edison schubert speed control/adjustment...

[brianu]

is there any way to control or adjust the speed on an edison schubert? they don't seem to have speed control knobs like many other edison phonographs that I've had.

[OrthoFan]

Hi Brian:

Have you looked under the bed plate? There should be a "knurled wheel" there --

SEE: http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewto ... f=2&t=6213

HTH,
OF

[larryh]

I don't know about the Schubert since its a latter machine, but on the chippendale I have the speed was no longer adjustable to a faster speed by turning the dial. I found that under the bed plate there was an adjustment to the under part of the dial that allowed the speed to be increased by changing the position of the dial above. I don't recall the exact way it worked but if you have one that is not going fast enough it probably has a way to change the dial to allow the governor to run faster.

[brianu]

I checked under the bedplate but didn't see any sort of knob that might permit easy adjustment. and again, there's nothing for controlling speed on the top of the bedplate either.

might anyone who has a schubert or an edison without a visible speed control have a photo of whereever it is that the speed can be adjusted? or is this something that must be done manually by adjusting the governor itself?

and might anyone with a schubert have a photo of the lower portion of the lid support/stay. it's an unusual, spring-loaded one.

thanks.

[coyote]

While I suspect that a prior owner put this in place, my Schubert has a flimsy piece of metal accessible down in the gap between the motorboard and the cabinet on the left side to adjust the speed. What this metal piece is attached to, I'd have to look. The spring arrangement for the lid is also interesting. I'll take photos when I get the chance unless someone else beats me to it. If those springs and lower piece have come off and are lying loose, it's not intuitive how they go.

[brianu]

While I suspect that a prior owner put this in place, my Schubert has a flimsy piece of metal accessible down in the gap between the motorboard and the cabinet on the left side to adjust the speed. What this metal piece is attached to, I'd have to look. The spring arrangement for the lid is also interesting. I'll take photos when I get the chance unless someone else beats me to it. If those springs and lower piece have come off and are lying loose, it's not intuitive how they go.

thanks... that would be really great if you could post a few photos (of your speed control set-up and the lower part of the lid support). I recently found a schubert and want to clean it up before I move.

[coyote]

Here are 3 pictures of the lower part of the lid stay from a 1-C with the lid open, closed, and a detail of the adjustable eyelet and nut to adjust spring tension. I haven't had the chance to take the front grill off the Schubert to see how the speed control setup is rigged, but will get to that this weekend.

[coyote]

Apparently the felt pads on the governor have to be adjusted directly to change the speed. I've found the speed to be fairly stable, so hopefully you don't have to mess with it again after it's set. On my Schubert, a prior owner replaced the friction pad yoke and attached a lever to it (to facilitate speed adjustment, with an ugly hex head screw, no less). That's the first photo. The second and third show the U-shaped double-felt governor yoke on the 1C, with the screw circled that would be loosened to adjust the bracket holding the yoke.

What I wonder is, was this double-felt yoke on the 1C also originally used on the Schubert as well? Please let us know what yours looks like, Brian.

[brianu]

thanks. those photos were exactly what I needed. I was concerned that something might be off with the spring-loaded lid support on mine, but apparently it's just an unusual design (and initially a noisy one until I dropped some oil on that spring and its other moving parts).

regarding the speed control, though, that's what I was worried about, that any adjustment would require getting into the motor with a screwdriver. it's kind of lame that, for this late (1927?) machine that seemed to be edison's half-hearted attempt to compete with the orthophonics, he wouldn't even include such a basic accessory as a speed control knob. I mean, that's just lazy design work. luckily the speed seems alright for now on the machine I just picked up, but I can tell any adjustments I might have to make down the road will be a pain.