The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

EdgarFB wrote: Wed Feb 21, 2024 9:06 am
As I only have room to keep one on display I did consider swapping the turntable from the 101, but its slightly deeper and the chrome just isn't as bright.

The reason the plating on your 101 is not as bright as your 102 is that it is nickel. Only the last 101's had chrome.

EdgarFB wrote: Wed Feb 21, 2024 10:51 am

I did find these on ebay but the seller didn't fill me with confidence about the material Anyone got experience with these? I'm guessing full synthetic maybe? They have that regular banding I've seen on synthetic felt.

Yes, they are synthetic and look terrible! (been there, done that) and as well as being far too shiny, they are too thin and have a nasty "light/dark" effect when the turntable is spinning.

Barry

The turntables of 101 and 102 are different, and might not be interchangeable. Besides that their appearance is also noticeable different

Orchorsol wrote: Wed Feb 21, 2024 11:44 am

JerryVan wrote: Wed Feb 21, 2024 11:28 amHonestly, if it were mine, there's no way that I would touch that original felt, oddly faded or not.

Agreed!

Ditto. What you really miss instead, since the felt is faded with the outline of the record tray, is the record tray itself. I never really tried to find one for my 102, are they so scarce?

Marco Gilardetti wrote: Thu Feb 22, 2024 5:01 am Ditto. What you really miss instead, since the felt is faded with the outline of the record tray, is the record tray itself. I never really tried to find one for my 102, are they so scarce?

Marco, these trays have also a felt mat, so availability depends on the color. The brown one is easy to find, every now and then one shows up for sale in UK eBay, but the other colors are less commonly found. I bought a blue one years ago, when the UK was still in the EU and there were not customs to pay, but probably today I would not buy it, as shipping costs from the UK increased a lot and on top of it there is a 20% import tax. Moreover the tray serves only to complete the machine, but otherwise is quite useless, I would not think of utilizing it to store records (or more generically, I would not store records in any portable machine).

On the other subject, replacing the felt on the turntable, I agree with you, I would keep the original, as it is still integral, with no holes or stains, and only has fading marks, but this is up to the owner to decide.

Well, it was going so well. Spring removed, cleaned, greased and replaced. But har to trim back thr retaining clip/ring to get it back on... and took it back just a mm too far. Now it doesn't stay in place. So! On to my next question - need a source for a replacement retaining clip/wire or a suitable material to make a new one.

Am I right in thinking this is just regular 16 gauge copper wire? It doesn't look like anything special, and can be reshaped by hand.

EdgarFB wrote: Thu Feb 22, 2024 5:40 pm Am I right in thinking this is just regular 16 gauge copper wire? It doesn't look like anything special, and can be reshaped by hand.

I've only had to deal with one of these once before, and it was a different model of HMV motor. However I seem to remember it was sprung, and I guess is made from spring steel. Different thicknesses of this are sold as piano wire.

The one in my 101 is definitely steel, but this one is a copper colour, like a penny. Wondering if maybe its some sort of coated steel.

Maybe you could try using a suitable coloured shoe or fabric dye to mitigate the sun damage? That way you can improve the look and keep the original.