New Here, just picked up a VE 8-12x

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Apr 19, 2011 1:34 am

I have been searching for an acoustic machine for some time now. As I collect console radios, and most dangerously, console televisions, I really only have room for one floor model phonograph. With that in mind, I picked up a copy of "Look for the Dog" and studied it and visited several phonograph collectors in the area and got to see many wonderful machines demonstrated. My eye and ears fell in love with the Orthophonics. This one showed up on Ebay recently, after several chances at picking up other Ortho machines fell through:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 588wt_1150

Well, it is missing the albums, and the grill cloth, and the photos make the finish look dried out. But it looked to be otherwise complete, and I really, really like the looks of this particular model. So I placed a bid, and won! I picked up the machine yesterday, and here is what I have:

The albums were the usual junk: the Basil Rathbone Christmas Carol, and Vaughn Meader's JFK parody. But there were a few surprises: two Recordio discs from 1947 of a couple making their wedding vows. The discs are in great shape. Also, a Victor puzzle record was in the mix, along with a few other Ortho discs.

I got a nice assortment of needles, the owners used equal amounts of soft and loud tone needles, as well as some Tungs-Tones. While this machine has two Tungs-Tone tins, only the soft tone tin had any needles in it (3).

As it is, the machine "plays". The motor has some hum to it, and the reproducer is pot metal, with some hairline cracks starting around the needle bar end, but nothing too serious. I believe it can be rebuilt.

So, before I tear into this machine myself, I was hoping to get some advice: generally, tips on rebuilding the reproducer (especially where to source the proper gaskets and bearings, I'd like to have it completely reworked) as well as any possible sources for a proper grill cloth. Thanks to everyone for reading. With your help, I hope to have a properly working machine playing away in a few months.