The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

"I should note that I did replace the stylus linkage with a mediocre wire, until I could get the proper type.
Could this have any effect on the playback of a cylinder and causing reproducer to skip?"

I would check to see that your homemade link is *exactly* the correct length. Eric Reiss says it should be 5/16" , inside the loops. Incorrect gasket thickness will also cause problems; these should be .031" (1/32"), also according to Reiss.

Knowing it is unlikely, but just to cover all the bases, does your Standard by any chance have the 2 minute/4 minute conversion? Playing one with the machine set for the other will induce skipping.

Clay

Chuck wrote: Do the test of playing a blank shiny spot
on a cylinder and then see what it does.

How much other work was done to it?
Does it perhaps have a reproduction, non-original hinge block?

Chuck

Wow, thank you so much for all that information! The reproducer definitely goes all the way to the left when set down on the flat and smooth part of the cylinder. It does appear that the fishtail weight did lean slightly to the left when I was holding it to examine it. I should note that I have taken it apart several times, to resolve some buzzing in the reproducer and also this issue of skipping. It seems that it actually stayed mostly centered about half of the time when it was on the flat part of the record some of the times after I rebuilt the reproducer, and other times after rebuilding it the fishtail weight would go all the way to the left.
Here are some photos of the hinge block, maybe I could try getting a different hinge block and see if that does anything? I also added a picture of the limit loop.

De Soto Frank wrote:Also, make sure the machine / bed-plate is sitting level. If not, this could conceivably cause the weight / limit-pin to skate to one side the limit-loop.

Ideally, the pin should be centered-in / never touch the limit loop during playing.

Does this happen with several different cylinders ?

Bed plate seems to be level, and it does indeed do this on all cylinders I play, including near perfect Edison wax cylinders.

Edisone wrote: I would check to see that your homemade link is *exactly* the correct length. Eric Reiss says it should be 5/16" , inside the loops. Incorrect gasket thickness will also cause problems; these should be .031" (1/32"), also according to Reiss.

I did actually make sure of that, it is not exact in length, but is very close. Also, in regards to the gaskets, the circular screw that holds the diaphragm in place as well as the gaskets seems to be slightly uneven in the screw thread. Could that be causing this?

FloridaClay wrote:Knowing it is unlikely, but just to cover all the bases, does your Standard by any chance have the 2 minute/4 minute conversion? Playing one with the machine set for the other will induce skipping.

Clay

It's just a regular two minute player, and has no conversion for four minute cylinders. Though I did once accidentally play a 4 minute Indestructible cylinder on it, it didn't sound too good!

Again a shot-in-the-dark kind of thing, but it kind of looks to me as though the pin in the hinge may be bent.

Clay

FloridaClay wrote:Again a shot-in-the-dark kind of thing, but it kind of looks to me as though the pin in the hinge may be bent.

Clay

Do you mean the pin in the hinge block, or in the pin in the limit loop?

The hinge block.

Clay

The pin in the hinge block is okay, as a was able to easily remove it. The hinge block itself seems to be the issue, as it appears to be slightly tilting the weight of the fishtail to the left. However, this tilting is so subtle that I am unsure as to whether it would effect the playing of a cylinder.