Aeolian Vocalion Graduola question.

[phonogal]

I'm trying to figure out the graduola. Everything was stuck but I finally managed to get the cable to work. Someone had worked on this machine in the past and I'm not sure exactly what this part is supposed to look like. What I have is a knob attached to the long cable that goes through a "plastic like tube" that fits into a hole in the front of the phonograph. The tube is about 2" long and has a retaining? ring inside. Should the "tube" be secured to the phonograph front? or is it part of the hand held mechanism? What am I missing?

[OrthoSean]

The "tube" usually fits into a holder (hole) in the front of the cabinet in such a way that the whole thing stays in place and won't fall back into the cabinet, is that what you mean? Some also had a small metal clip on the side of the cabinet where you could "just hang it up".

Sean

[larryh]

Agreed, I recall my great grandfathers machine had that feature and can remember pulling it out of the front of the cabinet and then adjusting the volume by pulling the inner section outward.

Larry

[phonogal]

Here are some pictures of what I have. I don't know if the black "tube" should some how be part of the hand held mechanism or is it supposed stay in the hole in the machine? Thanks for your help, Jan

[Brad]

I believe that outer sleeve remains in the cabinet. I have project machine at home that I haven't tackled yet, but I will take a look tonight to see if I can offer more.

[OrthoSean]

Can't say I've ever seen one with that short of a tube, all the ones I've seen have the black tube screwed together with the metal inner part and the whole thing will slide out of the front of the cabinet. Maybe this is a later variation?

Sean

[Brad]

What Sean describes is what I have, pictures below. The first picture is the cable that is on the machine. The second picture is on a spare horn assembly I bought to support the restoration. The metal rod that connects to the cable and the knob fits snugly in the black outer tube which screws into the knurled nut at the end of the cable housing. It appears to me that you hold the long outer black sleeve in one hand and pull/push the knob with the other.

In your case, the metal rod looks a little different and the black outer sleeve is much larger internal diameter than the metal rod. The last two pictures are a close up of the opening in the cabinet. On my machine, this opening appears to have a metal sleeve installed. I would check you cabinet to see if you have a similar metal insert, or if the black piece you have fits snugly there. If so, you are probably missing the longer black piece.

I have attached several hi resolution photos (click them to open larger versions).

Finally, I do not have the knob that goes on the end of the metal rod. Can you post some better pictures of yours so I can see what I am looking for.

[phonogal]

Thanks for the pictures Brad. From what I can see, The short tube I have is to stay in the hole in the machine. I am missing the smaller black cover tube. Is there a felt liner in the smaller tube? I will post a picture of the knob for you but I'm not sure if it is the original as it seems to want to pull off the threads. (maybe this is just from use?) Thanks, Jan

[Brad]

Jan,

I unscrewed the long black tube from the cable housing and no, it is not lined with felt. It is solid phenolic piece with a threaded insert in the back to receive knurled nut.

[OrthoSean]

Brad,

The one you have is the same assembly I have in my little oak style 400 machine. The knob that screws on the end is just a black knob that's got female threads on it. Phonogal, you might have some luck getting yours to stay in place using something easily reversible like plumber's tape.

I have another AV project machine in my garage which has a slightly different setup. I'll try to get out there and take a look (and some photos) of it. I'm wondering if sometime during production, they may have "cheapened" the setup a little, even though the one in my garage is a much higher end model, the Graduola assembly is a bit different.

Sean