Pathé - need help or advice.

[brianu]

by that, I just meant that I think a lot of the suggestions are overkill. the pot metal adapters can be a pain when they expand inside those earlier tonearms, but with the more standard, later Pathé tonearm/reproducer assembly on your machine, the quicker, more basic techniques - such as the product you showed photos of above - should work just fine... in the sense that you shouldn't have to freeze or pour freshly brewed tea over anything... although maybe the tea would help with the frozen columbia parts... they always gave me trouble too and I've yet to find a consistent way of dealing with them that worked.

[briankeith]

I was just busting on you brianu about the Lava posting. The last two phonographs I bought have big time tonearm problems, especially the Columbia and now my new Pathé III. I am having no luck whatsoever freeing up these two frozen tonearms! Like I stated before - I hate pot-metal! Brian Keith

[briankeith]

FINALLY after using a commercial heat gun, and soaking the Pathé arm joint with "PB Blaster" overnight, the arm joint is finally free. Then some 400 grit wet & dry sandpaper and more of the "PB Blaster" to get a really smooth & free moving tonearm joint. So you were right brianu - just gotta use some basic techniques, elbow grease, and take it very, very slowly. BUT unfortunately that heat and "PB Blaster" method has not worked on my Columbia Grafanola tone arm as I still cannot get the reproducer off the arm. Frozen like a rock! Or should I say "Iceberg" !! I guess i'll have to find a good tonearm with a reproducer on EBay for the Columbia machine.
Darn!

[alang]

Maybe a combination of a night in the freezer and your heat gun might be another option for the Columbia tonearm? I also had to work on one for weeks again and again until suddenly it came loose. I agree, it's a royal pain but beats buying a new one...
Andreas

[New Owner]

Your video of the Pathé got sampled in the beginning of this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsUsURAj0y0
To say the least, that was the most damn impressive thing I've seen on the internet. And the weirdest. This is coming from a guy who makes these crazy videos.

[squeeker7]

I'm restoring a Edison B-19 which was trash but coming along nicely. Just reveneered the top.

I had a reproduction grill made from grampstreasures. Beautiful job. Takes a few weeks but well worth the wait. He even included the cloth.

[52089]

Just bought this oak lidded Pathé model III at our local town-wide yard sale for $65.00, after an hour of "jawing" with the seller. After a big time cleaning and motor lubrication / adjustments, etc, this Pathé runs very well and is very, very, loud. I got it so cheap because it is missing the entire front grille which hides the wood internal horn. I'm not sure if this Pathé uses a metal grille like many of the Edison Amberola machines, or a wood grille. (or if it had any grille cloth) I carefully checked what would be the slip-in-the-groove dimensions of the missing grille. It would be 12 ¾ inches wide, 6 ⅜ inches tall, and aprox. an ⅛ inch thick, if it were made of wood. Probably the same width & height if it were made of metal. BUT the cabinet looks like it is grooved pretty thick, most likely for a wood grille of some sort. Any thoughts where I might find, or someone who can make a replacement oak or metal grille? I'm not sure what the cut-outs would even look like? Thanks, Brian Keith

I just bought a Model 3 Pathé and I can confirm that the grille is indeed wood and has a cloth. I was not able to bring it home with me but I will have it at the end of November and will post pictures then.

Like yours, my tonearm is frozen, albeit in the lateral position. I'm looking forward to getting that freed up.

I did notice that the tonearm is essentially loose, i.e., it can be lifted right off the mount without any resistance. Is that true for yours as well?

[VintageTechnologies]

I did notice that the tonearm is essentially loose, i.e., it can be lifted right off the mount without any resistance. Is that true for yours as well?

I have a Pathé table model that had the same problem as you describe. There is a pot metal insert fitted into the tonearm where it connects to the base. Too often, the cross-member of the insert breaks off leaving just a pot metal ring inside the tonearm. So now, the tonearm does not swivel smoothly on the vertical pin that projects from the base; it merely rests on the base but can still play that way until some repair is made. Pathé tonearms show up frequently on eBay, where I found an extremely nice one intact with the base for $20, but of course I had to replace the hardened gaskets and buy a stylus. The picture that I took from the underside of the base should give a clearer idea what the tonearm insert looks like.

[briankeith]

I had an oak grille made by sending out my "very broken" original grille to Gramps... I had to fiddle with mixing different stains until I got a perfect match to the old darkened oak finish. The little that remained of the original grille cloth was a very very dark red silk type of material which I was able to get pretty close to with the help of my better half. After rebuilding the Pathé reproducer and re-greasing the motor, I can honestly say that this is the "loudest" talking machine in my collection. It is so loud that you have to back away from this machine when playing a good clean record. It is also pretty big for a table-top machine and can easily play both sides of a 78 with one good winding! I always loved Pathé machines and now own several, disc and cylinder models.

[FloridaClay]

First place to try for an original grille would be George Vollema at Great Lakes Antique Phonograph ([email protected]).

Clay