Phonoland

Hello. I am new to the forum. I have searched through the forum and I cannot find anyone with a similar issue.

I have a seeburg LPC 480 that had a poor sound quality. First off it was playing too slow, so I replaced the POT for the speed and it worked great. However, the sound quality was still poor. Today I installed two new needles. The sound quality went up but the quality degrades when the stylus gets to the center of the record playing. I am at a loss of why the play quality would be like this. Also, to add to this it will not play the B sides. I did the trouble shooting instructions from the manual and still no luck.

I have replaced the caps in the tormat control unit.
I have replaced the POT for the speed module
I have replaced the 'T' shaped needles.

Any advice or direction would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you for your time.

- Jeff

edited: for spelling.

Hi Jeff,
On your "sound issues"--
Which model amp is installed ? Which "needles" did you purchase ? How are you speakers attached to the amp ?
Is the tone arm properly lubricated/balanced and the counter balance spring correctly set ?
On your B side issue--
Did you change the state of the B side torrids using a known good D cell ? Is it not detenting for a B side, or is it playing an A side instead ?
If set for an Album, will it play A/B sides ??
Ron Rich

Ron Rich wrote:Hi Jeff,
On your "sound issues"--
Which model amp is installed ? Which "needles" did you purchase ? How are you speakers attached to the amp ?
Is the tone arm properly lubricated/balanced and the counter balance spring correctly set ?
On your B side issue--
Did you change the state of the B side torrids using a known good D cell ? Is it not detenting for a B side, or is it playing an A side instead ?
If set for an Album, will it play A/B sides ??
Ron Rich

Thanks for the reply Ron,

The side of the amp reads Type: TSA3 Code: A305 Cycles: 60 120 volts
I purchased needles from needles4jukeboxes.com "Seeburg Stereo T Needles" .7 mil Diamond
The speakers are attached with what I believe are the original cables.

I am not sure about the lubrication/balance of the tone arm. So it's safe to say that they may not be done properly. But, before I changed the needles I didn't have the problem with the sound quality degrading towards the center of the record playing. Also, not sure about the balance spring.

I have not tried to change the state of the B side torrid with a D cell because I do not know how.
Whenever I select a B side it will play the A side of that selected record instead. Per the Seeburg troubleshooting manual it says to swap the two plugs from the Tormat Control Unit to the Pulse Amplifier and no luck.

So a little back story on the machine. I got it for $75 from a nice lady in a small town. The glass was broken and they said that it would play but only if you put a record in manually. I toyed around with it and I got it to make selections and play on it own. I am super excited to get this machine fully functional.

Here are a few photos of what I am working with. I am available most of the day to send info and photos. Thank you very much for your time I appreciate it.

Jeff,
Do you have the Service Manual PACKAGE for this model ? If not, and you want to DIY, you will need to purchase it . You WILL need to properly lube the tone arm pivots, and it seems also a pressure check is needed, re-balance, and/or re-adjust the counter balance on the end of record switch. I have been told that the needles you have purchased are more sensitive to these things then the older ones--but from what I understand, they are great needles, which should function well for a very long time, once the adjustments are correct !
I suspect that "someone" has "messed with" the above--might try proper oiling first, which, if not messed with, should restore proper adjustments ! Ron Rich

Ron Rich wrote:Jeff,
Do you have the Service Manual PACKAGE for this model ? If not, and you want to DIY, you will need to purchase it . You WILL need to properly lube the tone arm pivots, and it seems also a pressure check is needed, re-balance, and/or re-adjust the counter balance on the end of record switch. I have been told that the needles you have purchased are more sensitive to these things then the older ones--but from what I understand, they are great needles, which should function well for a very long time, once the adjustments are correct !
I suspect that "someone" has "messed with" the above--might try proper oiling first, which, if not messed with, should restore proper adjustments ! Ron Rich

I have only the original toubleshooting and service manual that I found on the internet. What is a good service manual package for this machine? I'll have to grab one to do this properly.

Thank you again!

Jeff,
If you want my help, you MUST answer my questions, or I can't help--
How are the speakers connected ( What "taps", on the front of the amp, are which wires, connected to )?
Did you swap the two Tormat wires--if so, when you do does it play an A side, if a B side is selected ? Then if you swap them again and play an A side--what happens ?? ( BTW--pull on the two wires--the longer of the two fits the PA closest to you--)
As for a manual package--if your copy of the Service Manual is good ( all of the IN stuff I've seen is poor--missing/blurred pages--copies of copies--), all you need is an I and O Manual, and the parts book--Once again--contact suppliers listed above--Ron Rich

i'm having the same troubles since installing the new T needles, and in trying to adjust for their lighter sensitivity, i don't think i've yet achieved the right balances, still get heaps of distortion later in the record.

what's curious, is since trying to rebalance the arm and set the trip lever bias, now i get a similar "A-side only, no B-sides" problem that wasn't there before. it's hard to see how they would be related from here... but i'm following this thread for sure!

There is no relationship between needles and playing the wrong side, UNLESS, both of you, bent the LSR/RSR/RR contacts on your phono's, while installing needles--?? Ron Rich

what's curious, is since trying to rebalance the arm and set the trip lever bias, now i get a similar "A-side only, no B-sides" problem that wasn't there before. it's hard to see how they would be related from here... but i'm following this thread for sure!

Is the tonearm cradle free to shift? If the old oil on the shaft on which it slides is "gummy" or 'sluggish (to please Ron) the arm won't shift. Also, if you have tampered with the setdown position adjustment screw it can bind the assembly if other adjustments are too tight as well.

Rob-NYC

Hi Rob, Jeff,
Iffin the tone arm waz "gummy", the A side of the record would not "play", and it would appear that either the tone arm was on the wrong side,or the record waz spinning in the wrong direction-- Ron Rich

So further inspection of the mechanism I discovered a spring that was hanging there. I did some research and it turned out to the Trip Switch Counter Balance Spring. I attached the spring to the rear of the Trip Switch and so far I am able to play both A & B sides with good sound quality. I ordered a gram spring tension gauge to make sure that I have all the pressures correct.

jeff,
Glad you got it--Most likely, NO "adjustment "is needed, nor should you attempt it ! These adjustments DO NOT** CHANGE** (with-out "help") ! Ron Rich

UPDATE:

Everything seems to be running great! I replaced the glass with some Plexiglas and it looks great. Thanks everyone who helped me hash out the issues with the machine.

However, I am looking for something that will block out that fluorescent light over the album covers. There is one on the bulb now but it covers about half of the light bulb. Anyone know what they are call or where I can find one? I googled and I couldn't find what I was looking for.