identifying old phonograph

Yep, I suspected from the moment I saw it with glass inserts that it might be a pieced together unit. If, and if is a big word here, I were to get this Thorens motor (it is not stamped whatsoever by the way) working I'm not sure it will play at the proper speed or have quality sound... I'd like to try however!

Yep, it was given to me. I do feel bad for my close friend who gave it to me. I thought a patient gave it to him as a gift but after speaking with him I realized he bartered with a patient who couldn't pay their bill (he is a dentist-just retired to). So he got snookered as we say around here... He laughed about it...All is well... I still want to make it work. It is a Thorens type motor (with no stamp whatsoever however) but I'm not sure now if it'd play or sound proper...

p/s: my favorite new group is a group of very young men from Manchester who call themselves The 1975 and I adore Annie Lennox and have since the early 80's... British popular culture is my thing for some reason and I grew up in the American South very close to where the Blues and Elvis came to be...I'm an odd one! Lol

lugnutt62 wrote:...but I'm not sure now if it'd play or sound proper...

Once you get the motor working okay, and the turntable spinning at a constant speed, the next step is to make sure the tonearm has integrity; that the swan-neck style crook (front pivoting portion) moves up and down freely, and that the tonearm, itself, moves back and forth without binding or shaking.

Then, just as important, you'll probably have to rebuild the sound box and adjust it to play without rattling or buzzing. That isn't really too hard, as long as you have steady hands and are good working on delicate objects.

What you have in this type of sound box is a pivot that allows the needle bar to move freely back and forth to track the sideways modulation of the record groove. It can't move in the opposite direction, though, because that will cause rattling, etc. You should find a couple of screws at the ends of the pivot for making the proper adjustment.

Assuming you can get it apart, you'll find that the sound box's diaphragm is held in place with gaskets. If rubber, the gaskets must be soft, since their purpose is to isolate the diaphragm from the shell of the sound box, and to basically provide an air-tight "pivot area" around the circumference of the diaphragm, allowing it to move freely back and forth as the needle tracks the record groove. (A well designed diaphragm from this period will plunge back and forth with the movement of the needle-bar.) If the gaskets are hard, you'll hear a shrill tone and the volume will be greatly reduced, and record wear will greatly increase. Along this line, if the diaphragm is made of aluminum, there should be no tears or dents or punctures. That will also cause severe distortion.

Basically, think of the sound box (or reproducer) as a mini loudspeaker, but instead of being activated by amplified electrical current, it's mechanically activated by the vibration caused by the needle tracing the back and forth movement of the record groove.

Once restored, the gramophone should actually sound pretty good. It all depends on how much you want to put into it. You never know, it may inspire you to hunt down an authentic gramophone or two, or in the case of some people I know, a couple hundred.

JDS

Great Information, thanks, I have two original phonographs myself, a Nightingale by H.B. Wolper of Chicago, and a Victor VV-IV. One note, I was at my friend's house looking again at another Phono he had the other day. I now think these phono's are combination India and old parts someone has thrown together....Certainly not original and very possibly completely fake made to look old... the back brackets are totally India looking and the horn ell is a soldered two piece on both units...

There are so many fake gramophones out there, that it's a real "buyer beware" market--the reason I posted "How to Spot a Fake Gramophone" in the announcements section, above.

As you note, some have been made to look old. Some are even equipped with authentic Victor metal MFG plates taken from junked cabinet models to try to fool people into thinking that they're the real deal. I know most of the Victor models, so I can easily spot these.

Along this line, here's the page -- http://www.victor-victrola.com/new_page_2.htm -- from the Victor Victrola site -- http://www.victor-victrola.com/ -- that shows you what every model looks like. It's a handy reference guide, since most of the models have a serial number dating chart indicating when the machine was manufactured.

The best advice is, when in doubt, ask about it here, or on other phonograph forums, providing a photo or two, or a jump to the ad in question.

Joe