[Phono-L] Questions about a General Phonograph Model E

[John Maeder]

Ween't these also sold under the name 'Vanophone'?

> Date: Sun, 25 Oct 2009 03:19:22 +0000
> From: bruce78rpm at comcast.net
> To: phono-l at oldcrank.org
> Subject: Re: [Phono-L] Questions about a General Phonograph Model E
> 
> Read the blurb here under Otto Heinemann. He owned the company. 
> 
> 
> http://books.google.com/books?id=xV6tghvO0oMC&pg=PA486&lpg=PA486&dq=General+Phonograph+Co.+Elyria,+Ohio&source=bl&ots=s8a-A1qjRT&sig=z4LpF6du4GfUmbA-Yz6HgIltAUw&hl=en&ei=hcHjSvCsEobk8Aa30JyIBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CB8Q6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=General%20Phonograph%20Co.%20Elyria%2C%20Ohio&f=false 
> 
> Bruce 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Chris Kocsis" <chrisk33 at cox.net> 
> To: "Antique Phonograph List" <phono-l at oldcrank.org> 
> Sent: Saturday, October 24, 2009 10:37:39 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern 
> Subject: [Phono-L] Questions about a General Phonograph Model E 
> 
> I got this cute little machine at an auction and have some basic 
> questions I hope you can help me with. I've posted photos to 
> Photobucket: http://s664.photobucket.com/albums/vv10/chrisk33/ 
> 
> 1) Does this look like the original tone arm? 
> 
> 2) How about the sound box -- see closeup -- It seems to say RCA and V 
> in a deco style. Do those letters together mean that it was made no 
> earlier than 1929 (the RCA and Victor merger)? Could it possibly be the 
> one that was supplied on this machine? 
> 
> 3) The sound box is not fastened to the tone arm very rigidly. There is 
> a cylindrical red rubber seal (hard and cracking now, don't know if it 
> was ever flexible) in between and the sound box can be twisted a little, 
> both sideways (on the axis of the tonearm) and vertically, changing the 
> angle that the needle makes with the line of the groove. Should the 
> needle be slanted at all sideways with respect to the record surface, or 
> would anything other than 90 degrees be tracking error? How about the 
> rake of the needle longitudinally in the groove? All the phonographs 
> I've seen with one-use needles seem to have the needle at an angle, such 
> as 35 minutes past the hour if the sound box were a clock. What is this 
> ideal angle? 
> 
> 4) Lastly, much of the (nickel or chrome?) finish is corroded and pitted 
> -- on the turntable edge, on/off switch, the needle cups -- can you 
> recommend someone to restore these, or from your experience should I 
> attempt to polish and plate them myself as suggested in "The Compleat 
> Talking Machine"? 
> 
> Thank you! 
> 
> Chris 
> 
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