The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I just removed the tonearm from my Columbia 175 portable and was greeted with…
This.

As you can see, the alignment of all the parts at the tonearm base is abysmal. Is this just normal for Columbia machines? There are no extra holes drilled and everything looks original.

This one isn't a Columbia, but the alignment of the tonearm base to the hole was also bad. I suspect it was just a case of not really caring when assembling it as the customer was unlikely to ever realise it was a bit misaligned!

Should be fine. These were not Swiss watches after all.