New to fixing a Brunswick

[seattleite]

Hello,

My daughter found this Brunswick standup phonograph sitting on the curb in Seattle with a “For Free” sign on it. She thought it was cool and with the help of her friends carried it back to her apartment. While she’s in Turkey on a mission trip I thought I’d surprise her when she returned with a working phonograph. The more research I do and the more I dig into the history and inter-workings of this thing, the more beautiful it becomes and the more I admire the mechanical genius and ingenuity that went into building it. That said, I’m new to this exciting hobby (getting hooked)and was hoping you all could guide me through the rebuilding process.

When I took the phonograph apart I found the motor had been removed from the board and was sitting on the metal plate on top of the horn (the horn is okay). The motor looks to have been worked on based on the scaring of the screws so I’m not sure if all the washers and bushings are there. Based on the crank being female I’m inclined to believe it’s a number 3 motor although nothing says that on the casting. It’s a 2 spring motor, one spring is broken in the middle and the other doesn’t look too healthy. I’ll get into that later. Everything else looks to be intact along with the speed control, break and reproducer which from what I read will need have the gaskets replaced.

So to start, I’d like to see if anybody can help me determine what model this Brunswick is. There’s nothing under the hood that gives me a clue. The best I can do is from a PIC I found on the net where they called it a floor model with no model mentioned (I determined this based on the grill I saw in the pic). Looking up “floor model” did me no good as there are multiple models of that type. Based on the PIC would anybody know what model my daughter’s Brunswick is? AND, would you all mind helping me along with the rebuild process? I rebuild cars so I think I can tackle a Brunswick. Thank you all in advance for your help!!

[phonogal]

Hi and welcome to the forum. Your Brunswick is a model 110 and was available in both oak and mahogany. It originally sold for $150.00 in 1921. Here is a copy of the brochure with your model. As for help with rebuilding, I'm sure you will get lots of advice here. Also do a search of the forum as there have been several discussions about spring repair. Just a warning, phonographs seem to multiply.

[seattleite]

Very cool, thank you phonogal!

[Bruce]

Welcome to the world of phonographs, and yes they do tend to multiply when you are not paying attention.

I recommend that you start with purchasing "the complete talking machine" by Eric L Reiss. He covers a everything from identifying, the history, and most importantly repairing phonographs. You should be able to pick one up on one of several phonograph sites on the net for a reasonable price.

There are many quality parts and repair centers across the US and Canada who specialize in phonographs. One with a great reputation in your end of the country is Dwyane Wyatt, Wyatt's Musical, 707-263-5013, http://www.wyattsmusical.com/.

Best of Luck

Bruce