Homemade Electric Phonograph

Benjamin_L · Post by **Benjamin_L** » Fri Sep 05, 2025 11:15 pm

That's so nice you're going to have to make your own tag.

Post by **emerson** » Sat Sep 06, 2025 5:42 pm

You got talent, You got talent, You got talent, -----who could ask for anything more

dzavracky · Post by **dzavracky** » Mon Sep 08, 2025 8:22 am

Benjamin_L wrote: Fri Sep 05, 2025 11:15 pm That's so nice you're going to have to make your own tag.

I thought about making a custom water slide decal for it.. but that can always be added later

David

dzavracky · Post by **dzavracky** » Mon Sep 08, 2025 8:24 am

howardpgh wrote: Fri Sep 05, 2025 10:19 am Nice work. From the perspective of your picture the arm looks too short and has no overhang, Maybe the arm geometry for a straight arm is different than one with an angled head.

What do you mean by "overhang"? It is entirely possible that the tonearm could've been placed in a better spot. When I was deciding where to put it I just made sure that it tracked to the center of the spindle. I also didn't have too much room for adjustment because of the size of the motorboard.

David

dzavracky · Post by **dzavracky** » Mon Sep 08, 2025 8:24 am

emerson wrote: Sat Sep 06, 2025 5:42 pm You got talent, You got talent, You got talent, -----who could ask for anything more

Thanks Emerson

Cheers,

David

Curt A · Post by **Curt A** » Mon Sep 15, 2025 4:27 pm

dzavracky wrote: Mon Sep 08, 2025 8:22 am
Benjamin_L wrote: Fri Sep 05, 2025 11:15 pm That's so nice you're going to have to make your own tag.
I thought about making a custom water slide decal for it.. but that can always be added later

David

David, nice job...
Order a custom brass tag from Etsy... https://www.etsy.com/market/custom_vintage_brass_tags

Curt

howardpgh · Post by **howardpgh** » Tue Sep 16, 2025 2:47 pm

dzavracky wrote: Mon Sep 08, 2025 8:24 am
howardpgh wrote: Fri Sep 05, 2025 10:19 am Nice work. From the perspective of your picture the arm looks too short and has no overhang, Maybe the arm geometry for a straight arm is different than one with an angled head.
What do you mean by "overhang"? It is entirely possible that the tonearm could've been placed in a better spot. When I was deciding where to put it I just made sure that it tracked to the center of the spindle. I also didn't have too much room for adjustment because of the size of the motorboard.

Overhang means that the point of the needle is in front of the spindle rather on top of it. You could achieve that by moving the arm's pivot closer to the edge of the platter or by lengthening the arm.

David

dzavracky · Post by **dzavracky** » Sat Jan 24, 2026 12:04 pm

Hello everyone!

I am excited to share that I have officially completed my second homemade electric phonograph. This time I used a victor induction disc motor and horseshoe magnet pickup (which is substantially nicer than the majestic pickup). I just got the pickup back from Mr. Azzalina yesterday and finished wiring it up to the sound system. Like the last one this has a mono RCA cable wired directly to the pickup which goes into the mixing board for my sound system. The mixing board is essential because it allows me to set the output to mono and have the music come out of both speakers!

Here is a youtube video for your enjoyment: https://youtu.be/vA1tgI2MYEo. The sound was recorded into the computer; but for anyone wondering it sounds just as good coming out of the speakers.

I do plan on doing a different finish on the cabinet in the future, but I am pretty swamped with other things at the moment... so for now it will have to do.

If anyone here wants an electric phonograph but doesn't want to deal with restoring a whole unit, I am considering making these available for sale. So if you want one... send me a PM and lets talk!

Cheers,

David