The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I think we discused these on one of the old boards, but I didn't take a lot of notice at the time, thinking I'd never find one in Aust.
It's obviously an attachment to connect an electric pick-up to a radio, and the main part shown below appears to be little more than a volume control & docking station for the wires, and the small "plug" would push into the radio amp.
My question is...has anyone got one of these complete with the pick-up that came with it?

I should image just about any electric pick-up would work with it, but there appears to be enough room left in the box for a Elec-tru-tone pick-up, and I'd be greatful if someone could post a picture so I know what to keep a look-out for.
I'm also wondering if the original wiring had proper fittings on the ends to plug into the volume controller, or if the wire ends were simply soldered, as this seems to be enough to plug in and make a good firm connection.

The connectors on your volume control look to be the standard "phone tip" jacks that were commonly used with early headphones. The mating phone tip plug is nothing more than a turned solid brass pin (usually nickel plated as are these jacks) with a hollowed end into which the wire is usually soldered. Phone tips (plugs and jacks) are pretty common items around antique radio sites, so you should have no trouble finding them from a supplier of old radio parts. Or you can probably find them from sellers at most radio collector shows or flea markets. There should be a cable on your tube adapter that connects to the volume control box. But maybe that was also a cable with phone tip plugs and jacks that you can easily make up if you obtain a supply of phone tip parts.

I see that your outfit is USA-made and that tube adapter is a 4-pin style which means that it is intended for the old direct-heated triodes such as as the #01-A and perhaps the #26. These tubes were probably not so common in countries outside the USA, but they were very common in the USA in the early to late 1920s. The tube is removed from the chassis and plugged into the socket end of the adapter and the adapter is plugged into the tube socket in the chassis.

Here's a catalogue page of phono pick-ups from 1928 that are " just the same only different than yours." The copy makes it seem that these little delights turned your radio into an Orthophonic machine, but given the average magnetic speaker of the time they would have sounded not nearly as good as almost any large " phonic" acoustic machine. The reproduction would have less surface noise than an acoustic player and I bet that's what seduced the public into thinking that they were getting superior sound.


Jim