Columbia Viva-tonal model 710

[jimmantwo]

No evidence of a brake ever being on mine either. My center door is much lighter - I like the darker version. Where is the serial number on these?

[FloridaClay]

Where is the serial number on these?

I have not found a serial number anywhere. Possibly on a now long gone paper label somewhere?

Clay

[ImperialGuardsman]

Thanks much Guardsman. That hardware is not present on my 710 and no indication it ever was, e.g., no place on the tone arm where the bar would have been attached. Perhaps (?) the auto stops were added as an improvement at some later point during the production run.

Clay

No problem, I just wish I was home and could get you some detailed pictures of the system. It works very well. It is shame that there isn't more documentation on these nice machines.

I have noticed that the tone arms on these have quite the mass to them (along with the reproducer). Could this be an attempt to improve bass response as Greg Boganz mentioned in a thread about EMG or Expert 4 spring reproducers?

[larryh]

Best I can recall, although its been about 50 years since I owned this model, is that it did have that distinctive darker door.

Larry

[OrthoSean]

My 711, basically the same as the 710 with the exception of the motor, also has the darker door. It also has the automatic stop.

Sean

[FloridaClay]

I'm thinking the 711 must have been introduced a bit later. It was not mentioned when the original series that included the 710 was released in 1926. See attach. (The file name that ends in 21 is the opening page.)

By the way, what motor does the 711 have?

Clay

[OrthoSean]

I would guess the 711 was later as well, I think I've seen mention of them in the Talking Machine World, though. I wonder if they were both sold at the same time? At any rate, the 711 has a Garrard motor, a rather substantial one at that. Why Columbia resorted to using that motor is beyond me, but it's a nice sturdy motor! The thing is, there's no other difference between the two.

Sean

[FloridaClay]

Thanks Sean. I was just curious. I can usually check The Columbia Phonograph Companion, Vol. II for details on the Columbia disc machines, but the 711 is not in it. It goes from the 710 to the 721.

Clay

[FloridaClay]

I found something on-line that indicates the 711 came out a year later, in 1927, at the same price as the 710--$175, so I am guessing it replaced the 710. That may have been when the stop was added.

Clay

[marcapra]

yes, in the mid 20s they were into tone blended finishes with different colors. To the poster who thinks his Viva Tonal did not come with an automatic brake, look under the turntable on the upper right area and look for three small holes. Those holes are for the brake mechanism. It's hard for me to believe that Columbia put these out without it, but I could be wrong. Unlike Victrola and Edison, the braking occurs under the motor board and has nothing to do with the turntable. The Columbia mechanism is a little more complicated than Brunswick, Victrola, or Edison with two braking levers. There is the semi-auto brake on the upper right that you have to cock open for the turntable to start. Then there is the start/stop lever on the lower left. Some owners just leave the start/stop lever on start and start the machine with the cocking lever.