Questions about my gramophone

Hello folks. I joined a few months ago and posted about my columbia grafonola 112a. I had been busy moving house and not looked at it again til now. I know it'll need a little service by a gramophone engineer but I was hoping you might be able to give me an idea of what might be amiss. I've read this fellow's website

http://www.gramophones.info/graminformation.html#Q000

so I know its brake needs looking at as it stops too quickly and I need some new needles for it. The wind actually is perfect- initially I had not wound it up enough! It lasts for well over the length of the 78.
Its main problem is that when I move the tone arm over the disc to play it it feels not tight enough and the soundbox is loose- it has fell off a few tiimes! I presume a screw might have got lost. It is a fiddle to play the disc- getting the arm and soundbox at the right angle to play- I didn't have this prob before.
However it plays fine if I start it at the left side of the disc and not the right!

I know I ought to get new needles for it as the needles are the ones I got when I was given the gramophone. I am ordering it some soon.

So was wondering why it plays better left- surely it isn't meant to be played at the left side? Yet it seems to want to go there...

Its loose arm and soundbox- are they easily sorted out?

By the way I am as technical as a jam sandwich so won't be able to do the jobs myself.

Sorry, I can't help you with your gramophone --but you have impressed me !
You can fix a jam sandwich ? I have seen many persons "attempting to fix" machines that could not even fix a sandwich--
Ron Rich

This should be the proper playing position for the tonearm --


(Not mine, unfortunately.)

The record's surface should pull away from the needle's tip. If the sound box is positioned on the other side of the spindle, the needle will point inward toward the groove, and gouge it out.


The sound box, of course, should be firmly attached to the end of the tonearm, and there should be no air leaks, or looseness, in the connection. I would guess that the rubber gasket used in the joint is either missing or has hardened and should be replaced. (If I remember right, this type of sound box twists and locks in place.) Along this line, the gaskets that hold the fragile aluminum diaphragm in place could probably also stand replacement, and the needle bar's pivot should be readjusted for maximum compliance without shake or rattle. I'd say that the tonearm & sound box could probably stand a good overhaul by someone who knows how to do it properly. There are a number of shops that specialize in this, in the UK, and contacting some of them would be your best bet. Ian Calderbank, I understand, is very helpful, and as he notes on his site, you can contact him via his email jump for referrals.

Once restored, the Columbia 112a is an EXCELLENT little performer, sounding more like a small portable electrically amplified gramophone than an acoustic one. It has a solid, rich tone, and pumps out more than just a hint of bass. SEE -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-tQpjT5uoI

Good Luck,
Joe_DS

This should be the proper playing position for the tonearm --


(Not mine, unfortunately.)

The record's surface should pull away from the needle's tip. If the sound box is positioned on the other side of the spindle, the needle will point inward toward the groove, and gouge it out.

Thanks Joe! I have got it in this position and it's playing right now as I type. You know what the problem was? Its arm is a little loose as I said, and had fallen back a bit, so as a result its soundbox kept slipping off the disc.

The sound box, of course, should be firmly attached to the end of the tonearm, and there should be no air leaks, or looseness, in the connection. I would guess that the rubber gasket used in the joint is either missing or has hardened and should be replaced. (If I remember right, this type of sound box twists and locks in place.)

Yes it does twist and lock- it feels ok rtight now but comes off very easily if you need to take it off, and when lifting the arm onto the disc it can fall off if one is too quick or not gentle.I will look into getting it a new rubber gasket.

Along this line, the gaskets that hold the fragile aluminum diaphragm in place could probably also stand replacement, and the needle bar's pivot should be readjusted for maximum compliance without shake or rattle. I'd say that the tonearm & sound box could probably stand a good overhaul by someone who knows how to do it properly. There are a number of shops that specialize in this, in the UK, and contacting some of them would be your best bet. Ian Calderbank, I understand, is very helpful, and as he notes on his site, you can contact him via his email jump for referrals.

Yes Joe- I think you are right- its tone arm and soundbox need some tlc by a competent gramophone repairman! Ian is away til the end of Jan so will email him after that, but I can also ask the man at my local antiques shop- I have been meaning to ask him for ages! He has had gramophones in his shop so maybe he knows about them. Anyway as I only work 12 hours a week no rush because I will have to save up for Gramophone's repairs!

Once restored, the Columbia 112a is an EXCELLENT little performer, sounding more like a small portable electrically amplified gramophone than an acoustic one. It has a solid, rich tone, and pumps out more than just a hint of bass. SEE -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-tQpjT5uoI

Good Luck,
Joe_DS

It's very loud already Joe! I can imagine it will be fab when it's had its repairs! Happy New Year to you and many thanks for the reply.

Ron Rich wrote:Sorry, I can't help you with your gramophone --but you have impressed me !
You can fix a jam sandwich ? I have seen many persons "attempting to fix" machines that could not even fix a sandwich--
Ron Rich

I am very nifty in the kitchen Ron..I'm a cook- I volunteer in a socially run cafe ( volunteer run)- food is easy, machines are not ( to me anyway).

Though I don't do jam sandwiches as I don't eat bread or sugar. It was just a play on British afternoon teas- tradition and vintage and all that!

You have just brought back fond memories--My Grandma was British, and fixed me an awful lot of "jam sandwiches"--
Thanks, Ron Rich

Ron Rich wrote:You have just brought back fond memories--My Grandma was British, and fixed me an awful lot of "jam sandwiches"--
Thanks, Ron Rich

That's sweet Ron! Yes us Brits used to eat a lot of jam sandwiches. In the periods between roughly 1860s and 1950s they often used to be all the poorer people could afford for evening meal- known as "tea." Jam making was popular as well if one had access to berries and fruit trees and bushes.

Although I said I don't eat jam cos I don't eat sugar, occasionally I buy a sugar free French jam sold in the supermarkets called St Dalfour- they just make it with the fruit and fruit juices. I tend to mix it into "free from" cakes and flapjacks. The fig one is a particular favourite.

What jams did your Grandma give you? Strawberry?

And lest my gramophone feel left out- one of the reasons i aim to get it fixed up fab is because I'd like to host vintage afternoon teas with it being the star of the afternoon.

How did you guess--but I seem to remember other fruits also--She was always "canning" something---Always had dill pickles for me to take home--many times these were "bombs"--after the first time when about a half dozen of her pickle bottles exploded in our storage area,we "got smart" and put the pickle jars inside a wooden box. Ron Rich

Strawberry is always a favourite Ron! Exploding pickles! That must have been fun...
My Dad used to do pickled onions when I was a child- he gave me one to try and I liked them, but couldn't eat them now!