[TNT-Audio Vintage column] The Edison Disc Reproducers: A Comparative Survey

Product names: Edison Standard, Dance, and Edisonic reproducers
Manufacturers: Thomas A. Edison, Inc. - USA (defunct)
Author: David Hoehl - TNT USA
Published: March, 2025

Parts I and II already discussed the Standard and Dance reproducers; now it's time to turn our attention to the last of the series, the New Standard, aka Edisonic. It made its appearance as New Standard in April 1927 and replaced the original Standard as original equipment for all Edison models. At that time its floating weight had squared off sides. In early 1929, its name was changed to the Edisonic Reproducer to accompany the issuance of the company's two Edisonic phonographs in answer to Victor's Orthophonic Victrola line as recounted in an earlier TNT-Audio article. By that point the floating weight had been rounded off to conform to the diaphragm housing. In a sense, the New Standard/Edisonic was a blend of the Dance and original Standard: it retained the heavy floating weight and spring-loaded stylus bar of the Dance, but it did away with the second spring tensioning the diaphragm, and with it the Dance Reproducer's flange atop the diaphragm housing. Thus, its profile matched that of the original Standard. Upon its introduction, the New Standard reproducer was priced separately at $19.50, but Edison allowed customers who already owned its disc machines to exchange their old reproducers for the new one upon payment of $6.75$as the company put it, “Your old Reproducer actually saves you $12.75!”

In the accompanying video, we have an important change in the musical content: unlike in the prior two offerings, it derives from microphone and electronics, not horn and diaphragm. The music is a lively, jazzy fox trot, typical of popular music in the later 1920s, called “When You're with Somebody Else.” It was recorded on February 17, 1928, at which point Edison had been recording electrically for around five months, and the record would remain in the catalogue until the company ceased operation at the end of October in the following year. Performing the song is a group billed as The Florida Four. I've found very little about it, save that its members apparently included two prominent bandleaders/jazzmen, saxophonist Nathan Glantz and pianist Dave Kaplan. Singing the vocal refrain is Tommy Weir, a familiar working professional at the time--at various points a boxer, a church singer, a vaudevillian whose acts included singing as his wife performed bicycle tricks, a radio singer, a recording artist for minor budget labels, a songwriter, and a music store owner--but not a major star. Indeed, I got his name from the Discography of American Historical Recordings, as it wasn't a sufficient draw to appear on the record label. The song must have been popular, at least with Edison owners; in general, electrical Edison dance records are, if not exactly rarities, at least somewhat uncommon, and some of the late ones, which were on the market for a matter of weeks or even days, bring pretty serious money, but but I've encountered this one off and on at much more modest prices, and in fact I even own another, slightly flawed copy of it.

The other notable change in this video is the phonograph. We leave behind the 1915 design of the C-250, heard in both prior videos, and move ahead a dozen years to one introduced in September 1927, the Edisonic Schubert. Interested readers are referred to the article linked above for a full account of its design, its place in the Edison line, and the market forces that led to its introduction. For our present purposes, suffice it to say that it differs from the C-250 in having a somewhat larger horn; hinged doors rather than an in-horn volume damper system; a cabinet design more in keeping with late 1920s furniture styles; and, of course, the Edisonic reproducer as standard equipment when it came from the factory. The old Standard reproducer and the Dance reproducer, however, were fully interchangeable, as would be expected with an Edison machine. In other respects, the Edisonic marked no change from its predecessor: it had the single-spring variant of the same motor; the same factory mechanical feed system, albeit without my C-250's Long Playing adapter kit; the same motor-on-suspended-metal-bedplate configuration. Thus, although not identical acoustically, it was very nearly so mechanically. Incidentally, the Edisonic reproducer in the video is original to this machine, something not always certain in the world of antique phonographs; I know, because the machine had only one owner before me, and this reproducer was mounted on it when I got it.

Once again, the time for words has passed and the time for music has come. Thanks for joining me on this journey through audio history. I hope you've enjoyed the earlier stages and that you likewise enjoy comparing how Edison's reproducers negotiated the last flowering of the company's recording business.

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On an Overgrown Pathé

The Edison Disc Reproducers: A Comparative Survey

Part III: Electric Dance Music