University is finally over and I'm heading back home. I need to think of a way to pack my 1928 Columbia portable for transit in the car. I've wedged some plastic foam under the turntable to stop any undue pressure on the break pad, but other than that the only thing I can think of is to wrap the tonearm in something.
Has anybody got any experience of shipping these things? I know they were designed to be portable
If you're just transporting it in the car you shouldn't need any padding at all, unless you're planning to drive over some very rough roads. Wrap the outside to keep it from rubbing against other things, remove the soundbox if it's not firmly on the tone arm and everything should be ok. One caution- take the needles out of the needle cup or they will find their way out and make a mess.
Yes, I normally don't do anything too special for a portable, unless it's going through the postal service.
I usually let the motor run right down, then give the crank 2 or 3 rotations to keep a little bit of pressure on the centre of the spring/s so they dont unhook from the centre arbor from vibrations.
Then I remove the crank & secure the crank on the clips provided, and secure the tonearm in it's clip.
If the tonearm is a little loose in it's clip, I'll pack screwed up newspaper around it in case it comes out of the clip, so it cant bounce around, or if the tonearm is pot metal, I'll remove the soundbox first to take the added weight off the arm.
Then they get wrapped in a towel or small travelling rug & placed on the floor or seat. I guess if you have a long way to travel, you could then box it too, with paper or something around it, to stop it moving in the box.
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