The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I purchased a RCA John Jasso special order L. RCA made three models the K . L. and M. The turn table turns but the amplifier wiring is a mess and I need to find the correct batteries.. It also may need a new crystal pick up. Does any body know where I can get parts for this machine or someone who can work on it that knows what to do. I think the batteries need to be remade. This one does not have any. It is also missing the battery hold down. I will post in the Yankee trader for parts. Thanks Tom B

Looks like someone had added a selenium rectifier to run off 120 VAC line voltage.
I've never owned one but an old friend of mine had ever version in ever color. I've never actually
heard one play. Something will have to be done with the pickup but the batteries can be made
up from regular D cells and 9 volt batteries.

I've worked on a couple of these, not really the best sounding pieces.

Your best bet for powering it is to use 10 series connected 9V batteries for B+ and 2 parallel connected
1.5V D cells for filaments.

Or you can build an AC line supply like shown here:
https://www.radioexperimenter.us/exp-19 ... upply.html

The best to have the crystal pickup rebuilt is Herbert Schmidt in Germany, he replaces the old crystal with a new replacement.
His info:http://www.hse-radio.de, then go to "Repair Works"

BTW it's John Vassos https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Vassos

Chuck

Thanks Chuck... His price in Germany is not bad. It is 59.00 euro so that is less than I expected for rebuilding the tone arm. Are the burgess batteries avaible still ?? I saw a man called Morris on you tube fixing one of the record players. Have you heard of him. Ed Morris ??? I really do not want to ship this out due to breakage though. That yellow wire in there has got to go. Can you tell if it is ready to connect it to AC or I should let someone who knows what he is doing to check it out ? Tom B

Hi Tom,
Lovely looking model L. The model K and M are more common. The K demanding much higher prices because it is in red. Do not plug it into the mains. Make sure it is checked out by someone who know what they are doing. Parts are going to be impossible to find so make sure you don't damage what is there. It looks complete to me and I am sure it can be revived with new home made batteries ( Originals NOT available) or a transformer. If you are going to use this regularly it's best to rig up a transformer as the batteries do not last very long.

On my Model L the cartridge is original but damaged and I have never found anyone to repair it. Thanks for the link to "Repair Works".
Great to see another model L and in such good condition.

I'm a big fan of anything designed by John Vassos. He even designed a mouth organ. A very cool dude.

tomb wrote:Thanks Chuck... His price in Germany is not bad. It is 59.00 euro so that is less than I expected for rebuilding the tone arm. Are the burgess batteries avaible still ?? I saw a man called Morris on you tube fixing one of the record players. Have you heard of him. Ed Morris ??? I really do not want to ship this out due to breakage though. That yellow wire in there has got to go. Can you tell if it is ready to connect it to AC or I should let someone who knows what he is doing to check it out ? Tom B

Tom,

It looks like it was a modification done maybe in the 50's. From what I can see they powered it directly from the AC mains through a dropping resister to a selenium rectifier to get the +90vdc for the B+, not a good way and definitely not a safe method. No, I wouldn't plug it in. Batteries would be the quickest and safest way to power it up, a pair of D cells would power the filament for about ~50 hours, the string of 9V batteries maybe 5-8 hours depending on how loudly you want to play it. For just demonstration use it would be the best way.

If you want to play it a lot than you will need to have a small 90V TRANSFORMER powered supply built, and use batteries for the filaments, although a small IC regulated 1.4V supply could be added.

I can do the electronics and build the power supply if you want, contact me off list if you want.


Chuck

Can I buy an old battery , gut it, and stuff it with nine volt batteries to make it look original.??? It is missing the top battery holder but I think I can make one out of a small metal U channel. otherwise looks complete. I do not like shipping the whole record player due to breakage but can the electronics be sent out for repair? Tom B

tomb wrote:Can I buy an old battery , gut it, and stuff it with nine volt batteries to make it look original.??? It is missing the top battery holder but I think I can make one out of a small metal U channel. otherwise looks complete. I do not like shipping the whole record player due to breakage but can the electronics be sent out for repair? Tom B

Yes you could stuff an old battery box. There is also a small bias cell inside the amp chassis.

Yes the amplifier can be removed easily and sent out by itself.


Chuck

Thanks Chuck. I will be PM ing you in the future. Tom B