EMG Sales booklet.

[emgcr]

Well done Paul---it looks terrific ! Many thanks for the photos.

[Orchorsol]

Regarding the XII marks, I think these are possibly just assembly aids to ensure the desired orientation of grain etc. The chalk arrow also seems to have the same purpose. It occurs to me that the XII stamped into the case is a convenient way of numbering with a chisel.

On removing the motorboard from a Xb today I found similar marks (I am fitting a new electric motor).

Paul, well done on refurbishing the Mk VIII's tonearm base. That makes total sense - I remember noticing a distinct droop in previous photos of that machine, indicative of the problem! And congratulations on such a beautiful restoration of the Xa case.

[ALVES]

Thank you

Its a pleasure to put these things back into sensible order and enjoy looking at and listening to them.

Thats interesting. I wonder what the arrows mean .I see your motor board is ply . There appears to be no consistency . The VIII is all Oak .The Xa is all oak except the top and the very thin bottom panels .Yet I have seen pictures of VIII models with ply decks too.It makes sense as solid timber is prone to shrinking and the VIII shows evidence of that.

The tonearm problem was very strange .The cone turning was totally absent from the inside !

There is a strange phenomenon with the tonearm of the xa which is totally free of wobble and swings well .. When the machine sits as far as I can tell basically level ,the tonearm swings back and hits the right hand wall when let go .It takes quite a tilt out of true to stop it ,and I cannot see any fault ...

With regards to the designating number of my model .Am I correct in calling it an Xa or is it a X with larger horn ...or an improved IX with a large horn ? Its very confusing

[Loudbass]

Superb job so far, well done! I think it is safe to refer to your EMG as a Mark Xa. The horn size is standard for the Xa...the X was a slightly different (weaker) design. If you want to differentiate it from other Xas you could add 'with later style base' or 'with improved Mark IX style base', but it is essentially a Mark Xa.

[Orchorsol]

Superb job so far, well done! I think it is safe to refer to your EMG as a Mark Xa. The horn size is standard for the Xa...the X was a slightly different (weaker) design. If you want to differentiate it from other Xas you could add 'with later style base' or 'with improved Mark IX style base', but it is essentially a Mark Xa.

Agreed.

Regarding the tonearm bias, can you determine whether the tonearm base is parallel with the motorboard? If not, might it be possible to shim the conduit fixings somewhere at either end to true it up?

Andy

[ALVES]

Xa it is then.

Looking at the tonearm it all appears to be as it should be .
The bearing part of the tone arm screws down onto the cast conduit that is held at the other end by the flange that takes the horn.
When screwed down it is then tight to the deck and three screws keep it in place .So it doesn't appear to be out of alignment .
Its very odd.

[emgcr]

Looking at your photos, it would appear that the rear deck-board is made from solid timber---not ply---and has warped ? This might well be the reason for your difficulty and you may have to put up with wedges under the feet of the case to compensate.

Start by getting the case level from back to front as well as from side to side.

By how much do you have to tilt the case to achieve a nil bias on the tonearm swing ?

Are you tilting back to front or side to side or a combination of both ?

Check also that the turntable is level in both directions. Remember that turntable level can be varied by the pressure against the rubber spacers of the three screws below holding the motor to the deck-board.

Don't forget that it is not necessarily a perfect level of the case shown by a bubble you are looking for. The ultimate proof is to use the reverse side of a smooth single-sided record when the correct situation you are aiming for will be when you are able to place the soundbox with (sharp) needle at any point when the record is in motion and not see it move from where it is initially placed. It can sometimes take a long time to achieve this but it is of the utmost importance to minimise record and needle wear.

[ALVES]

The turntable level at the moment is out of true , but thats another factor to be sorted later when i get it running well .

Just did a quick check on levels. Unless I am missing something in my face there is no apparent warpage or any thing obvious at all .If the deck is out of level in the cabinet it was like it from new, and it actually may be but by mm only .

As I said with the cabinet reasonably level both ways it swings back to the the RH side of cabinet, to the start position .

To make the arm stay where it is put I need to chock up the RH side by about 1 cm ,which then makes the cabinet out of true .

If i was using steel needles i would be more worried but still I dont like it

[emgcr]

One cm is a lot but not unknown. If I were you, I would continue by adjusting the turntable level so that it is as near to being parallel to the deck-board as possible---same distance between turntable and deck-board all the way round etc---and then do the one-sided record test. That is what really matters in the end. If the case is out of level and there is a nil bias on the needle when you are actually playing the record then that is where everything has to be.

[ALVES]

I will check it all properly at the weekend when I replace the springs again ,J sleep is sending out replacements . I think I have a single sided record or two somewhere .

The motor was mounted with pairs of quite thin washer type rubbers that were in very good condition .