Stumbled Across a Brunswick 127! Excited!

Post by **Inigo** » Tue Sep 06, 2022 3:34 pm

Mmm .. me, and many of us, are in the side of overhauling the mechanicals to perform at the best, while only cleaning and waxing cabinets to show good aspect with age, maybe only minor repairs at very ugly points and no more. But mechanical updating its a must if you want to use the phonographs! Not a rare position for people used to take fair care of things while using them frequently...
Others prefer a perfect machine as fresh from the factory, and that's where our colleagues devoted to thorough restorations do their marvels....

edisonplayer · Post by **edisonplayer** » Wed Sep 07, 2022 10:23 am

My late friend Jerry Donnell told me about a Brunswick YO console that his teacher in 1934 had that had a tonearm for a Panatrope.edisonplayer.

Post by **tictalk** » Wed Sep 07, 2022 4:40 pm

audiophile102 wrote: Mon Sep 05, 2022 9:54 pm The cabinet looks great. I'm sure that non-pumice Gojo would remove the dirt and with some Howards feed and wax it will really help. Don't worry about alligatoring, it's just the way antiques are supposed to look. If it was mine, I would be on the lookout for a ultona tone arm. For playing records, the one you have might sound quite a bit better. Congratulations!

Hi Granby, I picked up the same model a few years ago, they are neat machines, a gentle cleaning with Go Jo and let dry for a day or two then the Howards Feed and Wax works wonders, If your grill is too far gone keep your eye out for a Junker mahogany 127 with a good grill and paint it black, there are no decorative paintings on the grill. I have a gold ultona tonearm and reproducer if you decide you want it send me a PM. Larry

Granby · Post by **Granby** » Wed Sep 07, 2022 5:09 pm

tictalk wrote: Wed Sep 07, 2022 4:40 pm
audiophile102 wrote: Mon Sep 05, 2022 9:54 pm The cabinet looks great. I'm sure that non-pumice Gojo would remove the dirt and with some Howards feed and wax it will really help. Don't worry about alligatoring, it's just the way antiques are supposed to look. If it was mine, I would be on the lookout for a ultona tone arm. For playing records, the one you have might sound quite a bit better. Congratulations!
Hi Granby, I picked up the same model a few years ago, they are neat machines, a gentle cleaning with Go Jo and let dry for a day or two then the Howards Feed and Wax works wonders, If your grill is too far gone keep your eye out for a Junker mahogany 127 with a good grill and paint it black, there are no decorative paintings on the grill. I have a gold ultona tonearm and reproducer if you decide you want it send me a PM. Larry

Beautiful! Thanks for the input.... I am going to start to tackle cleaning it this weekend, probably. I'll also take your advice and be on the lookout for a mahogany 127 somewhere that is.... maybe a little too far gone. I like the look of that Ultona tone-arm, too. Let me think on it!

Thanks, - Chris

Post by **Inigo** » Wed Sep 07, 2022 5:52 pm

Not only the look... but its capabilities! With it you can play all types of records: standard 78s, Pathé records and DDs.... And the sound is good! It's a marvelous machine.

edisonplayer · Post by **edisonplayer** » Thu Sep 08, 2022 11:28 am

Brunswicks are fine phonographs. As my friend Jerry Donnell said of them,"I've never seen a sorry one!"edisonplayer

gunnarthefeisty · Post by **gunnarthefeisty** » Wed Sep 21, 2022 1:11 am

The Ultona and Panatrope tonearms are the same size. I myself would buy a good Ultona tonearm and just switch to fit the occasion. PSA to anyone with a Cortez, etc; you can play diamond discs on it!

martinola · Post by **martinola** » Wed Sep 21, 2022 11:04 am

Granby wrote: Mon Sep 05, 2022 4:54 pm I do have the original grill but it is severely damaged and in pieces.

Hi Granby.

My advice is to keep the pieces. There may come a long rainy day when you want to do a jigsaw puzzle. I had a YO years ago that had a totally trashed grille. I thought it was hopeless, but ended up looking quite good after a couple of afternoons with the glue bottle. You got a very nice machine. Enjoy!

Martin

Granby · Post by **Granby** » Wed Sep 21, 2022 12:22 pm

martinola wrote: Wed Sep 21, 2022 11:04 am
Granby wrote: Mon Sep 05, 2022 4:54 pm I do have the original grill but it is severely damaged and in pieces.
Hi Granby.

My advice is to keep the pieces. There may come a long rainy day when you want to do a jigsaw puzzle. I had a YO years ago that had a totally trashed grille. I thought it was hopeless, but ended up looking quite good after a couple of afternoons with the glue bottle. You got a very nice machine. Enjoy!

Martin

I think I am going to take your advice. The grill appears to have gotten wet and then dried back out sometime in its life. Many of the layers of "veneer" have separated. The former owner handed me a pile of pieces once I politely pushed the issue. However, out of all those pieces and layers, I do have one fairly strong layer of wood with only one split - meaning the grill is only in two pieces. I am scratching my head a little.... I thought of building a backing piece or framework and then "mounting" the original part to the front of it.

The part most people would see [the "front"] would be the original layer of veneer, maybe painted black and the new basic square frame would be behind it. May be a challenging winter project!

Granby · Post by **Granby** » Mon Nov 27, 2023 2:04 pm

As an update to this thread [ now November of 2023], I did take Martin's advice and rebuild the grill. The top layer of veneer was in horrible shape so I removed it and worked with what was left of the layer directly underneath. Once glued back together, I painted it black and applied a new silk style backing.

Although the subject is slightly controversial, I replaced the turntable felt, too. I decided to have a little fun and go with a yellow/gold instead of the "safer" choice of green since this model has the oriental design. The cabinet was cleaned with non-pumice cleaner and I think the phonograph now shows pretty well. For the record, I am not an expert when it comes to furniture [or "phonograph cabinet"] restoration. But, this was a fun DIY project and I really don't think I messed anything up....

Thanks to another fellow forum member [JerryVan], I recently stumbled on to a gold Panatrope style tone arm so I was able to replace that nickel one that was on the machine when I bought it. After reading some previous comments and studying this machine up close, I am of the thinking this model was possibly "unsold" from the Ultona era and slightly factory modified/upgraded to the Panatrope arm prior to the original sale. If you look close, you can see that the Brunswick logo was updated, too. Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe that smaller script was a Panatrope era logo.... ?

Stay safe and Happy Holidays! [Don't forget to track me down online if y'all see any neat Granby advertising, ephemera, or machines....]