Phonoland

Hi all: progressing on my 1400 and have replaced the tone arm wire for the B side tone arm and the A-B switch it went to. The A side plays normally but the b side skates back. I have adjusted the tracking to about 10 grams and even that is hard on the records. I am using the Green cobra cartridges. I have looked over the manual and the actual tone arm mechanism and can see nothing that would make the tone arm want to move outward to the edge of the record. I noticed the end of record switch is the only spring that could affect it. it cuts off about the right place, so am not sure if there is any adjustment that is needed there. what am I missing? thanks Mark

The crude trip switch is one of the problems in those last Simplex mechs. If you are sure that the tonearm wire is as limp and non-interfering as coax can be here, the trip is the problem. Adding to that is the poorer leverage afforded by the inward facing pickup on the B-side arm.

I had a 1650 that i intended to restore. It was rough and after realizing that the tonearms could not be upgraded to use gentler modern carts, I sold it for parts and glass.

With some effort a lighter pressure trip sw can be implemented but this will require a relay to actually carry the changer motor load.

The issue of tracking and record wear came up here a year or so back, my suggestion then was to sell the machine and get something more capable. That was probably not what you are looking for, but understand that this mech was a last tortured attempt to buy more time for a design that predated WW-2 when only shellac 78's existed and where jukebox development had frozen in the intervening years.

In short, it is what it is and too much hacking will just devalue it in the eyes of collectors, which is the only real long-term market for this sort of machine.

Rob/NYC

Well put, on those old record-chewers.

Rob-NYC wrote:The crude trip switch is one of the problems in those last Simplex mechs. If you are sure that the tonearm wire is as limp and non-interfering as coax can be here, the trip is the problem. Adding to that is the poorer leverage afforded by the inward facing pickup on the B-side arm.

I had a 1650 that i intended to restore. It was rough and after realizing that the tonearms could not be upgraded to use gentler modern carts, I sold it for parts and glass.

With some effort a lighter pressure trip sw can be implemented but this will require a relay to actually carry the changer motor load.

The issue of tracking and record wear came up here a year or so back, my suggestion then was to sell the machine and get something more capable. That was probably not what you are looking for, but understand that this mech was a last tortured attempt to buy more time for a design that predated WW-2 when only shellac 78's existed and where jukebox development had frozen in the intervening years.

In short, it is what it is and too much hacking will just devalue it in the eyes of collectors, which is the only real long-term market for this sort of machine.

Rob/NYC