing a bid. Buyer prepays and includes shipping.
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