Phonoland

I was wondering if anyone had information on Magnavox Corp.'s chairside units? I picked up a unit for 9.99 on Ebay. The AM reciever works great, however someone had replaced the record player (nice job too) with an updated version. Cannot find a spot on Google with the information on finding replacement record player.
The tag underneath by the schematic list the date of manufacture as January 27th 1930. Can anyone point me in the right direction? Thanks.
Mark

I'm not quite sure what you want.

If you want the original record player, you could find yourself unable to play any records made after 1934 without damaging them. They changed to a softer formulation of shellac after a large portion of the record players used lighter-tracking electric pickups.

The reason is that many radio-phono combos in the 1920-1932 period had electronic radios and acoustic phonographs.

Thanks for your response. I guess what I was looking for was any information on the turntable itself and you have answered what questions I had. The newer( maybe 35 years old) turntable was installed very well. However, the pick up is weak. It is a Garrard model 1000. Its been 25 years since I worked on any of the old stuff and have been trying to get back into the swing of things, so the only other question I have is- does this changer need a preamp (ceramic/magnetic) type? The input point on the chassis is clear and strong, but the sound from the changer is weak. Needle is very good, pick up wires good with no shorts or cuts. Any suggestions?
Thanks!

The Garrard 1000 usually came with a ceramic cartridge, although I have seen it fitted with a Pickering magnetic in Singer and Fisher portables. All turnover needles are for ceramic cartridges. Magnetic cartridges require the stylus to be changed out to change stylus size for 78 or microgroove.

The loss in level could have several causes:

- The difference in output between a crystal pickup and a ceramic pickup. A ceramic pickup usually has an output about a third of the crystal pickup. (A magnetic pickup has an output on the order of 500 times weaker than a crystal pickup.)

- Failure of the ceramic cartridge. Both crystal and ceramic cartridges fail over time due to moisture.

- The pickup wiring could have been temporarily set up to play a vertical record.

- Broken-off stylus tip. I have seen a few of these succeed in tracking a record with the broken cantilever (with the stylus missing).

Notes on the original turntable:

- There was no speed except 78 and near 78 back in 1930.

- In 1930, there were no record changers that fit into the space a modern changer would fit in. The changers available in 1930 were huge by comparison, needing at least 18 inches in each direction for mounting. So I imagine that the turntable was either a manual electronic or an acoustic. And the fact that there is a phono input on the amp suggests a manual electronic turntable.

- The ceramic cartridge was invented in 1951. So the original pickup was not ceramic.