Posted on 05/28/2018 7:58:35 AM PDT by wally_bert
I was able to pull this vintage RCA record player and some vinyl. There were a few packs of needles too.
The previous owner(s) seemed to take care of it. It needs some maintenance and some fresh grease. I found a lot of technical advice for this model.
It was missing a crank handle. There is a fellow out there that makes reproduction handles.
I rolled the footage over the weekend and slapped this edit together earlier this morning. When I get a macro lens and some maintenance pulled, I'll do another.
Cool! Nice vintagey sound. Here’s something you might enjoy:
https://sites.google.com/site/donbrowne/marion
Used to listen on WBCQ shortwave, pretty cool to hear those old recordings on the radio. And you can even use a Baygen type radio which has a hand-crank if you like ;-)
Sorry to nitpick, that’s not an RCA machine, it was made by the Victor Talking Machine Company prior to when the company was bought by RCA circa 1929. And the record is shellac, not vinyl.
The record you are playing was acoustically recorded. In other words, the performers played and sang into a giant horn. They typically have a thin, tinny sound, with virtually no bass. Around 1925, they started using electrical recording (microphones), and the sound on them is much better.
You probably need to rebuild the reproducer (new gaskets). Parts are readily available.
Interesting. The tone-arm looks like it carries an acoustic signal based on its shape; like wind instrument. Is the sound produced purely by the physical mechanism or is there an electrical generator built-into the device?
No worries.
I hadn’t put anything through Vegas or even turned on the GH4 in a long time.
>> I was able to pull this vintage RCA record player and some vinyl <<
Vinyl was not used for recordings back in the “hand crank” days. Most of the old 78’s were made of shellac. Vinyl became common only after WW 2, especially with the introduction of 33 1/3 and 45 RP records.
(Rubber and various plastics were occasionally used back in the early days. But they never caught on.)
Steel needles cause wear on the record with each play.
Try to find cactus needles; they wear out quickly but don’t etch the record.
FWIW I have my grandfather’s 1947 Westinghouse radio phonograph; it plays with an unbelievably rich tone (though mono). Some folks swear by vacuum tube amplifiers.
I didn’t know that either.
Thank you.
I’ll have to check for those, never heard of them.
Thanks!
Whatever regulates the speed sure does a good job of it.
RCA Victor (post acquisition name) made a series of vinyl 33-1/3 rpm records in the early 30’s which they called “Program Transcriptions”. They were a commercial failure as very few machines would play them, and those that could wore them out quickly. Tracking pressures back then were in ounces, not grams. They are very hard to find today.
VERY Cool!
I’m amazed that it works as well as it does.
It was in a non-climate controlled metal building for at least 20 years, buried under stuff. It was an accidental discovery.
I’ll be learning more as I figure out the maintenance and cleaning.
One other antique I pulled from storage that had been sitting for years is a foot-pedal type Singer sewing machine that belonged to a relative of my wife.
I got a belt from Amazon and ordered some Singer oil, also from Amazon.
The cabinet is rather beat up.
Glad you like.
Before I rolled it into the house, I wanted to hit it with the camera and some decent light.
My wife has several 60s/70s/ Disney records, wonder if those would play back?
They are in OK shape from what I remember.
In all honesty, I have no idea.
I thought I could hear some grinding despite the playback.
Direct metal on anything soft isn’t good.
My family used to have one exactly like that.
Oh, and for what it’s worth, I bought a “wire recorder”/record player/radio from 1943. You don’t see wire recorders anymore. They were replaced by “tape” recorders. :)
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