The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Bart, I instantly recognized it because of that crack. It was caused by my son. The water damage on the lid was already there when I bought it, though the veneer wasn't lifting. It also didn't have an escutcheon in later years, so that must have been a typical Nootenboomian bodge. It fell off and I never came to re-attach it.
As mentioned in another thread, it was working perfectly well when Ko bought it together with my complete record collection in 2007. He probably sold it on to Uwe Volmecke with the rest of the records, after they had been cherry picked for the rare items, of which there were a lot.
I bought it in the late 80s for 300 gulden from Henne, who was then the resident technician at the Weergever.

Update: I eventually got into the 5B with a Dremel tool and a diamond drill bit. I was able to zap out the mysterious metal gunk, and now the needles sit correctly. I didn't do a perfect job--I nicked a tiny bit of material at the very front of the needle bar, live and learn--but the needles definitely sit better now--matching the angle of the 5A.

The diaphragm made a VERY loud sound whenever I was actively drilling it there! Made me nervous, but everything went OK. The sound actually helped me to know what I was doing, since I couldn't see in there while drilling.