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Does anyone know who rebuilds the horseshoe pickup in the RCA Victor R-93. Also need the power cord replaced, with a new cloth covered cord.

George Epple of Baltimore, Maryland, does excellent pickup rebuilds.

You mention that you need a replacement cord. Have you restored the radio chassis in this machine? It is chock full of failed electrolyic and leaky paper condensers, drifted resistors, and perhaps an open coil or two, but after all it is 85 years old. The chassis in this set is a real pistol to work on, for being rather compact it has its components installed in layers. The items which most generally need replacement are, of course, on the bottom. That said, although the restoration of this set is a bit more trouble than that of one of the larger units from the 1920's, it will be a goreat and reliable performer for decades after the work is properly done.

Uncle Vanya wrote:George Epple of Baltimore, Maryland, does excellent pickup rebuilds.

You mention that you need a replacement cord. Have you restored the radio chassis in this machine? It is chock full of failed electrolyic and leaky paper condensers, drifted resistors, and perhaps an open coil or two, but after all it is 85 years old. The chassis in this set is a real pistol to work on, for being rather compact it has its components installed in layers. The items which most generally need replacement are, of course, on the bottom. That said, although the restoration of this set is a bit more trouble than that of one of the larger units from the 1920's, it will be a goreat and reliable performer for decades after the work is properly done.

The R-93 is just a record player attachment , it does not have a amplifier. Does the motor have electrolytics and capacitors?

Victrolacollector wrote:

Uncle Vanya wrote:George Epple of Baltimore, Maryland, does excellent pickup rebuilds.

You mention that you need a replacement cord. Have you restored the radio chassis in this machine? It is chock full of failed electrolyic and leaky paper condensers, drifted resistors, and perhaps an open coil or two, but after all it is 85 years old. The chassis in this set is a real pistol to work on, for being rather compact it has its components installed in layers. The items which most generally need replacement are, of course, on the bottom. That said, although the restoration of this set is a bit more trouble than that of one of the larger units from the 1920's, it will be a goreat and reliable performer for decades after the work is properly done.

The R-93 is just a record player attachment , it does not have a amplifier. Does the motor have electrolytics and capacitors?

No. Its just a simple electric motor. Ive had one but, Im thinking mine had a rubber power cord. Either way, any lamp supply will have cloth covered or rubber wire. Radio Daze is also a source.

I don't know why, but I was thinking of a larger 1932 vintage RCA Victor Duo, of which someone posted pictures here recently, not the little R-93 attachment. I obviously did not take enough time to read your post. Sorry.

The R-93 pickup (which was shared with the 300 Duo and the 301 Duo, is a real pistol to rebuild, for everything in the housing is rather tight, but Mr. Epple still does a very good job, though he will probably need to rewind the coil, for these are generally found to be open or brittle.

The synchronous motors in these machines are indeed simple, but everything about them must be perfect if their operation is to be both steady and relatively quiet. The leather washers used as part of the turntable spindle will need to be of correct thickness and appropriately supple, as will the motor suspension, lest the motor buzz like a hummingbird.

They are a nightmare to work on (the pickup). Winding the coil is the easy part. The dampening block will need to be replaced, the armature adjusted,and the horseshoe magnet will need to be remagnetzed. I ended up finding another pickup type that still used the steel needles and fitted it to the arm on my 93. Mine was the later bakelite version (93A?).

Thank you guys. I ordered the cloth covered power cord and the plug from Sundial Wire. I got the 6 foot length cord kit in dark brown covered wire.

As far as leather washers, where can I get this type of leather in appropriate size?

Also, Do you have George Epples number or e-mail?

I actually googled George Epple, I pulled up an obituary of a George Epple in Baltimore, MD.

Victrolacollector wrote:Also, Do you have George Epples number or e-mail?

[email protected]

He just rebuilt one of my pickups, so I hope he is still alive! He does a fantastic job and I've heard a few other machines that he's done the pickups for and they sound awesome.

-Connor

I have not rebuilt one of those pickups myself in more than twenty years. When I did (On an RCA Victor 301 Duo) I cast my own damping block out of silicone rubber, used very thin medical silicone rubber tubing for the pivots, and substituted a pair of appropriately sized neodymium magnets and a shaped steel bar for the original cobalt magnet, which of course was weak.

I have a couple of R-93 and R-94 attachments sitting in the shop awaiting repair, but they will wait until after I get to the RCA Victor 300 which has been sitting in the queue since before my fire.