Any info on Pathé?

[oltractor]

Anybody knowledgeable on the Pathé? just picked up a VII serial number 90354, this is for vertical cut records right? what year may this be? are the needles different? anything I should know before working on the motor? Thanks in advance!

[Kevan]

You may get more help under the British and European Section of this forum or some pics of your machine may help too.

Kevan

[Curt A]

Put up a pic of the machine you bought. If it is a disc machine, with a Pathé reproducer, it will play all types of records. You need to have special needles for Pathé vertical cut records (sapphire tip) and diamond disc records (diamond needle). The reproducer rotates to play regular 78s with steel needles, as well. When the reproducer is laying flat with the diaphragm facing directly toward you, it is in the right position to play Pathés and diamond discs. When it is turned on edge with the diaphragm facing right, it is in the correct position for regular 78s... Hope this helps.

To play vertical cut Pathés, you need this needle: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Pathé-PHONOGRAP ... 1452900566

[52089]

Be aware that there are 2 issues with Pathé machines of this type, both regarding the tonearm.

First, the tonearm has a tendency to break off its mount, usually a black metal base. If this happens, sideways movement of the tonearm will have more friction than desired. Generally speaking, this is not something that is easily repaired.

Second, the reproducer joints are pot metal, so it's relatively unusual to find one "in the wild" where the reproducer will rotate freely. It's also not unusual for the thumbscrew holding the reproducer in place to be lost. If yours is stuck, you can try the freezer trick or the heat gun trick, but neither is guaranteed to work.

As was pointed out, Pathé vertical cut records (the ones that do not say "Actuelle" on the label" are played with a sapphire ball stylus that is semi-permanent. You can also get a diamond stylus that will play Edison Diamond Discs, but I do not recommend doing this. Lateral cut records will use standard one-play needles.

I like my one Pathé machine but I don't consider it to be essential to my collection. I do however have fun asking people to try to play the early center-start etched label Pathé discs and watching their reaction when I put the stylus down by the label instead of by the record's edge

[FloridaClay]

"Oltractor," you left out your location when you filled in your Forum info, so it does not show up on your postings and I don't know if you are in the US or in Europe or elsewhere.

Be that as it may, Pathé was in business in the US for a time in the U.S. There is a pretty good book with a lot of information called Pathé Records and Phonographs in America, 1914-1922 . It inclues copies of many ads of the day for phonographs and a huge amount of detail about Pathé records of the period. (Pathé records can come in a bewildering array of sizes and speeds.) Alas the book does not give a reference chart that I see on a quick flip through giving dates for machines made in, or exported to, the U.S., which would have been very useful. I believe your VII would predate Pathé's switch over to lateral cut in 1920. Maybe someone here will have more spicific info as to its date.

It appears that at least some Model VIIs were sold in the U.S. I don't know if they were sold in Europe as well. And it appears they were made for Pathé's vertical cut records. If your reproducer is mounted so that the plane of its face is across the line of the groves, rather than parallel to the groves, it is a vertical cut reproducer and will use a semi-permanent sapphire needle. Aftermarket adopters were widely sold to enable Pathé machines to play ordinary 78 rpm lateral cut records, and if you have one of these, then the plane of the reproducer will be the same as that of the record groves and it will use ordinary steel needles that should be used once and discarded.

As a side note, make sure your machine is level if you play vertical cuts. Their groves are shallow and the reproducers will tend to skate if the machine is not level.

Pathés are an interesting side-path in the history of phonographs in the U.S. I have a Model 75 and it is a good conversation piece when showing machines to visitors and does not sound at all bad.

Here is a picture of a typical Pathé vertical cut set up. The label on the record shown on the turntable is the most common design for vertical-cut Pathé records found in the U.S. These run at 80 rpm normally.

Clay

[oltractor]

I am in the USA, Pennsylvania, yes my tone arm is broke at the base, i will put a picture up in a day or so, i believe the reproducer is facing the front currently, thanks for all the info!

[oltractor]

here is a picture, not the best but. . .

[jsonova99]

On the subject of the Pathé VII, what is the knob on the rear left of the cabinet for? It appears to line up with the tone arm. I haven't taken mine apart yet, just got it this afternoon.

[De Soto Frank]

On the subject of the Pathé VII, what is the knob on the rear left of the cabinet for? It appears to line up with the tine arm. I haven't taken mine part yet, just got it this afternoon.

It is a volume control: the knob and stem are attached to a wooden slat with a hole bored in its face. When the knob is pushed-in, the hole completely aligns with the holes for the tone-arm and horn. As the knob is pulled-out, the solid part of the slat begins to cover the passageway, until it is completely blocked (not unlike a total eclipse of the sun). I believe the slat is faced with felt to help prevent air-leakage.


A number of machines used this type of "throttling" volume control.

I have a Pathéphone VII with this device, also a Silvertone upright with a similar device.

[jsonova99]

Thanks, I just cleaned up the cabinet and ordered a sapphire stylus for it, will be rebuilding the reproducer next. Will these use the same white tubing that a Victor Exhibition uses?