Aeolian Vocalion

edisonsclone · by **edisonsclone** » Tue Jun 03, 2008 11:10 pm

Hi, My question is for my very first phonograph that I bought back when I was in 2nd grade (I am Now 22). I am a phonograph collector and have seen Aeolian Vocalion's pop up hear and there but all have had the crazy volume control cord. Mine Does Not, and does not have a place where one could have ever been. Also The arm and reproducer are a-little different from what I have seen on other machines.
So.....The question is does any one out there have one like mine?
Maybe this is a later machine ? Or could it have been a lower end model?

Curious more than anything,
thanks Matt

shane · by **shane** » Tue Jun 03, 2008 11:53 pm

I have a feeling you might have a very early Vocalion! The first American Aeolian gramophones were introduced in 1914, and the "Graduola" tone-controller wasn't added until 1916 on both the US & UK models. They weren't used in every model though. The early US models were also capable of playing both vertical & lateral cut records- which might explain the different tonearm. I've never seen a Vocalion here in Australia capable of playing both types of disc, so if you could post a photo of the machine &/or the tonearm, I'd be very interested in seeing it.

edisonsclone · by **edisonsclone** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 7:40 am

Thanks for the info. Hear are some pictures, hopefully you can tell me more. I also want to point out the end of the crank, it is not a typical threded end, it has 2 teeth or points that catch a pin.

edisonsclone · by **edisonsclone** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 7:51 am

Full Machine

shane · by **shane** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 9:51 am

It looks to me, that the tone arm may have been replaced at some point. There seems to be a small gap between the base of the tonearm & the horn throat at the motor board. It's not unusual to find Vocalion's which have a replacement arm. The originals were made of pot metal, which becomes very fragile with age. I had one about 15 yrs ago which looked exactly the same, except mine had the volume control.
If my memory serves me correctly, the original arm had 2 very small loops at the base of the arm, which attached to the flange base via a thin rod or pin. These loops could break off by looking at them the wrong way.
Hopefully someone a little more familiar with Vocalions will tune in, but I think it's probably a lower end machine with a non-original arm. I've only ever owned one, so I'm definately no expert & could very well be wrong.
One thing I notice which goes against my theory is the linkage from the tone arm to the auto-stop.
My machine had a small button at the front r/h side of the turntable, which you'd press down & swing the soundbox to line up the needle with the last groove of the record. By releasing the button, the brake would be set to turn off once you played the disc, and it reached this pre-set position. It had a funny linkage made up with a couple seperate parts, so I'm not sure how easy it would be to replace the arm, but keep the auto brake operational.
If it's not the right tone arm, I'm not to sure how much luck you'd have finding a good original. Even if you found one on ebay, you could have trouble getting it sent in the post without these loops being damaged, unless the seller is aware how fragile they are, and packs it properly.

CharlesD · by **CharlesD** » Thu Jun 02, 2011 4:28 am

I have a similar situation:

I aquired a Aeolian Vocalion Phonograph in a cabinet over 14 yrs ago. And have become curious as to what i have. It is a floor model, aprox 4 ft tall, with a hinged lid. It has a white ceramic female plug on the bottom, and the #0066 or it could be #9900. Can send pics if needed.

Look forward to hearing your insight.

Charles Duggan