The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

chunnybh wrote:I'm surprised there are no comments on this article. To me, it's a revelation.

Interesting to see the type-written pre-publication version - some months ago a friend gave me a photocopy of the published version (with the same hand sketches, almost indecipherably tiny). I remember noticing that the author makes the odd minor mistake, e.g. regarding the Cascades. The points about tuning seem to concur well with what I've gratefully gleaned from Ian Maxted, surely a grand master of the art!

Sorry Chunny and thanks for the post---you are right but that's just it----the reply cannot be made in 5 minutes---it is a big discussion which needs time to take seriously. Hope I can do so in the not too distant future...............

What is the material of the "jam pot" gasket ?

Graham, I have an original Expert 4-spring s/box for sale with the same jam pot gasket! It's pictured in the Yankee Trader sub-forum. Note, the peculiar chamfered corner to the base of the soundbox. What were they playing at? Trying to reduce mass?

Has anyone else attempted to print that article from the pdf file? For some reason I'm only getting a faint blurry image, nothing at all like what appears clearly on the screen!

Steve wrote:Has anyone else attempted to print that article from the pdf file? For some reason I'm only getting a faint blurry image, nothing at all like what appears clearly on the screen!

Just tried - it works OK for me!

The chamfer on your soundbox is interesting. Almost as if it's been cut off to clear the record at shallow needle angles, but at too shallow an angle it's the lengthwise spring that would ground first on my Expert soundboxes, so that can't be the story unless other dimensions are unusual...?

Hello Steve,

I know---it is all rather confusing isn't it ? I too have a similar animal on my Senior which, I am assured, was also last tuned by Phillips (aren't they all ?!). It too has the "jam pot" gasket and does indeed play very well in general. I have found it too heavy on occasion for very highly modulated records leading to needle breakdown and have had to change to a lighter two spring.

Yours is unusual in that there is no "Expert" and "E M Ginn" script and the guard looks a little heavier than mine. I am sure Andy is correct regarding the chamfer which will allow some greater angulation and therefore greater tracking flexibility---the great benefit of all our rubber-mounted soundboxes. The mass is already pretty great, so not a significant amount lost there I should have thought. My own is less wide at the platform dimension, thus chamfering is unnecessary.

Like you, I am not sure of the reasons leading up to the use of such a wide gasket even if it is very pliable, as it seems to me that the effect would be to decrease the effective vibration area of the whole in rather a counter-productive way. Maybe empirical evidence showed better results for certain types of music---possibly softer with lesser modulation ?

Anyway, good luck with the sale---a desirable item.

These links are for some patents on Meltrope soundboxes which are interesting


http://tinyurl.com/nc89lvs


http://tinyurl.com/oeydh8n