WANTED: Tone arm for VE4-7 X

[miker2001]

I am a very new collector and recently acquired this machine. It has a broken tone arm. The contraption (I want to say knuckle but the black metal part that holds the base of the arm, which also has the pivot for the arm) is broken. I am not even sure it is the correct base and arm in the machine. It is not operational now and they had used thick copper wire to make it work. (I immediately got rid of the wire.)

I do not want to spend a lot on fixing this machine but does someone have a picture or specifications of what the original arm was, so I can look for it on places like eBay? Or best of all worlds, someone has one they are willing to part with for a reasonable price.

The top of the black cast metal part is broken off. That would be where the pivot from the tone arm fits. I can send pictures if that would help.

My email address is: [email protected]

Thank you!

Mike Rosen

[alang]

Congratulations to your VE 4-7. It is a nice machine and sound great when properly serviced. Unfortunately the tonearm bracket was made from pot metal and is broken more often than not. So looking on eBay will most likely be futile. Fortunately these brackets are being reproduced and sold by different parts vendors. I recently bought one for my VV 4-3 from Ron Sitko and I'm very happy with it. Ron does not have a web site, you can only reach him by phone, best in the evening. His number is 518-371-8549.

Good luck!
Andreas

[miker2001]

Thanks for the tip. I just left a message for him.

Again, I dont know if the tone arm I have is correct. someone drilled new holes in the cabinet to accomodate it. When I reposition it to the original holes, there isnt enough swing for a record. Also, I cannot get the arm out of the 'socket.' I am not even sure it can be removed.

[alang]

Pictures would definitely help.

[miker2001]

Here are the photos.
The first one shows the original holes in the base if the cabinet. They drilled a second set to reposition the arm

Originally the cut off portion of the base faced the back of the cabinet

The next photo shows the arm installed as it would have been put in. The arm only swings that far to the left. It isn't enough to play a record.

The next photo shows the arm repositioned as if screwed into the cabinet with the new holes. It moves enough yo the left to play a record.

Final picture of the arm.

[miker2001]

The order of the pictures is reversed from the description I have given to them. I posted the pictures with my cellphone which 'auto' corrects and my fingers are not gerbil sized for the keyboard.

[alang]

I'll let others chime in, but I am pretty sure that this is not the correct tonearm, but maybe from a portable. If all the other hardware is nickel plated I am pretty sure the tonearm should be nickel plated as well. You could ask Ron Sitko if he has the correct tonearm as well. Or you could ask George Vollema at victroladoctor.com, he has huge warehouses full with spare parts.

Good luck
Andreas

[mattrx]

I cannot tell if the finish on the other metal parts is nickel or more of a gunmetal. If it is the gunmetal, I have a tone arm that is yours for postage, but you will still need to get a back bracket- Ron Sitko has them. I bought one from him myself last year.
Good Luck,
Matt