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I recently purchased a Columbia Languagephone cylinder phonograph. It is in excellent condition, but the rubber hose on the listening tube is hard and brittle. Doe anyone reproduce this?

It's available from Ron Sitko for a dollar per foot.

George P.

phonogfp wrote:It's available from Ron Sitko for a dollar per foot.

George P.

Great! Thank you for the info.

Ron's tubing is excellent -- supple and long-lasting. But it doesn't quite match original tubing. I've never found anything that is an exact match. All of the originals I've had were slightly larger in outside diameter than the tubing found today, and it was embossed with ribbing. Of course it was natural rubber, which is why it dried out and became brittle over the years.

Over 20 years ago my late friend Dave Heitz found a large roll of natural rubber tubing that was similar in color and thickness to original, but instead of ribbing it had a cloth-like texture. It was a bit more like the original than smooth synthetic rubber, but like the original it didn't hold up well. It dried out and cracked, and ultimately disintegrated.

Here's a picture of some original tubing that came with my Type G Graphophone. It's rock-hard today, alas, and almost as brittle as glass. I wish someone would come up with modern, durable tubing that matched the original appearance. But I guess we're lucky to have anything suitable at all!

I too have some rock-hard pieces of that white ribbed rubber tubing (mine came with an Amet Echophone).

In 1973 I bought reproduction listening tubes from Tom Pollard, and the white rubber tubing had a cloth-like texture such as Rene described above. 47 years later, that rubber is hardening and cracking. I have white rubber listening tubes I bought from Ron Sitko in 1983, and although there are some tiny, tiny fissures in some spots, it's still supple (and aged to a warm ivory color!).

George P.

Charley Hummel had some red listening tube rubber with a textured outside. I have not heard anyone who has the ribbed white rubber tubing, It would be nice if someone made that. How many of you actually set up a phonograph booth at the fair, I have had one at our local fairs for about 23 years. It still amazes people.

Does anyone have the I.D. and O.D. of the original tubing?

I.D. 6mm; O.D. 9mm. Rubber thickness 1.5mm.

If you search McMaster Carr, they have the proper dimensions at least; https://www.mcmaster.com/rubber-tubing

The red tubing I found 25 years ago, I can no longer find. It was handmade rubber tubing from a company that no longer exists. This tubing was wonderful, having a real old exterior look to it. This rubber tubing came from a Bunsen Burner supply company and came in both black and red.

In recent years there have been a few companies producing machine made rubber tubing in red (Sargent Welch for one), but while their website still lists it, it has been out of stock for a long time. This tubing had the imprint of the canvass around the outside which gave it a nice texture. Where I have recently found this type of tubing from other companies, they have started asking up to $7.00 a foot, which is excessive in my opinion.

Pure rubber tubing is what was originally used, and what I found as mentioned above. All rubber tubing breaks down over time. Like Rene, I have had to replace all of the tubing that I found 25 years ago with more modern, machine made tubing. If you want the look of authentic rubber tubing, just plan on replacing it every 20 years.

Ron's tubing is great, and I have not heard of it breaking down over time. It is a great solution for your machine.

I did recently find some pure, machine made, white tubing in China through Aliexpress. It is the best "authentic" looking pure rubber tubing that I have found. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3233404 ... 3.2.ZaE1YM

Its $27.00 for 5 Meters or about $1.65 a foot with free shipping. It takes a few weeks to get here.