Brunswick Panatrope AZ-944- early all electric phonograph

[Green Mountain Bill]

Hello All: I recently brought home an interesting all electric Brunswick Panatrope, model AZ-944. This machine is in a low-boy cabinet BUT there is a crank hole/escutcheon on the right side. It is clearly a factory-assembled machine and not a dealer or home brew because of the way the RCA amp is mounted. The machine is complete except for a rear hatch cover and a reproducer front cover (looking for these) but I am still puzzled by the machine. Is this an early electric machine rushed into a leftover spring motor cabinet? Also, there is a phone jack hanging from a cable with no obvious place to mount it unless it had been attached to the missing rear hatch cover.

Please let me know what you can about it and, if you have one, I would like to know what the reproducer cover and rear hatch cover look like.

Regards,
Green Mountain Bill
-12 this morning: winter has finally arrived]

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[Oceangoer1]

Beautiful! And very puzzling indeed!

[EarlH]

I can help you out with a cover for your pick-up if you want. The cover on the back really needs to be more or less a frame with screen on it as those sets put out a lot of heat. Especially if you use the ballast tube. I have a ballast tube for the amplifier if you need one. I have the larger version of one of those and they really are great sounding. Below is a link to mine playing a record and you'll be able to see what the cover looks like. They are all the same (at least all of the one's I've seen) Don't think that little speaker doesn't sound really good, and it also has more than enough volume for the average ballroom! (I read that in an ad about these Brunwick's) You'll probably have to copy & paste the link in. Service information on those things is kind of hard to find, but Victor used the same components, so you can find it in the early RCA service notes. There are variations on those amplifiers though, and yours is one of the early one's with that tone arm and volume control. It's certainly worth restoring though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0X8M3A-oBw

[Springmotor70]

In 1925 Brunswick used some of their console cases including the "Tudor", the "Raleigh" and as your example; The "Stratford". Your model is a P-3 or Panatrope 3. the AZ-944 is the amp made by RCA. Brunswick pushed for RCA to create their first AC amp to debut the "all electric" phonograph. Your Amp will need to be rebuilt. As Earl Mentioned there is a missing rear cover with a screen. All of the tubes are also missing or at least not shown in your photos. Besides replacing the tubes after rebuilding you will also need the chimney for the ballast tube. It vents the heat safely out of the back and provides the draft whereas the heat from the ballast tube pulls room air through the amp to keep it from over-heating. I also see that the wires have been removed from the pick up. That stepped volume control is notorious for going bad and may need to be reworked with a modern replacement.

Brunswick also put the P-3 into their De-Luxe cases. I have one in the "Georgian" case. It was set up (as yours) originally for acoustic reproduction but was never fitted and left the factory as an electric panatrope. In my case the motor was always electric but one of the needle cup holes were plugged with matching walnut and the stepped volume control installed in the vicinity.

Your machine is an early piece of electric phonograph history made in the first few months of their availability.

[Green Mountain Bill]

Dear Springmotor: Thanks so much for the interesting information. Yes, I have the tubes, chimney, spare tubes, and a tester. I collect radios too. Can you tell me how the back panel handled the mounted male AC plug- just a hole in the frame? I have several of those early power cords of the same type and components to make more of them and even some brass wondow screen and some spare little ball catches to keep it latched, so I just need to know what the frame looked like. And what about the phone socket? Where could that have been mounted?

Regards, GMB

[Green Mountain Bill]

Dear Earl: Thanks for you kind offers. I sent Pm about those.

Your machine looks and sounds great! I hope mine comes out as well.

There looks like something was threaded onto the side power switch (see pic) because the end of the shaft now has only the threads. If your machine has the same setup, please tell me should be on the end of that shaft. I can make a brass ball if that's what should be there.

Thanks, GMB

[Springmotor70]

GMB,
Yes - just a hole in the frame for the receptacle plug ti fit through.
It was located in a the more solid part off the frame with a screen opening cut out in the the center. I thought I saw a jack laying in one of your photos. The P-3 could also power a DC radio receiver and play it through the speaker. I wonder if there is a pull or turn switch hooked to what would have been the horn damper slide on the of the machine. The end in the photos reminds of the bakelite knobed switches I've seen in similar places.

Good Luck!
Darren

[Green Mountain Bill]

Darren: YES, you must be correct. That hanging phone socket must be for that and the shift switch on the crank hole end of the cabinet must be to select radio or phono. THE schematic will tell me, if I ever find one.

Good work and thanks.

If only someone would come up with a photo of the back panel. I like things to be as authentic as possible.

Regards,
GMB

[Springmotor70]

Bill,
I can post a photo of the back of one of my Panatropes. I have a P-3 in the Georgian case. which is bigger than yours but may have had a similar back. It uses small brass T-handled turn locks. I do not have the back for my P-11 but I regularly reach around the back pull the 210 and drop it back in once the power hits the grid. This amp is notoriously hard on tubes. So having the back on would be rough.

I have several videos on Youtube of this amp and speaker as well...
It can fill the entire room with sound - the whole house actually...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrTbn_4hP3o

Thanks, Darren

[Green Mountain Bill]

Darrin: Great machine. Your tonearm and volume control look like the same style as those on my machine. Does it have the same amp?

If back might be similar, I would very much appreciate a photo of it.

Thanks,
Bill