The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Obviously im new to this scene.

I recently purchased a 1941 G-E JM-23 wireless record player and Im not sure how it is supposed to work.The selector switch on the front turns the unit on, but it is a three position switch. Nothing happens when rotated to the far left.

Also im not sure where the sound should eminate from, a speaker?

I found very little info on line for this.

Any help ?????

That machine is meant to be plugged into a radio. It won't produce any sound on it's own.

I think there's a way you can plug an old style headset into this.

estott wrote:I think there's a way you can plug an old style headset into this.

I don't think the crystal pick up will produce enough output on it's own to drive a headset to any listenable volume. Needs an amplifier.

I'm not familiar with this model, but if it is truly a "wireless" player, it is designed to transmit an AM radio signal to a nearby radio. If so, it probably has a 1 or 2-tube electronic chassis inside which is the AM transmitter. There will be no loudspeaker in these sets. There is usually no other output from these sets to drive an amplifier, headphone or speaker. You were supposed to tune your AM radio to an unused portion of the broadcast band (about 650 to 1600kHz) to receive the transmission from the player. Most of these had a small trimmer adjustment on the chassis that could be used to trim the broadcast frequency to an unused frequency in your area.

These sets almost all had crystal phono cartridges. These carts are sure to be dead and inoperative today. To get this set to work as intended, you'll have to replace the cartridge and restore the AM transmitter electronics. Alternatively, you can rewire the cartridge signal to an output jack or cable that you can plug into an external amplifier if you don't want to restore the AM transmitter.

Try this link to a parts list and schematic. You may have to register with the site to download it.