The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Hello all,
I am new to this forum and also new to these amazing pieces of history. I recently purchased a beautiful Brunswick 117 that is in really nice condition. I got the motor out and its super clean, it cranks up and spins nicely, and if I was to guess I would say that someone did a nice job cleaning and going through everything. It came with original record cleaner, a bunch of needles, original manuals.
My question is...it appears that everything is running nicely but I am not sure on setting speeds and such so the different records play right. I wind it up, player spins but its as if it always spins too fast so the records sound like chipmunks!! Please help!

Welcome. Nice machine and also nice that you got all the extras with it, Your machine has a speed adjustment on the left. The little arrow pointer. You will need to read about the reproducer on your machine as it is adjusted differently to play various records (Lateral and vertical cut as well as the Edison Diamond Discs.) The booklet that says Brunswick Ultona on it should have the instructions for setting the reproducer. Did records come with your machine? I'm assuming they did and they are the correct records that will play on your machine.

phonogal wrote:Nice machine and also nice that you got all the extras with it, Your machine has a speed adjustment on the left. The little arrow pointer. You will need to read about the reproducer on your machine as it is adjusted differently to play various records (Lateral and vertical cut as well as the Edison Diamond Discs.)

Ive messed around with that speed adjustment but still cannot get it to play right. Ive had it at 80 down to 78, down to 60 and then all the way down to lowest...I can tell it changes somewhat but I believe not like it should. The sound is great and clear...but the speed has been way off no matter what brand record I put on. How do you know how much to wind up, lateral or vertical, diamond disc? I did start to read the manual and read about the weight on the arm as it pertains to different brand records...haven't read anything about the speed adjustment. Any tips or thoughts? Thanks so much!

That speed adjustment works like a brake on the governor. Maybe your brake pads are worn out and ineffective?

Pugs13 wrote:

phonogal wrote:Nice machine and also nice that you got all the extras with it, Your machine has a speed adjustment on the left. The little arrow pointer. You will need to read about the reproducer on your machine as it is adjusted differently to play various records (Lateral and vertical cut as well as the Edison Diamond Discs.)

Ive messed around with that speed adjustment but still cannot get it to play right. Ive had it at 80 down to 78, down to 60 and then all the way down to lowest...I can tell it changes somewhat but I believe not like it should. The sound is great and clear...but the speed has been way off no matter what brand record I put on. How do you know how much to wind up, lateral or vertical, diamond disc? I did start to read the manual and read about the weight on the arm as it pertains to different brand records...haven't read anything about the speed adjustment. Any tips or thoughts? Thanks so much!

What records are you trying to play? The records that play on this machine will be 78's. Meaning the turntable will make 78 rotations a minute. You can check the speed by putting a little piece of paper under the edge of the record on the turntable and counting the rotations. If you are playing the correct records and the turntable is rotating too fast and speed adjustment isn't correcting this, it will need to be removed (should have 2 little screws) and fixed. There are several good articles that will help you athttp://www.antiquephono.org/ also an online book all about Brunswick machines by Mr. Wakeman on the site

Pugs13 wrote:

phonogal wrote:Nice machine and also nice that you got all the extras with it, Your machine has a speed adjustment on the left. The little arrow pointer. You will need to read about the reproducer on your machine as it is adjusted differently to play various records (Lateral and vertical cut as well as the Edison Diamond Discs.)

Ive messed around with that speed adjustment but still cannot get it to play right. Ive had it at 80 down to 78, down to 60 and then all the way down to lowest...I can tell it changes somewhat but I believe not like it should. The sound is great and clear...but the speed has been way off no matter what brand record I put on. How do you know how much to wind up, lateral or vertical, diamond disc? I did start to read the manual and read about the weight on the arm as it pertains to different brand records...haven't read anything about the speed adjustment. Any tips or thoughts? Thanks so much!

You can wind it up until it stops or gets very hard to wind. "Over winding" is a myth.

The speed control knob is held in place by a small set screw. Make sure that screw is tight or the effect of turning the knob will be unpredictable.

You can use a strobe disc (search the board) or a no contact tachometer (again, search the board) to determine actual speed of the machine. Most "78s" play between 76 and 78. Edison Diamond Discs and Pathé verticals play at 80.

Also pre-electric, or "batwing" Brunswicks play at 80 rpm. I think it was a patent thing with Columbia and Victor.

There's an oak Brunswick 117 in my town.It's in the back room of the local antique center.There's an older man who's going to look at the motor.Either one of the springs are broken or unhooked.He had a setback in his health due to heart problems.He'll be back this week.Hopefully,he'll be able to look at that motor and get the ball rolling in time for Christmas.I've been waiting a long time for it.I talked to the owner of the antique center about it and I told him thatI have a Brunswick YO console that I'll trade for it.As I don't have room for the 117 and the console in my apartment it's a matter of taking one out and bringing in the other.edisonplayer PS;The 117 IS an nice machine.As my late friend Jerry Donnell said concerning Brunswick machines,"I've never seen a sorry one!"

I decided to take the motor out again so I could take some pics and video to show you guys. I am still learning but I can almost guess that the pads are worn out? As you can tell in the video it plays and sounds nice...just too fast...I had the speed adjustment starting at 75-78ish then during video went all the way down to "Slow". There was basically no change at all until I turned all the way down. This record is a RCA Victor. It states in the Brunswick manual for the weight to be pushed all the way forward for Victor records. Let me know what you think. Thanks everyone.

You have a nice machine there! Playing the acoustic records is a suggestion since the phonograph was made during the time acoustic records were produced. The RCA record is electrically recorded. PM sent with some more details.