The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I posted my troubles a couple days ago on the Facebook APE forum, so some of this might look familiar. I thought I had fixed my 5b soundbox, was trying to get it to match the output of my other one. But ... it's still noticeably quieter. Something's wrong and I'm not sure what. The spider is slightly separated. I tried to fix it with nail polish, and I cleaned off a lot of extra crud. I was able to examine the back felt gasket. Looks ok, and I put a few drops of oil on it (as I've seen recommended here). I'm having trouble getting the pivot bar disassembled, so I can't get to the front gasket.

I think I need to send this out. I didn't see anyone on the links board who could deal with HMV. So, is there a recommended specialist in the UK? I emailed Ken Priestley about a week ago but haven't heard back. Thank you all for any help.

Unscrew and remove the two screws at the ends of the stylus bar housing. There are two more sunken screws inside the housing, one each side. Holding the two innner nuts with a tiny spanner, turn the screws anti-clockwise, and they will emerge from the ends of the housing. Be careful at this point not to lose the six tiny ball bearings that are in each side of the stylus bar swivel point.

Barry

Phono48 wrote:Unscrew and remove the two screws at the ends of the stylus bar housing. There are two more sunken screws inside the housing, one each side. Holding the two innner nuts with a tiny spanner, turn the screws anti-clockwise, and they will emerge from the ends of the housing. Be careful at this point not to lose the six tiny ball bearings that are in each side of the stylus bar swivel point.

Barry

Ahh, inner screws. I didn't realize this, can't wait to get home tonight and try this. Thanks Barry!
Also, got an email from Ken and a couple PM's with help. Thanks everybody!