Harry Tally / My Irish Molly O / Columbia 3238

[mrbechet]

I just added this to Discogs: https://www.discogs.com/release/2922333 ... sh-Molly-O but can't play it on my 1920 VV-IX. Neither loud needle nor fiber needle works. Neither stays in the groove; both drag the machine down, even on a full crank. Anybody have an explanation for this?

EDIT: The spindle hole is very tight against the spindle. Is that dragging the machine?

[Inigo]

Can be anything from weak or stuck springs to sluggish governor, or bad coupling between gears, sluggish or dry bearings lacking oil, etc.
You can send the motor to someone near you to repair... or you can try it yourself. Be careful with the springs, they are very strong and can injure you, if you are not ready to harness that tremendous force. There are many YT videos where you can see how it goes.
George Vollema, in Michigan, can repair your motor (Great Lakes Antique Phonograph). His costs are reasonable. The thing is trying to locate someone nearer to you, to save in shipping costs. The motors are pretty heavy, and in the end, the whole operation can cost more than a complete machine...!
Have you tried to oil the machine as per the instructions stuck to the inside of the motor compartment? Something similar to this. BTW, don't use vaseline, but a modern high quality grease as Mobil1 or lithium grease...

[recordmaker]

Does the the machine play most other records OK ?

The record is that early in date ( 1904-06 ish ) and was quite a loud recording it may be very worn and possible looks grey and will thus cause a lot more friction, I think more so with fiber needles. It is also possible that the groove was a little shallow originally or the stamper was worn causing the same problem . A soft tone needle might be worth a try.

[mrbechet]

Yes, the machine works great otherwise. I just don’t have any explanation for why this disc in particular is being so difficult.