The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I am new to this hobby and I enjoy it so much. The sound of records is incredible. I just bought my second Pathé but this model VII has no hand crank it has a General electric motor. I can't seem to find any information about it anywhere. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Nice machine! I worked on a model VII awhile back (mine was handcranked).. but it sounded great when I was done.
Those induction disc motors are great.., and really simple to work on. My bit of advice would be this... be careful with the diaphragm. It’s not a standard size, so it’ll be somewhat difficult to replace if it gets damaged.

Cheers

David

I hope I don't have to replace anything but the electrical cord. The other Pathé I have sounds really good thats why I decided to get this floor model. Thanks for your help.

I have never seen that motor before. And it is made by General Electric. I would guess it predates the more common induction disc motor GE sold to Victor starting in 1925. What year would you place on this Pathé machine?

The induction disc looks way bigger than the ones in electrola's/panatrope's. Attached is the picture of the electrola motor I did. I would recommend cleaning the parts of the motor before using it... it really is a simple procedure. Just be careful with the disc! You certainly don't want to bend it. If I remember correctly I used a piece of Exhibition tubing and a piece of the smaller white tubing to rebuild the reproducer. For me two pieces of the exhibition tubing was too big, but two pieces of the smaller tubing was too small.

Is the chord frayed? It looks to be in usable shape in the pictures.

David

The cord is bad I mean bad! I know nothing about the machine and I bought it at a antique store in Prescott AZ. They had never seen a electrical Pathé before. I got it for $110 and it's really complete. That's why I joined to get educated on these machines. Thanks

Skihawx wrote: Sat Apr 24, 2021 9:44 pm I have never seen that motor before. And it is made by General Electric. I would guess it predates the more common induction disc motor GE sold to Victor starting in 1925. What year would you place on this Pathé machine?

If you've never seen it before it MUST be rare, something new to look for! Now if you just had some place to put one...

So I guess I got a good deal at $110. I got a new power cord coming Monday. Hopefully it runs and I will soon be enjoying another Pathé. Still I will post more pictures Monday hopefully someone can help me with some history on this player.

As a new collector, are you aware of lateral snd vertical formats of records? Your Pathé is fitted with a ‘universal’ tone arm and reproducer that is capable of playing lateral-groove 78s, as well as both Pathé and Edison vertical formats with the correct stylus installed, and needle-type vertical records as well.
The motor isn’t anything to get excited about, although it is a nice feature. I’ve never encountered one in a conventional Pathé phonograph, but I’ve owned four or five Pathé Actuelle phonographs with this motor. It dates to circa 1920.

If you look behind the reproducer there is a screw on the tone arm (I didn’t have the screw when I took this picture). If you loosen it, it will allow you to rotate the reproducer. The setting it is in right now is for the vertical cut records. This it what it looks like when it’s rotated for lateral 78’s.

I think you did good for $110. I really liked how small the machine is, but it’s still capable of producing a good tone.

David