Looking for info on a GE Console Stereo

Hey everyone! As most of you probably know, I am the Magnavox geek on here. Over the last couple of years, I had quite a few
Magnavox Stereo Consoles. They were always my favorite. I have a 1962 Magnificent Magnavox tube set in my bedroom, and
it is listed under my pride and joy part of this website. That Magnificent Magnavox spills out 'high fidelity" and has the true
stereo sound. On the other had, I don't know how I feel about this General Electric we picked out of our neighbors trash yesterday.
My neighbor is like 86 years old and now lives in a nursing home, her grand-daughter moved into her house, and soon strated
throwing away a lot of her belongings. My Grandfather and I saw this stereo in the dumpster(I knew it was a nice one because I
had seen it in her house before) So I convinced my dad to take it out of the trash and saving, with hopes that maybe I can fix
it up. My neighbors son was there the day my dad picked the stereo out of the trash, and said that he could take it, and what
was really great was that I got a bunch of really nice records to go along with it!

What isn't so great was that the people weren't very careful when they were throwing it in the trash. The legs busted on it,
so I have my dad trying to fix it up. There are a lot of nicks in it which I didn't notice before(when it was in her house) so,
the first day I tested it out in the garage I was just able to turn the radio on. It did work!! The volume goes up nice and loud
and it was able to pick up quite a few stations. however with the record player, I was not as lucky. At first, when I turned it
on, it wouldn't spin at all, and when it would, it would spin almost three quarters of the way around, and then it would stop,
and when it would start going again it would pull, It seems like its stoping in the same spot. I don't know if something is
stuck in the mechanism or if it just jammed a little bit. I did actually get the record player to working a couple times.
However when I did get a record to play, the volume was really low, at the highest level the stereo can be set on, I'm thinking
it may be the needle since the radio goes up nice and loud. I hope someone can help me with this. I haven't gotten a chance
to take the back off yet to take a better look at it, and look at the turntable. At this point, i'm very disappointed in it. I
mean, my one Magnavox is close to 50 years old, and the turntable in there NEVER jammed! I have about 9 or 10 other
Micromatic Changers that I got off of ebay upstairs in my attic, half of them don't have cartridges or needles, but I can
say one thing, none of them jam, and they all work flawlessly on all 4 speeds!! I guess thats why you gotta have a
Magnavox! From what I know about console stereo's, I am going to guess that this stereo is from the very early 1960s.
Please tell me what you all think. I don't think I'll be able to hook up my CD changer to this one either. I didn't see an AUX
switch on the tuner anywhere. I know I will have more information once I can get the back of the set off.

Beautiful cabinet. I tried to reply earlier, but my computer did a hiccup and lost everything. Your problem could be a faulty cartridge. Maybe check all the wires running from the cartridge to underneath the turntable to the receiver. Remove the platter to see if the idler moves freely to engage the inner rim. The linkages may need cleaned/lubed. Hopefully, the idler wheel hasn't hardened like plastic.

I have a 60's (I think) HEAVY tube portable that has that same turntable. It does have two speakers in the front panel in addition to the removable extension speakers. It also has a switch for "Normal Stereo" and "Expanded Stereo. Can't hear the difference right now...I think there is one tube that operates that function. I had this thing for about a year, sitting in the hallway. I notice the underside and saw four holes. When I opened the speakers, there was a slot on the side of the main cabinet that had these four bars...Duh, the thing actually has its own legs! I also attached some extra legs under the speakers to support their weight when open.

Sorry for the grainy pics...my computer USB doesn't recognize my cell phone software, so I have to send them email. You may find some more info once you remove the back of your unit. Oh, if the cartridge is bad, get the number off of it to match it with a correct needle. --BB

Bobby Basham
Tucson, Arizona

If you are very disappointed, take it back and get your money refunded.

The V-M (Voice of Music) changer in there was probably not designed to withstand being tossed into a dumpster. I have seen Magnavox turntables jammed up pretty solid, and much harder to free up than A V-M. Most makes of record changers can suffer from hardened grease in the mechanism and hardened Idler wheels, both of which can cause problems similar to what you are experiencing, but the V-M is more easily damaged by trying to force the changer through its cycle, since most of its mechanism is metal stampings, rather than metal castings. The V-M was basically made to sell at a price point, and that is why they foundered when other companies (BSR, for example) made units that cost even less.

Many people who had these sets used them primarily at Christmas time. Even during their heyday, when I serviced home stereo units, people would call and say that it played lOK last year, but now it doesnt, and I need it to play my Christmas music. When you would look at their record collection it would consist of 4 Christmas albums, a Lawrence Welk album and one by George Beverly Shea. During the rest of the year the record player would sit idle and the lubricant would be hardening, due to lack of use.

Can you find a model number on the GE console?

I had a friend who had one. He called that the "wide track" tonearm.

I can't remember the number of the cartridge, but it looks exactly like an over-sized EV275 found in the W620 Series and newer micromatics. --BB


Bobby Basham
Tucson, Arizona