Damon:  $400 is not a bad price for a restored phonograph, depending on
the model, as well as quality of restoration.

If the ones you are looking at are indeed Edisons disk machines,
keep in mind that these are Diamond Disk machines, made to play special
1/4-inch thick Edison records, with a permanent diamond stylus.  The
tone arm actually relies on a feed screw (underneath the turntable,
out of sight) to propel it across the record.  The records themselves
are recorded like cylinder records -- the grooves are "hill-and-dale"
rather than laterally recorded like most 78 records.

Diamond disks tend to have a lot of surface noise (especially the early
black label ones) but the range of sound is far superior to most 78
records of the time.  Because they have 150 grooves per inch, they also
play long: over 4 minutes per 10 inch record, turning at 80 rpm.  Lots
of good 20's dance band stuff on the 51,000 and 52,000 series.

An Edison Diamond Disk will NOT play regular 78 records, unless you
have the proper adapter.  You remove the reproducer from the tone-arm,
and insert the lateral record sound-box, put in a steel needle, and then
play regular 78s.

There are numerous models of Diamond Disks, differing mainly in number
of springs in the motor, slight size difference in internal horn, and
size and design of the cabinet.  As far as restoration, the finish
should NOT be glossy thick polyurethane.  Check the motor: it should
play very quietly, and the springs should not "thunk" (indicating that
the spring grease is dried and old).

Hopefully the reproducer has been rebuilt properly, with new gaskets,
etc.  Normally on an Edison, the diamond stylus does not need
replacing, unless it's been dropped too hard on a record and chipped.
Play five or six records all the way through, let spring motor wind
down, give it a full wind, and play some more.

If you can tell me what model numbers are on the nameplates inside the
cabinets, I can give you more info about individual models and values.
Hope this helps!

Jim Canavan
cybrflash@aol.com