The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Inigo wrote: Thu Jan 11, 2024 2:46 pm And the wooden board between them? This could be the adaptor if thick enough... the horn being attached from below and the tonearm from above, leaving a thick piece of wood between them, with the subsequent hole, of course...

Not the best solution.Leakage will occur through the spaces between the bearing balls.

If you're concerned about the leakage through the bearing balls, it means that you have yet to see one of the previous models without any bearing at all...

I had the very same issue with a Gilbert portable I had.

The horn didn’t fit well on the board at all and then didn’t line up with the bottom of the tone arm. I don’t think it had been messed with, looked like it left the factory this way.

I made a short metal tube with some rubber seals to fit it all together, it had to be a little flexible to accommodate the misalignment, but it works ok.

leels1 wrote: Sun Jan 14, 2024 4:22 pm I had the very same issue with a Gilbert portable I had.

The horn didn’t fit well on the board at all and then didn’t line up with the bottom of the tone arm. I don’t think it had been messed with, looked like it left the factory this way.

In my humble opinion, that's an indication of the build quality of all the Gilberts I've ever come across.

Barry

I have to second these sentiments, I'm afraid.

My educated opinion after having dealt with a pair of these, is that they had this eye-striking idea of the bugle tonearm, which could also have been an improvement soundwise, but then spoiled all the potential advantages of it with silly short horns and very cheaply built machines.

However, it has also to be noted that Carlos V wrote at the beginning of this thread that top-end machines seemed to be built better, and sounded fairly well (althouhg, in turn, they also show tracking issues).

My conclusion is that Gilberts are striking and unique collector's items, that should not be missing from any serious and varied collection, but their value begins and ends there.

leels1 wrote: Sun Jan 14, 2024 4:22 pm I had the very same issue with a Gilbert portable I had.

The horn didn’t fit well on the board at all and then didn’t line up with the bottom of the tone arm. I don’t think it had been messed with, looked like it left the factory this way.

I made a short metal tube with some rubber seals to fit it all together, it had to be a little flexible to accommodate the misalignment, but it works ok.

A little work with a dremel, removed the misalignment of the pipe and the lower bearing.Upper bearing installed.

Aleksandr wrote: Mon Jan 15, 2024 5:28 am

leels1 wrote: Sun Jan 14, 2024 4:22 pm I had the very same issue with a Gilbert portable I had.

The horn didn’t fit well on the board at all and then didn’t line up with the bottom of the tone arm. I don’t think it had been messed with, looked like it left the factory this way.

I made a short metal tube with some rubber seals to fit it all together, it had to be a little flexible to accommodate the misalignment, but it works ok.

A little work with a dremel, removed the misalignment of the pipe and the lower bearing.Upper bearing installed.

Oh that part. I thought you meant where the tone arm base fit the board itself. There were lots of gaps in mine hence the repair.

I have to third the comments above. The tone arm is really well built (although I also had to shim the part where the “gooseneck” part flips up to stop it wobbling) but the rest isn’t great. I really like the feature of being able to close the lid while playing.

I also noted on mine, the way the tone arm clip is sat, impedes some records actually getting to the end, so it needed some movement to make it work ok. Even then, it can stop it getting right to the end of the run out groove which isn’t great.

I do like the feature of the break engaging when the tone arm is moved to the left and sat in its rest, but again needed a lot of adjustment to make it not stop the record before it actually finished playing!