Phonoland

I just bought this suitcase portable on EBay:

[url]cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=161031416871[/url]

Grinnell Brothers was a sales distributor, not a manufacturer. Can anybody tell me who the manufacturer most likely was, and when it was made? Someone on another forum suggested that it could be a Birch (Boetsch), but a search online did not turn up any particular model by this manufacturer that is the same as my phonograph.

RE: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Grinnell-Brothe ... 7675.l2557

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Definitely dates from the late 1930s to the early/mid 1940s.

Most American-made portables, during this period, used parts supplied by third party vendors, and pretty much every one used similar looking components supplied by third party manufacturers.

BUT, if you compare the one you have --


(CLICK ON IMAGE TO MAKE IT FULL SIZE FOR EASY VIEWING)

...with this Birch (branded) model featured on this page -- http://www.etsy.com/listing/105651805/v ... k-portable --


(CLICK ON IMAGE TO MAKE IT FULL SIZE FOR EASY VIEWING)

...you'll see some similarities:

the same record storage container (normally a unique feature of portables)
the same tonearm
the same type of (open) horn
the crank hole is in the same position, relative to the turntable and spindle
the same type of speed control
the same type of handle, hinges, etc.

About the only differences I see involve the positions of the needle cup and brake, which often varied on the same models year by year.

I'd say there's a very definite likelihood--if not a complete certainty--that the one you have was made by Birch for Grinnel.

Joe

Now, was the needle cup used to store new, or used needles? I've ordered 300 "soft tone" and 100 "medium tone" needles for it (new manufacture), by the way. This is my first wind-up phonograph.

Rich K wrote:Now, was the needle cup used to store new, or used needles? I've ordered 300 "soft tone" and 100 "medium tone" needles for it (new manufacture), by the way. This is my first wind-up phonograph.

Hi Rick:

Normally, the needle cup housed new or unused needles. In some more deluxe portables, there was a second needle storage cup with a small hole in the center of its lid, used for dropping in spent needles. (The one I have has that.)

The important thing is to NEVER remove and reinsert a steel needle once it has played even part of a side of a record. After a few rotations, the needle point begins to develop a flattened area, which acts as a chisel point if the needle is removed and reinserted in the sound box.

Also, never attempt to re-sharpen a steel needle. Normally, you can get about two plays (two sides of a 10-inch record) out of a good quality steel needle. Personally, I never play more than one side of a record, and I have some in my collection that have been played a hundred times or more over the past 30 years, with no noticeable wear from the time I first acquired them.

All of this, of course, assumes that your sound box is in good mechanical condition. Ideally, the gaskets holding the diaphragm in place should be soft, and the needle bar's pivot joint should allow free movement of the needle bar so it tracks the groove of the record without resistance. (There should be no shake or sideways movement of the needle bar, however; the two screws should be just tight enough to hold the pivot in place, allowing free movement to track the record groove.)

Joe

Guess I'll find out when it arrives ! Step one will be to see if I can remove the crank...