Dear Arvin: I have a Columbia-Kolster 940 and have taken pictures of it for you. Are pictures allowed on this list? I don't think so. So if you send me your personal e-mail address, I will attach the pictures.
Regards, Green Mountain Bill On Mon, Apr 8, 2013 at 8:46 AM, Arvin Casas <it...@arvincasas.com> wrote: > Hi All, > > I recently picked up a Columbia-Kolster 950, a "Radio - Phonograph > Combination" piece embedded inside a secretary (i.e., a desk - not a > human!). It seems to have been bouncing about for some time in my region > (New England) before I rescued it from an oddly forgetful seller's > disgruntled girlfriend (a very unnecessarily long story). > > The desk as furniture is rather nice - it's a traditional secretary with a > built in hutch above. The secret of this secretary is the main drawer > which actually holds the phonograph. From what I can gather the > industrial looking GE motor is intact, as well as all the wires - > involving the motor and the electric pickup (with its volume knob in > place). I only brought it home Saturday evening and have yet to truly get > inside things. > > Sadly the phonograph is all that remains of this unit. All during the > courtship process of buying, the seller insisted that "everything was > intact" including the amplifier and speaker, yet admitted that "I don't > know anything about these things." As you would predict with such kinds > of hyperbolic, bi-polar sales pitches, this was not the case. I noticed > quite loudly upon inspecting the piece in the freezer-cold room of the > storage facility, that these two key components were nowhere to be found. > The disgruntled girlfriend, who had been roused from sleep to meet us > after the appointment had been forgotten by the seller, was happy to let > us cart it away for a fair, adjusted sum. > > If I can get the phonograph working again on its own, I may try connecting > the pickup wires to an amplifier. Ideally, but perhaps with less > probability of success, I would love to restore this to something close to > the original (if not the original itself). Does anyone here know what > once lived north of the phonograph in these late 1920's hybrids ? All I > have is an empty cupboard, so to speak, so I don't even have a visual > reference of what was once there. Is it possible to approximate the > original via Kolster radio components of the same specifications? If so, > what might those specs be? > > Even if it sits idle as a desk I'm happy to have it. I feel like it's a > nice "bridge" piece to have in my Columbia collection, between the worlds > of mechanical and electric. > > Thanks, > > Arvin > > > _______________________________________________ > Phono-L mailing list > http://phono-l.org > -- >From The Hubbard House On the park in Rochester, Vermont where it's always 1929. _______________________________________________ Phono-L mailing list http://phono-l.org
