Columbia Viva-Tonal no. 9 soundbox: round needle chuck hole

[Meltrope3]

I have a Columbia Viva-Tonal no. 9 soundbox, bought in the UK and presumably made there. When I got it, I was surprised to find that its needle chuck only has a round hole--an archaism, since triangular holes had become pretty prevalent long before this model was introduced in the late 20s.

The earlier no. 15 soundbox on my Viva-Tonal 202 (the soundbox with the snowflake cutouts) has a triangular needle chuck, and I thought the no. 9 was supposed to be an advance over the no. 15 (even though the model 9 didn't last many years in production).

Do Columbia no. 9 soundboxes with triangular holes also exist? It's odd. These are often seen in the UK, where fibre needle aficionados were certainly not lacking.

[Phono48]

I've just examined all my No.9 soundboxes, and in all cases, they all appear to have a round hole, but close examination with an eyeglass shows that there are three tiny "extension" round the hole, which indicates that the hole is, in fact triangular. I can't say for certain that this is so, as I've never had any fibre needles!

Barry

[Meltrope3]

Thanks Phono48. My no. 9 soundbox definitely doesn't have any corners, not even the tiniest hint of one. What's stranger still, the hole is about 1/16" off center. Curiouser and curiouser!

[emgcr]

What's stranger still, the hole is about 1/16" off center. Curiouser and curiouser!

That is designed so that the needle screw has plenty of "meat" to grip on and is therefore less likely to strip after frequent use. There can be quite a loading when tightening onto steel needles---wise not to pressurise too much in any event.

[epigramophone]

[quote="Meltrope3"]

The earlier no. 15 soundbox on my Viva-Tonal 202 (the soundbox with the snowflake cutouts) has a triangular needle chuck, and I thought the no. 9 was supposed to be an advance over the no. 15 (even though the model 9 didn't last many years in production).


In the UK the No.9 is the earlier soundbox, not the American designed No.15 which eventually replaced the No.9 across the UK Columbia range.