Slip in horn “sag”….

[Flying Dutchman]

Hello fellow phono folk!

I’ve got a schoolhouse Victrola with the large slip in horn.
I know as we all age, certain parts of us tend to sag…
I cannot accept that fate for my Victrola!!!
Any ideas on how to combat the more than 1” sag I get when I place the horn in the collar…..? It bothers me to the point of posting for ideas. Anyone else bothered by sag and found an ingenious way to fix it??
Thank you!!!

[Phono-Phan]

You can try to add a little piece of masking tape around the base of the elbow. It should take much to tighten up the sag and it won't be seen.

[Flying Dutchman]

Yes that’s one way…
Any nickel finish tape out there…lol

There is chrome tape out there…

[Phono-Phan]

You won't see the tape when inserted into the base. You can always use clear tape if you don't want to see it when it is removed from the base.

[Flying Dutchman]

Very true. I’ll give that try. Thank you.
Simple fix.

[Roaring20s]

You can also try placing the tape on the inner portion of the bracket itself.

James.

[Flying Dutchman]

Yes! Another simple fix !

[JerryVan]

The sag is usually due to the end of the elbow no longer being round or straight. The bottom edge of the elbow, towards the rear, usually gets pushed in. Not necessarily easy to do, but if the end could be trued up, I think it would fit a lot better. I can't help thinking that any kind of tape would just slide around and bunch up.

[Flying Dutchman]

Yeah I’ve been thinking of trying spread the horn elbow slightly and evenly to get a tight fit.
You are correct that the rear part of the elbow is slightly “dented” or pushed in due to the weight the horn carries.
There must be a spreader tool or some sort capable of doing this safely…
There are pipe spreaders right…but those are for exhaust tips…

The elbow is a bit out of shape to be perfect…

[JerryVan]

There are pipe spreaders right…but those are for exhaust tips…

That doesn't necessarily mean that they wouldn't work. You have to be extremely careful however, that you don't break the elbow open. If you applied some mild pressure with the expander, then lightly tapped the distorted sections of the elbow with a small hammer, you should be able to bring that section back into shape. You might be able to do the same if you had access to a 6 jaw lathe chuck that you could expand within the elbow.