The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

gramophone-georg wrote:

VanEpsFan1914 wrote:Impressive. Hilariously impressive!

But what happens for the Muggle who puts the needle on the WRONG SIDE of the record?

We exile him to the antique radio forums.

Well, I rather like electric motor machines. I am nearly finished with the restoration of my Alva (A project which sat on the back burner for twenty-five years!) So I want more. I would hope to find a nice Electrola XVIII, it would look well in the parlor (though a Vernis Martin example would be better still).

I have a Columbia BC with the electric motor which wants renovation. Other than those, a nice ENG or Expert open horn machine would.pretty well be all I would ever.want to add to my talking machine collection.

On second thought, were unlimited funds available I would dearly love to have an appropriate amplifier and speaker for my Western Electric 203A reproduced. The 41A-42A-43A setup that I had before the fire would be just fine, though I'd probably prefer the 12A-13A horn pair to the more common 16B that I once had.

gramophone-georg wrote:

VanEpsFan1914 wrote:Impressive. Hilariously impressive!

But what happens for the Muggle who puts the needle on the WRONG SIDE of the record?

We exile him to the antique radio forums.

That is a horrid fate...

I'm actually pretty happy with what I've managed to accumulate, but if either became available at an attainable price, I'd jump all over:

- an Ideal/Idealia/Idelia (because I'm an oxidized bronze fetishist)

- a Kurtzmann - the ones with glass motorboards and platters (because I like weird stuff like that)

I did not realize how quickly this topic would explode like wild fire on here?

I am working on one of my last projects. It a RCA special. I have finally found a crystal cartridge for it Next I will have to fix the amp. I am trying to clean up stuff that has been sitting around for a couple of ears. Tom

tomb wrote:I am working on one of my last projects. It a RCA special. I have finally found a crystal cartridge for it Next I will have to fix the amp. I am trying to clean up stuff that has been sitting around for a couple of ears. Tom

Hopefully the crystal cartridge works, a lot of them no longer work since the crystal salt goes bad in them.

I have had 3 working Crystal carts in 20 years. I have always rebuilt or replaced with a newer 3v crystal cart.
If you do deicide to try and rebuild I can help you. I am not one for adding a pre-amp ( not talented enough)
IT is tedious but it can be fun to rebuild one. Cot is about $35.00 in parts.

OldRestorer wrote:I have had 3 working Crystal carts in 20 years. I have always rebuilt or replaced with a newer 3v crystal cart.
If you do deicide to try and rebuild I can help you. I am not one for adding a pre-amp ( not talented enough)
IT is tedious but it can be fun to rebuild one. Cot is about $35.00 in parts.

Thanks.... I found a local person to repair the amp I shorted out when I was checking the voltage. I found a replacement crystal cartridge in a tone arm for sell. It also has the cables and wires which I need. My tone arm has a bad connection. If it does no work I will gladly seek your assistance for the cartridge rebuild. Tom

My list would have a Victrola XX, XXV, Vernis Martin edition, a Berliner, and an Edison Concert