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Getting the bugs out
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mrbechet
- Victor Jr
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Getting the bugs out
I’ve been working on restoring my Standard A and decided to tackle the reproducer last. This morning I noticed that something was inside it so I got the tweezers and…
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epigramophone
- Victor Monarch Special
- Posts: 5239
- Joined: Mon Oct 24, 2011 1:21 pm
- Personal Text: An analogue relic trapped in a digital world.
- Location: The Somerset Levels, UK.
Re: Getting the bugs out
When I bought my Opera the reproducer was clearly in need of attention, so I took it to Paul Morris.
This what he found when, after a struggle, he opened it up :
This what he found when, after a struggle, he opened it up :
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phonograph guy3435
- Victor I
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- Personal Text: edison amberola guy
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Re: Getting the bugs out
i didn't know there could be bugs in it
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Lah Ca
- Victor III
- Posts: 891
- Joined: Sun Nov 21, 2021 10:22 pm
Re: Getting the bugs out
In the era before electronics, these were the somewhat uncommon buzz-tone soundbox modifications.
It is said that 60s Rock musicians, listening as children to buzz-tone modified gramophones, were inspired by the work of earlier stringed instrument players such as Roy Smeck.
Dave Davies of the KInks is said to have taken a razor blade to his speaker cones to get that classic buzz-tone sound he so loved as a child.
It is said that 60s Rock musicians, listening as children to buzz-tone modified gramophones, were inspired by the work of earlier stringed instrument players such as Roy Smeck.
Dave Davies of the KInks is said to have taken a razor blade to his speaker cones to get that classic buzz-tone sound he so loved as a child.
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OnlineJerryVan
- Victor Monarch Special
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Re: Getting the bugs out
There have been cases of moths and even cockroaches in reproducers.
Last edited by JerryVan on Sun Jan 21, 2024 8:20 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Lah Ca
- Victor III
- Posts: 891
- Joined: Sun Nov 21, 2021 10:22 pm
Re: Getting the bugs out
Larval exuviae haunting the tone arm. 
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Curt A
- Victor Monarch Special
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Re: Getting the bugs out
Phonograph horns were the equivalent of indoor Venus Flytraps - "They fly in, but they don't fly out..."
"The phonograph is not of any commercial value."
Thomas Alva Edison - Comment to his assistant, Samuel Insull.
"No one needs a Victrola XX, a Perfected Graphophone Type G, or whatever you call those noisy things."
My Wife
Thomas Alva Edison - Comment to his assistant, Samuel Insull.
"No one needs a Victrola XX, a Perfected Graphophone Type G, or whatever you call those noisy things."
My Wife
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phonogfp
- Victor Monarch Special
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- Personal Text: "If you look for the bad in people expecting to find it, you surely will." - A. Lincoln
- Location: New York's Finger Lakes
Re: Getting the bugs out
Here's what greeted me one day while I was removing an Aretino motor (toothbrush for scale):
...And here's what it looked like when my face was about 8 inches away:
I jumped out of my skin! The machine came from Florida. Just one reason why I'd never live there...
George P.
George P.
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Curt A
- Victor Monarch Special
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- Personal Text: Needle Tins are Addictive
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Re: Getting the bugs out
Without seeing the corpses' thorax, I can't be certain, but it looks like a Rabidosa rabida, also known as the rabid wolf spider. It's a species of spiders from the family Lycosidae, native to North America. You don't need to be in Florida to find them and they are basically harmless and non-poisonous. In the United States it is found from Maine to Florida and west to Texas.
They are large, scary looking and fast moving. Known to clean bugs from talking machines.
They are large, scary looking and fast moving. Known to clean bugs from talking machines.
- Screenshot 2024-01-20 at 12.28.20 PM.png (111.73 KiB) Viewed 700 times
"The phonograph is not of any commercial value."
Thomas Alva Edison - Comment to his assistant, Samuel Insull.
"No one needs a Victrola XX, a Perfected Graphophone Type G, or whatever you call those noisy things."
My Wife
Thomas Alva Edison - Comment to his assistant, Samuel Insull.
"No one needs a Victrola XX, a Perfected Graphophone Type G, or whatever you call those noisy things."
My Wife
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phonogfp
- Victor Monarch Special
- Posts: 7404
- Joined: Wed Jan 07, 2009 5:08 pm
- Personal Text: "If you look for the bad in people expecting to find it, you surely will." - A. Lincoln
- Location: New York's Finger Lakes
Re: Getting the bugs out
Thanks Curt. I feel so much better now!
George P.
George P.