Mystery Horn... info needed

[Dave Young]

I came across this horn today in an antique store and couldn't pass on it.  I've never seen one like it before, and man do I hope it will run on 6 volts!  It appears to send sound to the individual trumpets in a sequence as controlled by a cam mechanism.  Any info would be greatly appreciated.  It has no name plate.

[Guest]

Don't know what it is, but it's REALLY cool! 

[Marty Roth]

At first glance I would guess that it is a SPARTON horn, and from the vintage, most likely 6-Volt

[Dave Young]

I did find out, by looking at pictures online, that it is a Spartan Chime 4 Trumpet.  

[Walt G]

Yes, Marty has it right, it is a Sparton horn made by Sparks - Withington Co. of Jackson ,Mi.

They made a variety of horns with 2 to 4 trumpets. Yes, it is 6 volt. The canister that covered the mechanism would have had a tag riveted to it that gave a number and usually the name of the tune.

The most common was the "Chime" and then the "Chime-Bugle" , and there were at least 20 others; the "New Yorker " played Sidewalks of New York. The late George Jepson (a long time CCCA member ) of New Jersey was a master at repairing these and wrote up instructions on how to service them, and we compiled a list of all the tunes we knew that were made. If you mount it on your car make sure you put a large fuse in the power line. Cool find.

[Dave Young]

Wow.  Great info, Walt.  The air pump is seized but I have it soaking in my ATF/acetone mix and I'm sure I'll be able to get it moving again.  I take it that different songs could be played by installing different cam sets on the drive wheel?  It really caught my eye in that store!

[dibarlaw]

Wilbur:

 I have a 3 note Sparton that I am working on. I found this pamphlet on the net. My experience has had me clean and re-oil the cam mechanism. I made new gaskets for the air chamber from tracing cloth. I still have to make a new bearing for the electric motor since it is pretty worn. It causes some chatter and the note sound is not very pure. They are somewhat touchy to adjust. Mine is the "$35 Bucks" tune. Check out some u tube videos of "I'm' simply wild about horns on automobiles that go Ta, Ta, Ta, Ta." Or "Eddie Cantors Auto Song".

[Dave Young]

Thank you for posting that, Larry.  This forum is a wonderful resource for all of us.

[Walt G]

I have a copy o f the same folder Larry posted. I will try to post some paperwork that George Jepson sent me and a short article I did a few years ago with all the tunes and numbers listed.

Walt

[Dave Henderson]

I have a couple of them of the 3 trumpet Chime Bugle variety.  Though I haven't experimented, I believe the notes are  rearranged and the tunes changed by switching the position of the trumpets around.   The musical note is determined by the length of the trumpet.  They have a vane type compressor driven by an electric motor.  In an article in the May '06 Skinned Knuckles by Fritz Hennig it is stated that there was a 12 volt version of a later configuration. 
 The sound was said to be audible on http://www.geocities.com/brocoli6/carmusicalhorn.wav.  (I haven't tried it yet). 

[Dave Young]

Well, the vane pump came apart nicely after soaking for a day and the motor now rotates the cams freely.  Now it's a matter of cleaning it all up and making a gasket.  Maybe put even power to it tomorrow night!

[Mark Gregory]

Wilbur did it work ?

[Dave Young]

Mark, I finished building the mounting bracket and wiring Christmas Eve.  I love it.  The motor is rather noisy, but the sound is just so cool. I may pull it apart again and see what I can do to quiet the workings down.  Maybe new bushings?   I wired it thru a headlight relay with a 3 position momentary contact, long lever, toggle switch.  Move the switch up and the regular Spartan horn sounds off.  Move the switch down and the trumpets play.  The wires are 10 gauge cloth and I mounted it to the light bar.  Rock solid.