Help needed for mysterious Alba portable

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twilson
Victor Jr
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Help needed for mysterious Alba portable

Post by twilson »

Hi folks,

Pictured is my first machine and first restoration - which is still on-going (please praise me and accept me into your fold).
I have a few questions regarding this machine.

First of all, can anyone help me to identify it? Or can anyone point me in the direction of resources that could help me find the model and year? I know manufacturers published catalogues but where can I find these? I'd love to find a picture of this machine in its original form - which brings me to the next mysteries:

There is no where for the reproducer to sit when changing records. Most of these portables, as far as I can tell, have a wee dip within which the reproducer can fit, this one does not. Is that usual? Does this suggest that it originally had one of those two-piece goose-neck tone arms that can swivel so that the reproducer is facing upward and out of the way? Has anyone else seen a portable that doesn't have anywhere to put the reproducer? Right now I either have to sit it on the rexine (which, based on the scratches and wear, is what one of the previous owners did) or remove it from the tone arm when changing records and needles.
The tone arm fits into the brass clasp (as pictured), but it only fits when the reproducer is removed. And there is nowhere for the reproducer to go when the lid is closed and the machine is in transit. Was is usual to expect to remove the reproducer when transporting a portable machine?

I have reason to believe that there has been a degree of jimmying and/or monkeying with this machine. There are hidden holes under the base of the tone arm that suggest that the tone arm was at some point either slightly re-positioned or replaced. There is also one spare ornamental washer and screw that matches the ones that are pictured that attach the motor board to the case. There is nowhere on the machine, in its current configuration, for this washer and screw to go (!?).
I also have reason to believe that the brass clasp for the tone arm is not original as it is not nickle-plated like the rest of the brass pieces. All this suggests that the tone arm has possibly been replaced, but if this is the case; what sort of tone arm did it originally have?

Another mystery is the interior of the lid. Has anyone seen one like this? Most seem to have a wee envelope thing coming down for the records to be stored, but there is no sign on the rexine to suggest anything like this was ever attached. The records fit nicely onto the metal rod which has (rather mashed) threading which suggests that something screwed onto the end of it to secure the records. Any ideas of what this could have looked like?
There is also the wee clip on the bottom left of the interior of the lid. It is too far to the left to be for securing the records that are sitting on the rod, but it the winding handle doesn't seem to fit into it either!

Many questions, many mysteries, few answers.. This is why I'd love to see some sort of advertising or catalogue photograph of the machine in its original form.

Any thoughts are most welcome.

Thanks,

Toby
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Curt A
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Re: Help needed for mysterious Alba portable

Post by Curt A »

This thread has been moved to here: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=45777
"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

soundgen
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Re: Help needed for mysterious Alba portable

Post by soundgen »

Curt A wrote:This thread has been moved to here: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=45777
Why ? British machine British poster Confused :? ?

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