Off-brand phonographs hard on 78s?

[Player-Tone]

I have an off brand phonograph with a ‘Heineman Tone Arm No. 11’ and a ‘Heineman Ideal Sound Box No. 2’ and was wondering if these off brand arms knowingly wear records faster than the Victor arms. I attached a picture of the Heineman Tone Arm No. 11 for identification below. It seems that these arms are poorly designed in an effort to get around Victor’s patents, which results in additional needle pressure and stiffness. Even with a rebuilt reproducer the arm itself remains stiff or heavy due to the balance spring tension.

-I currently don’t have a Victrola, so I can’t do a side by side comparison with the Heineman arm. Does somebody have experience analyzing record wear with both arms?

My 78s are not rare or valuable, so I don’t need to play them on an electric turntable. I just want the 78s I do have to last as long as possible, considering I play them a lot. I will replace my off brand phonograph with a Victor if it means prolonging them.

[De Soto Frank]

There are four basic factors concerning tone-arm geometry and record wear:


1) Tracking weight ( weight of soundbox as measured at steel needle at point-of-contact on playing surface ). I believe I once read somewhere that a Victor Exhibition on a "skinny" taper-tube has a tracking weight of about 5 ounces (?) ( not sure on that spec, and I don't have a way to measure it right now )


2) Angle of incidence between needle and playing surface: for lateral-cut records, 60 degrees is considered good.


3) Tracking Arc of needle across playing surface. Ideally, when playing a record, the needle should track across the record at right-angles to the record groove at point of contact. The only machines that do this are Edison Diamond Disc players, a few other obscure wind-up machines, and higher-end late-model "linear-tracking" turntables. For the majority of disc record players, the tone-arm is mounted on a pivot, and swings across the record in an arc. The better designs design the arm and pivot location so as to keep the needle travel as close to a right-angle to the groove walls as possible, for the majority of its travel across the playing surface.

The standard rule of thumb is that holding the sound-box with the needle just above the playing surface, swing the assembly across the turntable towards the center spindle: the needle arc should swing through the spindle, or come very close.

If the needle travel arc falls significantly beyond, or short of the spindle, either condition will cause accelerate wear on the groove walls.


4) Lateral force required for groove/needle to "pull" soundbox across record. Again, I don't have a "specification" for this, but it should be "as little as possible". The various "yielding-pressure" tone-arms designed to dodge Victor patents may cause excessive resistance to the needle and groove. Making sure the machine is as level as possible is also a big help...



Just as a ball-park guide, the arm should swing freely from side to side of its own weight, as the mount is slightly tilted from side to side. There should be no "bumps" or binds through the range of motion.

Does your Heinemann arm move any easier with the spring widgets removed ?


A ball-bearing-mounted Victor arm with the top-pin is one of the better arms of the era...


Before modifying your machine, see if it's possible to do so without permanently altering the machine.

If changing the taper-tube requires cutting / drilling / modifying permanent parts of the machine, better-off finding a Victor for yur regular listening...

That's my thoughts on the subject...

[Jerry B.]

I'm not a techie but if your tone arm has free play both side to side and up and down you'll get to additional wear there. The reproducer should have pliable gaskets to allow the diaphragm movement side to side. If this is true, you should not get additional wear from the reproducer. When you swing the needle towards the spindle, it should come very close to the spindle. Being too short or too long will increase record wear. Always change your needle frequently. I play maybe two sides and toss the needle. Jerry

[Lenoirstreetguy]

I had a Sherlock-Manning machine when I was a kid that had this very tone arm. It weighs a ton and was not kind to records. The Sherlock-Mannning was was a Canadian " off brander" made by one of the numerous piano companies that took a flyer at phonograph manufacture in the 1917-21 era. This one appears to be the version with a spring counter-balance. Mine was not. The tubular cross section of the arm ...in order to circumvent the Victor tapered arm patent...does not help the sound. There was a valid acoustic reason Victor sued anyone who produced a tapered arm: one of the reasons for the " unequaled Victor tone", to quote the ads, was the expanding cross section of the tone arm which they had patented. Victor gave up a straight tone arm in 1903. They and Brunswick went fang and claw for years over the fact that the Ultona arm was tapered, and consequently produced a very nice sound.
Jim

[estott]

Columbia machines can be very hard on records. Most Grafonola arms don't have bearings to reduce friction.