The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I am cleaning a GEM for a buddy of mine. After a LOT of cleaning, belt, adjusting etc I have it playing pretty good. Except for when I put the horn on the reproducer it will not track across the record. It stops, until I very gently put pressure one the carriage then it plays fine. It seems to have good contact to the worm gear, I cleaned the "glide bar" that the carriage traverses. Help!

T

The horn might be too heavy. What kind of horn is it? Also, what model Gem?
Harvey Kravitz

Its a small cone. Nothing big at all, but it stops the tracking. Its a pretty little GEM D. It has good power, the mandrel does not stop it just does not move once you put on the horn. That little amount of weight is impeding the advancement.

I suspect the half nut is not adjusted correctly to the feed screw. The later Gems, C through E, had an adjustment screw. What model Gem are you working on? Jerry

It does not say, however by looking at it its looks like a D. Push in hand crank (not key) , all metal (except base).

The Gem's carriage arm is narrower than other models and the rod that it slides on is narrower. Those facts may contribute to my observation that a Gem's carriage may have more tendency to get into a bind, rather than glide smoothly, if a load is put upon it. Be sure the rod is polished smooth and has a good coat of oil on it. Same for the knife edge that the carriage rides on.

The feedscrew bar should be perfectly perpendicular to the feedscrew and the feed nut should be adjusted (if possible) to press against the feedscrew hard enough so that it does not skip.

There's a half nut adjustment screw on a Maroon Model D Gem. It's a little set screw midway on the half nut bar. It's a very fine adjustment so don't turn it much. A quarter turn is a gross adjustment. Jerry Blais

Thank you all very much! First thing when I get home tomorrow I will adjust and really clean it better. I will let you know how it goes.

T

Here it is .

It looks like you have a B, which unfortunately, is the one that I do not have for reference.