The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I have a Pathé cylinder machine, a Coq model, I believe. The reproducer needle just sits on the cylinder and moves with the cylinder grooves, and I believe that is the design (unless it's missing some parts). But when I put the reproducer on the cylinder, it just skates off the cylinder to one side.

What am I doing wrong or what is wrong?

Maybe redundant... but I would suggest observing carefully how the needle sits on the grooves when playing. Maybe another party of the reproducer is touching the cylinder and causes the sliding...

Have you checked to see if the machine is sitting perfectly level? Try carefully placing a small level on the surface of the cylinder itself. The grooves are not deep, and the reproducer is not heavy. It doesn't take much for the stylus to jump out of the groove, making leveling all the more important.

You may also try adding a little weight on top of the reproducer, like a coin.
Sometimes specific weights are offered on ebqy.fr.

Have you checked if the head carrier is adequately connected to the feed screw? in normal conditions, the feed screw would not let the head skate by limiting its lateral movement. Another point to check is the lever that lowers the head, sometimes it does not get down enough to make the head needle touch the cylinder.

I believe the cylinder I was using was so worn out at the beginning that here was not enough groove to hold the tip. If I placed the reproducer further along the cylinder it would play. Adding weight was someone suggested would probably help in that bad section. Another 3.5" cylinder I have played ok from the beginning. thanks for the tips