Show us Your 1920's/'30's Record Changer(s)

[startgroove]

Gene, we'll let you know when the extended vacation starts. There is one room which needs to be cleared out. Thank you for the thread.

EarlH, I do love that Electrola 10-70, that is fantastic! Maybe we'll find one someday. That Mills wallbox would go nice with our Electramuse.

[startgroove]

This may be the earliest disc record changer for home use, yet at this time I am uncertain that it was mass produced. It was an offshoot of the famous Gabel Automatic Entertainer which was a coin operated machine debuting in 1909. The Gabel-ola had the same mechanism as its' commercial brother, excluding coin equipment. An enclosed horn in the upper part of the cabinet was driven by a large diameter reproducer. A single electric motor powered the turntable and the change cycle. Below is an ad which appeared in the Music Trade Review, date unknown, probably around 1917.
"Have a full evening of dancing if you want, for the "Gabel-ola" will play 24 different numbers and you don't have to go near it.
The "Gabel-ola" does everything for itself. It changes the records and changes the needles. It starts and stops itself. The needle magazine holds 600 needles, and you do not have to even think of needles until that number of records has been played."

[Marty Bufalini]

Beautiful machine, Earl, and fun to watch. Thanks for posting.

[startgroove]

Lori and I acquired this Brunswick Model 42 about the same time as our Victor 10-50. It was a tie as to which one to restore first. It came all the way from Pennsylvania. We had a model 42 already, but it needed many parts and so we got this one as a donor machine. It turned out to be the better of the two, so it was the one we decided to restore (between the two model 42's). We chose this one since it needed the least amount of work, though it had numerous veneer chip and peels, and the legs and lower parts of the cabinet had lots of moisture damage. We had to make the rubber wheels, and rebuild the pick up, and the mechanism. The electronics were rebuilt by a local radio enthusiast for the sum of $127. It now works every time we demonstrate it.
Here is a video created by someone else, which does a good job of describing how it works. The record change cycle occurs at about 4:06. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTQbziJ_Xj0&t=103s
The unusual lift and toss of the record scared me at first, but so far no records have been broken. Russie

[dennis]

It appears that most of the records shown are WELL-WORN. A record's life on a changer must be one step short of a skeet shoot!

[gramophone-georg]

It appears that most of the records shown are WELL-WORN. A record's life on a changer must be one step short of a skeet shoot!

I think people are just not willing to risk valuable record on one of these is all.

That said, these are what were being used when a lot of these records were being made; so as long as it's maintained/ adjusted fine with good rubber in the pickup I don't see much harm.

Russ, I have one of these Automatic Panatropes that someone went all Tonya Harding on. If you have a decent set of legs and crossbars you'd be willing to part with please PM me.

[startgroove]

Dennis,
You are absolutely correct! At least about the records on my changers. You see, 95% of the records I find are already well played, mostly by the original purchaser, way back then. I wouldn't mind if there were a source for new records where I could load my changers with great sounding Ortho-Phonics! In the meantime, the only thing readily available are well worn records from yard sales and the like. Cheers, Russie

[Energ15]

Startgroove, you did an immaculate job on restoring that Brunswick 42 cabinet. It looks GORGEOUS!

Below are some pictures of my model 42. Here is a video I made of it in operation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTQbziJ_Xj0

[startgroove]

Energ15, Thank you.

Your video of the Model 42 is fabulous! It is a nicely detailed story about the machine, told in a way that is easy to follow. Please do some more. Russie

[Energ15]

Energ15, Thank you.

Your video of the Model 42 is fabulous! It is a nicely detailed story about the machine, told in a way that is easy to follow. Please do some more. Russie

Thanks! I have been meaning to make some more videos. I just got to find the time.