What Ails your Old Phonograph article.

[larryh]

Going though some old magazines I picked up at an auction last week tonight. Hard as it was to believe I ran into a "What Ails your Old Phonograph" article in April 1950 Popular Science Magazine. Seemed awful late for articles on spring wound acoustic machines but here it is:

[Kirkwood]

Great little article, larryh. Yeah, it doesn't cover any new territory to us, but it's of interest. There were 78s still in production in the early 1950s, and I think the suitcase portable was still the best way for people to enjoy music away from a power source, even at this late date. Those records by Bing Frank and Doris were still pretty new at this time. Battery radios had been around for some time, but could be expensive, and the transitor radio takeover was just on the horizon when this article was published. Fun stuff.

[MordEth]

To make everything easier for you to read and view (as I discussed via PM with Larry as I worked on it), I ran the article pages through OCR, and cut out the images.

Here is the text of the article:

What Ails Your Old Phonograph?

Now is the time to bring that portable wind-up phonograph down from the attic and put it in shape for summer. Rattles, shrills, wows, and the other awful sounds that phonographs may give out often come from easily correctible troubles. These photos show some of the common flaws and what to do about them.

Is the pickup head okay? If not, it will either bottleneck the sound or bring it out sour. A damaged diaphragm causes distortion and loss of volume. Small dents may be pressed out.

A needle holder that’s too loose causes rattles; one that’s tight reproduces records shrilly. Test the holder with your finger. It should have the tiniest amount of play. Don’t bother fixing bent or broken parts, for new heads are inexpensive. The new one needn’t be identical with the old one as long as it fits the arm.

Does the needle track? If it tends to jump the groove, inspect the side-to-side and up-and-down movement of the arm. It should be free in both directions. Polish arm joints with fine sandpaper. If the joint has a slot, make sure it is clean. Apply a dry lubricant such as graphite before reassembling the parts.

Does the table wobble? If so, it may bounce the needle out of its track and will probably put “wows” in the music. A piece of chalk tells the story. Hold the chalk firmly, rest your hand on a solid surface, and bring the chalk down till it just touches the felt. If the table is level, it should mark the rim evenly all around. Wobble may be caused by loose or missing mounting bolts or a bent spindle.

If you suspect that the bottom of the turntable is rubbing against the stop lever, speed regulator, or mounting board, chalk the lower edge of the rim liberally. The powder will rub off on obstructions or high points.

Is the speed right? Poor speed regulation can make records sound as if the musicians were being paid by the beat. Or it can turn a fox trot into a funeral march. Adjusting the speed-regulator arm should bring the speed to a fairly constant 78 r.p.m. This can be checked with a stroboscopic disk. Seen under an electric light, one row of lines seems to stand still when the speed is right. The disk shown at the left above has rows for all three phono speeds for both 50- and 60- cycle lights.

Another way to check turntable speed is to count revolutions, as shown at right. Slip a piece of paper under a record so that part of it projects. Start the motor and count the number of times the paper passes a point in a given time. Adjust the speed regulator until it counts 78 turns a minute.

Does the regulator regulate? If not, lift off the turntable and take a look at the linkage to the brake lever. Sometimes the collar that connects the regulator arm and lever comes loose. The collar bolt should be tightened. If the collar is tight, the governor itself may be faulty. You’ll have to check that next.

Is the governor sticking? The photo at right shows the parts of the speed-control mechanism. Three weighted balls or disks are spring-fastened to two collars on the shaft. One collar—which is attached to a brake disc—is free to slide on the shaft. As speed increases, the balls fly outward and pull the sliding disk against the brake shoe. The Three balls must be of equal weight and their springs of equal tension. If movement seems sluggish, the shaft should be polished and lightly oiled. Replace the brake shoe if it is worn or broken.

[hr][/hr]
Hopefully that was a bit easier to follow, and members and guests who are newer to the hobby (or to trying to service a machine) will be able to get something out of these directions that Larry so kindly provided.

If nothing else, having the text above makes it able to be searched, and the search features here are vastly better than that of ProBoards.

Your friendly internet daemon,

MordEth

[Viva-Tonal]

Somewhere I have a 1955 or 1956 issue of RADIO AND TELEVISION NEWS with an article on taking a wind-up portable player, removing the acoustic soundbox/arm/internal horn, and replacing them with a relatively more modern crystal pickup, wooden tonearm and battery powered tube amp and speaker.

[MordEth]

Somewhere I have a 1955 or 1956 issue of RADIO AND TELEVISION NEWS with an article on taking a wind-up portable player, removing the acoustic soundbox/arm/internal horn, and replacing them with a relatively more modern crystal pickup, wooden tonearm and battery powered tube amp and speaker.

If you’d like to scan it, I can perform similar OCR and image extraction with it—I like the idea of having these articles (no matter how basic they are) for the benefit of people who are not already familiar with these things.

Larry had commented privately that the article could have had more information, but I think that by having it in a thread, any one of our members can provide more information to expand upon what was written, and eventually I think it will benefit someone.

Certainly, thanks to everyone here, I have seen machines and labels that I might not have gotten to see otherwise, learned a few things, and have gotten to listen to a lot of great music (that I might not have heard otherwise).

So I enjoy trying to return the favor with my computer skills.

— MordEth

[Neophone]

Larry,

That's a good primer for new collectors. I think we should move this to Tips & Tricks and also put it in the Archives. Thank you.

Regards,
John

[PhonoJack]

Hi Gang,

I just finished bringing a Columbia Q back to life. Overall the machine was in decent shape, but the governor was missing one of the three weighted balls and a spring. Good friend Amberola 1-A cautioned me to be sure the springs were matched, (exactly the same) and the weighted balls were equal weight. Thinking I could borrow one of the springs from another machine, I thought I’d have a temporary solution. But sure enough, there was some slightly noticeable vibration that the little Q couldn’t handle.

Interesting that the posted article “What Ails Your Old Phonograph” section “Is the governor sticking” gives this advice: (Caution, that’s not a political comment or discussion about the governor’s anatomy). The Three balls must be of equal weight and their springs of equal tension.

Sure enough, when I installed matched springs and matched weighted balls, that little Q quieted right down. Problem was the unmatched spring. Supposta know this stuff! Thanks for posting that primer, good stuff. Time to Ale the phonograph operator.

Have fun,

Jack

[Neophone]

Jack,

Yes that's one of those things that can't be stressed enough-always replace all three governor springs and if necessary all three weights. They must match.


Regards,
John

[Amberola 1-A]

Love that multi-speed probe that's depicted!!