The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

When I play records on my Edison B-250. The limit pin will move faster than the horn assembly and hit the ring it sits in causing the needle to skip on the record. I assume this is just an easy adjustment? It’s pretty annoying and i want to fix it

I had the same problem with an Edison Amberola 30. Take sewing-machine oil (which you have plenty of, since I left the bottle at your house by mistake) and drip a bit on the adjusting screw on the reproducer. It's that big screw near the end.

Now take a screwdriver & loosen it up a quarter turn. This should help. If it doesn't do it, loosen it another quarter turn. The Edison Diamond C cylinder reproducer isn't the same as the Diamond Disc reproducer but it's rather similar.

Hopefully this helps! That was a nice phonograph and hopefully this will help it track as good as it looks.

By the way, did that crank I gave you ever fit on that Silvertone portable? Those cardboard portables aren't fancy but they can be kind of nice with a few spare parts.

Ya know.... I have the box sitting right next to it and haven’t tried it yet I’ll try it this weekend. I should make a post about that little machine anyways. It could sound really nice if I can fix the tonearm.

Regarding the Edison. do I unscrew that screw with a normal screwdriver? I feel like that angle is really weird (I just looked up a pic of a reproducer, that one isn’t mine)

Any screwdriver that fits properly should unlock that reproducer. Failing that, you can find some way to cut a piece of steel or better yet, brass, to make a screwdriver.

The angle is strange. It's much easier on the Edison Diamond C, but I am quite sure you will be able to get into the Disc Reproducer. People rebuild them all the time (as is needed after 100 years.) That's why I mentioned soaking the screws with oil; it might make it easier to get in without destroying the screw head, which would be unsightly especially on a nice B-250.

It's tempting to go after that screw, but taking the two out on the bottom side is much easier. I use lighter fluid to loosen the joint (lots of wiggling) then a drop of machine oil.

Just remember that the silk linkage between the diaphragm and stylus bar is extremely fragile so disconnecting it from the stylus bar is a good idea before unscrewing any of the screws.

I plan on rebuilding the reproducer soon. As expected the gaskets are really dry. Maybe I’ll just wait till I rebuild it to touch it

dzavracky wrote:I plan on rebuilding the reproducer soon. As expected the gaskets are really dry. Maybe I’ll just wait till I rebuild it to touch it

That floating weight pivot block screw can be a real problem to loosen or remove, if it's corroded on its threads, or the corresponding bore.

In addition to the good advice above, there are posts on the forum about removing the retaining screw from the Pivot Block (somewhere - a thorough search will produce results). If it's stubborn, the solution for many of us (including myself) is to take a properly fitting flat-blade screwdriver bit and cut it down in length so that it fits under the reproducer sound tube, to be used with a pair of small vise-grips clamped onto it firmly, or with a small wrench - to unscrew the pivot block retaining screw. As others have stated, make sure you don't cause damage to the silk link that is attached between the diaphragm and stylus lever (aka bar), they can be fragile.

Best,
Fran

Now that is a great idea! I will definitely be trying that

look at this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZ00Nqjz-Ps&t=11s