The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Morning all. I recently picked up a beautiful bakelite Emerson 625 phonograph radio combo. It really is a beautiful machine, and I was wondering if anyone here had the know-how to get one of these machines up and running again. The radio portion I understand (replacing caps, tubes), however the tone arm has the automatic drop, and for some reason its not working (I actually have a similar problem with my 1950 rca victor 45 player). Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks

I'm sure there are several people here who could help, but I'd also recommend checking out The Antique Radio Forum, which has a separate category for phonographs such as this. Is a friendly forum, just like this one! Good luck!
Bob
The link:
http://antiqueradios.com/forums/index.php

Thanks, didn't even realize that existed

There are several videos on YouTube that explain how to restore the mechanism of the 1950s RCA Victor 45 players. The standard reference book for those is called "The Fabulous Victrola 45" and is available on all the usual sites. That will help you with your RCA machines, but it should also give you some guidance towards fixing your Emerson.

DPulanski wrote:Morning all. I recently picked up a beautiful bakelite Emerson 625 phonograph radio combo. It really is a beautiful machine, and I was wondering if anyone here had the know-how to get one of these machines up and running again. The radio portion I understand (replacing caps, tubes), however the tone arm has the automatic drop, and for some reason its not working (I actually have a similar problem with my 1950 rca victor 45 player). Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks

There are 2 drive wheels in those units, one to drive the platter the other to run the reject mech. Both are rubber and after 50+ years they turn to stone and just slip. There are replacements but they're not cheap, you can try turning down the old rubber and get a square o ring from McMaster-Carr to bring it back to life. Then you have the problem with the cartridge which also is usually shot after 50 years. I used to restore them (not a favorite) but anymore the value has dropped so far that most people don't want to invest the money anymore. In fact I have 2 or 3 the customer just left here.

Chuck

Several years ago these were demanding in excess of $250.00 or more in restored condition, today that just is not happening.

I had two of the 45-E-Y3 machines and sold them, and kept my rarer RCA 45J3 (a record player adapter only, without an amplifier and speaker) and a RCA J6 (a record player only without the speaker and amp).

I used to service these and had alot of parts from my grandfathers television and radio dealership in the 1950's and 1960's, but even then I found many of the NOS drive wheels had petrified rubber. The other problem is many of the cartridges are no longer usuable as the original rochelle salts no longer perform. So the answer to alot of these cartridges and needles for me was to replace the cartridge with a new one from Pfanstiehl.

You can check the Antique Radio Forum, and can find many parts here at Voice of Music. http://www.thevoiceofmusic.com/

I am not into the electric machines as much as the mechanical. I love the wind-up machines they tend to work longer and better.

Good Luck with your project.

Thanks, I really do love the early rca victor machines. The sound they put out beats any of that crosley crap they make today

DPulanski wrote:Thanks, I really do love the early rca victor machines. The sound they put out beats any of that crosley crap they make today

Absolutely, the sound is better than those badged crosley etc. phonos out on the market today. The only thing that these Crosley units (not even made by Crosley) can do is to inspire a new generation of record and phonograph collectors.