The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

One of my favorite 78 records is The Charleston Chasers - Five Pennies. I tried to play it after successfully having my Sonora serviced and it slows way down soon after I lower the needle on to the groove. I figured that the record is simply worn out, but I have a 78 adapter for my Edison A250 and the record played just fine. I would prefer to play it on the Sonora, because the sound quality was better. Is there a problem with my Sonora reproducer or is this the beginning of the end for my record? I always replace the needle with a new one after every record is played.

Is it possible that the record needs cleaning, and that the mainspring of the Edison machine is powerful enough to maintain pressure against the grime whereas that of the Sonora is not?

By way of comparison, I used to experience the same problem when playing long-neglected records on an H.M.V 101 portable. The motor (despite a new mainspring) would often lose speed, especially in loud passages, but in every case I found that the record would play without any further problem after it had been cleaned. My present machine (H.M.V. 109), which has a double-spring motor, is clearly more powerful and will play any record without losing pitch – even an English Berliner of 1898 which is pressed on imperfectly-blended material and has a surface which both feels and sounds like emery-paper.

Oliver Mundy.

Oliver is correct, worn records impart a lot of drag to the motor, so making into the end at constant speed depends of how strong the motor is. The Edison makes it probably because the whole arm is pushed by the motor, making it less sensitive to the drag of the groove, while in the standard 78 rpm machines like the Sonora it is the groove that pushes the arm.