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Recently picked up this portable - the first Columbia of any kind in my collection. I am very impressed with the Number 9 soundbox - there's plenty of bass and a very rich sound.

The only thing I really had to do to it was reset the speed pointer as to get it to 78, it was off the dial when I got it. Next week it gets a motor service. I have to find a replacement corner bracket for the bottom LH corner and eventually will look for the cover in the lid for the needle bowl. Was it some sort of hard rubber flange?

My question is - what is the little metal bracket in the horn opening near the end of the tonearm? Is it some type of rest for the tonearm to sit on when the lid's closed and the arm goes down into the horn opening? The other polished metal bracket off the motor board holds the reproducer when the lid's closed (and very cleverly guides the reproducer down into it automatically.)

Regards, Glenn.

Nice machine, I've got a 109a with the No 9 soundbox and it really does give some great sounds to records. As for the bracket, I have no idea.

Check out this link describing your portable along with many others. You can contact the author at the bottom of the page concerning that bracket. I'll bet he'd know what it's for:

http://www.myvintagetv.com/updatepages1 ... tables.htm

Bob

Thanks for the replies! I never thought of emailing that guy about it but that's a great suggestion. I'm also interested in record changers and have known of his site for a while. Many thanks. Glenn.

The cover for the needle bowl is just a thick flat rubber disc that screws to the post in the lid.

The gentleman from the vintage tv/record changer site kindly wrote me back and said that it is a support for the tonearm during transit - for some reason mine is too far away from the tone arm, easily fixed!

Hello again everyone, I've been away for quite a while working overseas, but it's nice to be back.

I'm doing a Bing Crosby show soon and after singing about 20 songs at the piano, I thought it would be nice to play an early Bing record. As this Columbia is the only portable I have, I got it out of mothballs and serviced the motor and lubricated the governor again, but I've got lots of wow and flutter which is driving me crazy.

None of my other machines have any wow and flutter at all - so I was hoping someone might be able to point me in the right direction for what to look for?

Also I was reading on Chuck or Carten's (don't know which part is hosted for Carsten...just the changers??) website that there is supposed to be a universal brake on these machines, but mine doesn't have anything except a manual brake and it all looks original. Does anyone have a picture they can show me as to what the automatic brake mechanism looks like? I'd be most appreciative!

Thanks and regards, Glenn.

PS I took the photos in the correct direction, but for some reason they have been turned sideways when uploading...

PPS I never use soft tone needles, but the wow and flutter seems to be less after I just tried one ... perhaps it's just softer and I can't hear it!

PPPS All the photos seem to have disappeared from http://myvintagetv.com/updatepages1/cha ... ia202a.htm

Hello Glen. I am also the proud owner of a 112a.

Wow and flutter are two very different issues, the first being a very slow change in speed/pitch (say, one per revolution) the other being a fast tremolo/vibrato effect. By which of the two is your gramophone affected? Can you post a short movie of your gramophone while playing a record?

In any case, wow issues are frequently due to a dirty and touchy record, especially on portables, which motors are in general weaker than their tabletop counterparts. Does the gramophone sound bad with *all* records? Try it with a shiny, late record. The fact that the sound seemed better with a soft tone needle seem to suggest that the problem is indeed caused by the excessive drag of a sticky/worn record.

I've never seen any 112a with such a thing as a "universal brake", unless "universal brake" is a fancy name for the plain and simple tab brake that your unit also (correctly) has.

I quickly went through previous posts of this topic and I have to disagree with other people saying that the needle compartment was closed by a rubber piece. My unit and all others that I've seen so far have it closed by a round, nickeled metal disc as in this picture.

Sometimes it happens on this forum that pictures are shown sideways, but they look correct when clicked and enlarged. Concerning the other website you mentioned, the images are gone beacause the image repository "imageshack" has turned into a payment site; it was not a good idea to upload the images there in first place.

Marco Gilardetti wrote: I quickly went through previous posts of this topic and I have to disagree with other people saying that the needle compartment was closed by a rubber piece. My unit and all others that I've seen so far have it closed by a round, nickeled metal disc as in this picture.

Marco is correct, the needle cup lid is a flat metal disc stuck to the gramophone lid. Some other models have a domed metal lid that flips over the cup.

Speed variations can be due to an unbalanced governor, take a look in the motor and check if all three springs and weights are properly screwed, and if the felt friction bracket is in good shape. Sometimes a good cleaning to remove the old petrified grease and oil in the moving parts is enough to restore the proper functionality.

The metal disc which closes over the needle bowl is mounted on a spring loaded column which screws inside the case lid. This fitting was made in two different lengths to suit different portables, so it is easy to buy the wrong one.

Alternatively the later needle bowl with domed lid mentioned by Carlos can be fitted, but the hole in the motor board will need to be slightly enlarged to accommodate it.

P.S. If possible this thread should be moved to "UK and European Machines".