Electric Decca

[Neophone]

Folks,

Along with those records I got the other day was a neat little Decca table-top phonograph. It doesn't seem to have any sort of brake that I can find and sadly it's got that nasty old hum that means motor work. Does anyone know anything about these? I have our of these mid-century jobs and don't really know anything about them. I'd like to get them up and running some day.

Regards,
John

[Shane]

Neat looking phonograph... I like the simple "wood crate" looking design of it.

Are you sure that hum is coming from the motor? Typically the electric record players of this era have capacitors that need to be replaced. An amplifier that hums is usually a sign of bad capacitors.

There is also a 99.9% chance that the crystal salt in the cartridge has absorbed moisture from the air, and will need to be either rebuilt or replaced with a more modern ceramic cartridge.

Basically, these type of players have several components with a finite shelf life, and that shelf life has been exceeded in most cases.

Any ideas on when this record player is from? I'm thinking 1940s, but that's just what my instinct tells me.

Hope this helps!

[Neophone]

Shane,

See I told you I don't know anything about these things Ha Ha! I'm sure you're right on both counts. I was thinking later thirties-forties too.


Regards,
John

[OrthoFan]

Hi John:

I know most people opt to simply replace the spent crystal cartridges, but I found this article about restoring them, which I thought I'd pass along:



REPAIRING EARLY CRYSTAL PHONO CARTRIDGES by Lea Barker

[Neophone]

Hi John:

I know most people opt to simply replace the spent crystal cartridges, but I found this article about restoring them, which I thought I'd pass along:



REPAIRING EARLY CRYSTAL PHONO CARTRIDGES by Lea Barker

Ortho_Fan,

Thanks that looks very interesting! If I can find someone local to walk me through it I'll go that route!

Regards,
John

[Schmaltz]

Thanks for posting that, Ortho_Fan: great idea and drawing. Be prepared to turn that volume waaay up to hear anything, though.

I just checked some comparisons of output voltages of ceramic cartridges vis-a-vis their crystal counterparts, and you're going to get a fainter signal out of the ceramic element than the crystal.

Depending on your donor cartridge, the ceramic innards will generate about 0.2 to 0.5 volts or thereabouts. A crystal cart will be somewhere around 1.0 to 1.4 volts. At least that's what the charts at this web site indicate:

http://www.garage-a-records.com/cartchart.php

Greg Bogantz would be the guy to ask.

[Kirkwood]

If you really want to tackle this job yourself, that's one way to go----or you could try contacting Gib Epling at West-Tech Services. He advertises cartridge rebuilding including these older types, he has a web site:

http://www.west-techservices.com

I haven't yet used his services, and so can't comment on his work, maybe others on here can help you there.

[gregbogantz]

Schmaltz is right about the differences in output voltages. The main reason for this is the size of the piezoelectric (PZT) element - the newer cartridges, especially the stereo ones have MUCH smaller elements than the single large element in the old Rochelle salts crystal cartridges. The smaller elements put out less voltage. I know that several restorers have figured out ways to rebuild these old crystal carts, but most of the rebuilds are done the way described in the above link that involves robbing the element(s) from a modern cartridge and transplanting them into the old shell. This works, but the output voltage may be too low to really be useful. I'm now in the process of trying to do some of these myself, so I'm exploring larger PZT elements when I can find them. There are several types of PZT material available today, but most of it is available only in large quantities sold to commercial manufacturing plants. I haven't found a source where I can buy the small amounts required for a crystal cartridge rebuild. But I'm still working on it.

[Steve]

John

I'm also in the "believe it to be 1940's" camp

Steve

[gramophoneshane]

It looks very similar to an HMV player we had here in about 1946/47, but then again, probably 90% of record players made in the 40's used the same minimalist box design too.
I think you'll be surprized by the sound quality (& volume) these little 2 or 3 valve amps & electric pick-ups can put out once restored John.