Hi, I watched your video with great enthousiasm. Now (15ys later) I'm curious how the tibia's and the organ have turned out. Did you make any follow up video's on it? greatings from overseas.
i agree with your decision to not possibly damage the unit by taking it apart; it works quite impressively as is. What a beautiful example of a battery set.
I would think that, with these home machines, the audio quality of the home-cut discs was far below that of commercially-recorded records (Presto lathes, et. al.), and those, as of the late 1940s, were far below the quality of early magnetic recording tape. But this, and wire recording, were how "home moments" were preserved back then.
These home disc cutting machines were designed to cut acetate coated aluminum discs which you cannot buy today. The disc I recorded on is vinyl and there are certain things I could try and do to make a batter recording on vinyl. For one the disc can be wiped down with lighter fluid and then coated with turtle wax. I could use a mounted hair dryer or sun lamp to heat the disc as it is being cut. I could also righ up a small plastic tube to a vacuum to suck away the warf as the record is being cut. It is just something to have fun with and not take seriously. Cutting depth is critical. If cutting too deep that will cause wow in the recording because the turntable is rubber idler wheel driven. Commercial lathes are gear driven.Thanks for the comment.
The issue with this Magnavox is that it was sold "with or without" the television unit or the FM tuner. The problem is that not all areas of the U.S. had television or F.M. radio reception. I could be sold as "bare bones" with the A.M. radio and phonograph, or add television or F.M. radio later. The F.M. Tuner was added above the existing tuner and yours obviously came with the television unit.
The radio is haunted. (just kidding LOL) I use an AM broadcast transmitter that I built just for this purpose which was to demonstrate what might be heard on a 1925 radio. Check out this video I posted some time ago. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE--xSJ-uDMN8E.html
Very nice job playing this .... I love this Gulbransen Rialto Organ .... I am an organist and have a Conn 653 at home that needs repair in Chicago Area any suggestions on repair person is welcome as I miss playing.
Very kind comment and thank you. I would check with the CATOE (Chicago Area Theatre Organ Enthusiasts) club as to finding a tech to work on your 653. I have worked on the Conn 653 in the past and the instrument can be technically troublesome. Best of luck.
Yes CATOE which I belonged to around 1970 is a great thought. I am an electronic tech all my career and have kept my 653 running as I can solder and I was in LSI Design too. I was told to first look at the MUX Boards as my problem is on the SOLO Manual every F# thru A does not play for any stops even that Brass Synth section so I found the 3 MUX Boards and will address from there. Thanks for the CATOE hint!!
Great playing and nice sound Bill ... glad I found this on RU-vid as my wife and I used to go to The Terrace and hear you play the Hammond X-66 and your playing amazed me as you could play anything and the X-66 really was the organ for you!!! I own a Conn 653 that needs repair so I am struggling to play now as I need repair person in Chicago area.
The noise or hum is electrical noise. 1920s TRF radios are prone to picking up electrical noise especially when using a long wire antenna verses a loop antenna.
I have a Rola Recreator that I fit a 3" quality speaker and a bluetooth mini receiver into. Sounds pretty good. The speaker cone has a knurled metal flange on the bottom, you unscrew the flange from the lower can that is attached to the base. You can only access the speaker by unscrewing that speaker flange. My retrofit has the 3" speaker in the can and the blutooth in the base.
Oh wow! I just bought an old Chemnitzer and it will arrive this week. I really love the, as we say in Dutch “kermisorgel” or “draaiorgel” sound 😊 Very well played!!
That’s an awesome radio. I would like to get an RC someday. I had a Westinghouse D-10 horn and regret selling it. I paid $60 at a flea market in the mid 80’s.
I see the RC come up on eBay fairly often. I bought mine from the radio attic site as "working" but it wasn't working. The second audio transformer was open so I put in a new transformer. The Western Electric horn came from a fellow ham radio operator. I have a Paragon Detector/Amplifier DA-2 in almost mint condition but finding the matching tuner assembly is another story. The Westinghouse RA would work with it though.
That’s a beauty 😃. Sometimes I R.C. the side of the transformer that’s open hiding the components in the transformer can. Have you ever RC’d a receiver? I’ve always told people when selling a receiver that was RC’d. It never mattered to anyone. Are you a ham? I’m KA1VMW. 👋
You should be able to run the current version of NetBSD OS on the system. ZuluSCSI card should allow you to use SD cards as hard drives if it has a SCSI controller in it.
The British Vintage Wireless Society carries an ad for a rewind service for these old transformers. I know they're tricky to rewind since those high impedance windings are ultra thin copper wire. Another method you could have used was 'resistance capacitance coupling' In the 1920's, this was considered a gold standard for coupling audio stages, because of the purity of tone. Transformers were however preferred, due to their high gain. Nonetheless, congratulations on giving your vintage radio has its voice back!
Thank you for your fault analysis explanation, it makes perfect sense. In the absence of the chassis removal in the prior video, I was puzzled about your conclusion. I had visions of you finding a disconnected transformer lead once you were able to extract the chassis. Great video, thank you.
Spying on one of this in an online estate sale atm. Your videos give me hope that even if I get it and it's busted, I've just got a worthwhile project in front of me. Love this epilogue!!
Very nice job! My Credenza story is kinda similar to yours (not as much work though!) - it's the only thing I've ever refinished. The original finish was just plain shot so I stripped, sanded and stained the exterior and put on a couple of coats of shellac with a satin-y finish. Came out surprisingly nice looking. Also put a new sheet of veneer on the lid and had to dig up a grille frame for the door but got one with a perfect cloth in it. I have a Victor 10-50 too with a bigger horn but I still think the Credenza sounds just as great even using the same reproducer.
