WANTED: Brunswick Ultona Parts-FOUND

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carylee
Victor O
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WANTED: Brunswick Ultona Parts-FOUND

Post by carylee »

Howdy, Been working on our Brunswick 207 and while rebuilding the reproducer, I suddenly realized how brittle some of the parts are! Particularly the ring that has to be removed to service the gaskets and mica disk. It's broken!

So, I need to find some Ultona parts so I can get ours working again. And I guess it wouldn't hurt to have spare stuff for this around. Our Ultona is a single, with just the Pathé/steel needle side, but I'd probably be interested in any Ultona stuff. Also need the base that the tone arm sits on, the part that screws to the wood. Thank you!
Last edited by carylee on Sun Nov 17, 2013 7:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"Before we start, the Steinway people have asked me to say that I'm playing a Baldwin piano tonight.." -Victor Borge

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Torjazzer
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Re: WANTED: Brunswick Ultona Parts

Post by Torjazzer »

Have you tried ebay? I just did a quick search and found this.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-The-Bru ... 3f2b1b9556
This is a very good price for this item. I paid a lot more for mine. It will fit perfectly into your 207.
Ask the seller if all the pieces move freely, if the string for the Edison side is intact.
Also, be on the lookout for a sapphire stylus for playing Pathé discs. The original new old stock would be best. They will cost around $50 if you can find one.

phonojim
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Re: WANTED: Brunswick Ultona Parts

Post by phonojim »

I have a complete nickel plated brass tonearm with a two sided Ultona head. It has a good Edison stylus and I am in the process of rebuilding it. I also have parts heads so I might be able to find a good ring for you. I'll dig out the parts and PM you asap.
Ron Haring is a good source for Pathé styli for Ultonas.

Jim

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carylee
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Re: WANTED: Brunswick Ultona Parts

Post by carylee »

Torjazzer wrote:Have you tried ebay? I just did a quick search and found this.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-The-Bru ... 3f2b1b9556
This is a very good price for this item. I paid a lot more for mine. It will fit perfectly into your 207.
Ask the seller if all the pieces move freely, if the string for the Edison side is intact.
Also, be on the lookout for a sapphire stylus for playing Pathé discs. The original new old stock would be best. They will cost around $50 if you can find one.

Howdy,

Thank you! Yes, I'm actually watching that one at present. We spend some time on Ebay as we have some collectible glass for sale there, and I'm always looking for parts for Aladdin mantle lamps. There's a few others I'm looking at too. Missed a double "parts" model reproducer head that sold last night on Ebay for like $12 including shipping...had to get to a choir concert at my son's school and it slipped my mind...arrgghhh!!! (I find more and more stuff seems to be "slipping my mind" as I get older!) The only problem I see with getting another one is that the pot metal ring seems to be a problem on a lot of them..I'm going to have to try all the tricks...freezer..etc. to get that ring out without breaking it. I'm still kind of surprised that they cast that ring, but I supposed back in the teens and 20's casting was cheaper than a stamped washer. You don't suppose the casting has anything to do with tone quality? I'm a total novice at the engineering behind these things, but find them fascinating.
"Before we start, the Steinway people have asked me to say that I'm playing a Baldwin piano tonight.." -Victor Borge

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carylee
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Re: WANTED: Brunswick Ultona Parts

Post by carylee »

phonojim wrote:I have a complete nickel plated brass tonearm with a two sided Ultona head. It has a good Edison stylus and I am in the process of rebuilding it. I also have parts heads so I might be able to find a good ring for you. I'll dig out the parts and PM you asap.
Ron Haring is a good source for Pathé styli for Ultonas.

Jim

Thank you! Being that I'm new to this, I haven't found any good sources for parts and pieces yet. Our little town is pretty light on interest in antique tech. Recommendations from more experienced folks mean a lot! I suppose Ron Haring would have the gasket tubing as well? I thought I had found a local source for gasket material, but I don't think the stuff I got will work. I contacted a fellow on Ebay about a gasket kit that said in the description it would work for Brunswick, just to double check, and got a reply that said it WOULDN'T work and that whomever told me it would was wrong! I politely pointed out that it said so right in his ad, and asked if he had any other stuff that WOULD work..and haven't heard back. Then in the same reply it went on to talk about how poorly designed the Ultona head was and all that. Well, maybe it WAS poorly designed for working on them a hundred years later..but Brunswick probably didn't think so a century ago! Hardy har. It's not like the tech lasted much longer to invest tons of money into R&D with electricity right around the corner. One of my other passions is Aladdin Mantle Lamps..a type of non-pressurized kerosene lamp that uses a huge, complicated burner. That tech was the victim of George Westinghouse's "killer alternating current" as well..so even though Aladdin is still around and makes new lamps and parts for a lot of their old lamps, it's not like they are spending hundreds of thousand towards developing the next revolution in kerosene lighting. So the quirks that existed in them pre-WW2 are pretty much right there intact in the new ones. We all gotta play the hand we're dealt to enjoy our eccentricities, but I don't need someone to tell me I'm kicking a dead horse! LOL!
"Before we start, the Steinway people have asked me to say that I'm playing a Baldwin piano tonight.." -Victor Borge

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rizbone
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Re: WANTED: Brunswick Ultona Parts

Post by rizbone »

I think someone is giving one of these away (about 5 posts prior to this one).

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carylee
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Re: WANTED: Brunswick Ultona Parts

Post by carylee »

rizbone wrote:I think someone is giving one of these away (about 5 posts prior to this one).
10-4. I PM'd, but haven't heard back.
"Before we start, the Steinway people have asked me to say that I'm playing a Baldwin piano tonight.." -Victor Borge

phonojim
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Location: Mid - Michigan

Re: WANTED: Brunswick Ultona Parts

Post by phonojim »

Ron Sitko has the gasket material. It is actually the same size as that used in the early Columbia Analyzing reproducer. Call him at 518-371-8549. Tell him you need it for an Ultona and he'll know how much to send you. IIRC it's 50 - 75 cents per foot.

Jim

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Henry
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Re: WANTED: Brunswick Ultona Parts

Post by Henry »

Carylee, I have two Aladdins (vintage mid-1970s) in my Adirondack camp (no electricity!), as well as a 1950 Servel gas refrigerator rigged for propane. All work splendidly as designed. Have you priced Aladdin mantles lately? I should have bought a gross as an investment 10 years ago! Actually, I did buy a dozen back then @$5, and now I'm glad I did. We also have propane mantle lights, but prefer the softer light of the Aladdins. If you're careful to always start a cold lantern with a low flame and let the chimney draft heat up the mantle, you'll rarely char one---they're too valuable!

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carylee
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Re: WANTED: Brunswick Ultona Parts

Post by carylee »

Henry wrote:Carylee, I have two Aladdins (vintage mid-1970s) in my Adirondack camp (no electricity!), as well as a 1950 Servel gas refrigerator rigged for propane. All work splendidly as designed. Have you priced Aladdin mantles lately? I should have bought a gross as an investment 10 years ago! Actually, I did buy a dozen back then @$5, and now I'm glad I did. We also have propane mantle lights, but prefer the softer light of the Aladdins. If you're careful to always start a cold lantern with a low flame and let the chimney draft heat up the mantle, you'll rarely char one---they're too valuable!
Hi Henry,

Sounds like our backcountry/vacation place. It's off the grid but we've got a small solar electric system with battery storage and inverter to run some lights and a small TV, charge phones, etc. We've got a 1947 Servel out there that runs on propane, and it works great too. And two Aladdins as well! (Got about 4 working Aladdins at home, with a bunch of pieces/parts) We've got a 1941 Servel on natural gas here at home, it's out in the back half of the shed. We use it as overflow refrigerated storage for milk, juice, eggs, (and beer!). Out in one of the back sheds I have an old Norge gas fridge from the 1960's that has a Servel refrigeration system in it. I keep it as a spare. I don't know if I could find it again, I once had some Norge brochures that I downloaded from the internet that advertised the Norge Pavilion at a World's Fair..they had an entire gas home, including wild stuff like gas fired molding units that would make disposable plates, bowls, and plastic "silverware" out of sheet plastic, as needed, right in your own home! Crazy "modern" stuff for the "Home of Tomorrow".

As for pricing mantles...well, I like those old Aladdins so much I became a dealer out here, so yep, I've priced 'em. But I've not been using them long enough to remember $5 mantles. I did run into some old stock at a store once and picked up what they had left for something like $3 each..but they were priced with tags from the 1970's or 80's. I keep those in my private stash of Aladdin stuff! Fiddling with them over the years I've had at least one lamp "runaway" and flame up with a fire that I couldn't put out..it was one of the old Brazilian Aladdin burners made of steel, and we were at the backcountry place, which is about 8000 feet, high elevation affects their operation too. Before I got the fire out, (I picked up the whole lamp, fire and all, and carried it outside) the dang thing melted all the solder in the burner and practically fell apart. You are correct about starting them low. About a 25% brightness seems to work, because they get quite a bit brighter as they warm up. I've got a few old Miller, Rayo, B&H and Rochester round wick lanterns too. They are much more forgiving to operate than the Aladdins, and put out good light, but man, they sure burn up the kerosene! And heat up the house in the summer! Wow! I always joke with folks that's why you see everyone out on the porch at night in paintings of 100 year old homestead scenes..it was too dang hot inside with the lamps burning!
"Before we start, the Steinway people have asked me to say that I'm playing a Baldwin piano tonight.." -Victor Borge

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