Record player experts

[tworley]

Anyone knowledgeable on old record players? We picked one up from my in laws and we'd like to know more about it. I can tell you its a Montgomery Ward Airline but beyond that I don't know anything else. It has a radio, 3 record sizes, and a single speaker down below. If I had to guess 50s or 60s era? Has 60 watt power tubes that light up when power is applied We fired it up for the first time in probably 30 years or more. The radio is weak picking up stations, and we couldnt get it to spin vinyl.

 

[RMETeeJay]

Get a can of compressed air and blow off the dust. Check the belt for the turntable. Can you hear the motor running?

 

[jjvw]

Cabinet feels 1950's to me. Earlier rather than later. Not quite from the 40s. 60s era would likely be transistors by then.

 

[tworley]

Get a can of compressed air and blow off the dust. Check the belt for the turntable. Can you hear the motor running?

I can hear some sort of mechanical whir. The tubes in the rear light up but are very dim. Ill take some air to it in the morning and look a bit closer inside

 

[tworley]

Cabinet feels 1950's to me. Earlier rather than later. Not quite from the 40s. 60s era would likely be transistors by then.

Good to know. The tubes are pretty neat, I've never seen them up close. Would be great to get it running again. We're not hipsters and don't know anything about vinyl but having one would be neat. Even if we just listened to the radio with it

 

[jjvw]

Good to know. The tubes are pretty neat, I've never seen them up close. Would be great to get it running again. We're not hipsters and don't know anything about vinyl but having one would be neat. Even if we just listened to the radio with it

The tube stuff has a very different sound than what we are used to. Your's looks very similar to the internals of a late 30s, early 40s radio I once had. Alien technology compared to today.

 

[tworley]

The tube stuff has a very different sound than what we are used to. Your's looks very similar to the internals of a late 30s, early 40s radio I once had. Alien technology compared to today.

The electrical is sketch. I was afraid to plug it in. The prongs to the plug include set screws to crimp/attach the wire, old electrical sheaths, etc

 

[someguysjeep]

if my gramps was around he'd know . the ran service for all the old appliance makers. when he moved we tossed out thousands of those old tubes for tv's and radios.

cool piece, hope you get it going.

 

[jesseshoots]

The motor has probably taken a dump and will need to be replaced but it's worth checking the power going to it to see if there isn't something wrong in the circuitry first.

Tube audio equipment is the coolest and imho the best sounding. This is a great source for reading up and understanding tubes and audio circuits. Most of these tubes won't glow very bright since they're small and relatively low power.

 

[tworley]

The motor has probably taken a dump and will need to be replaced but it's worth checking the power going to it to see if there isn't something wrong in the circuitry first.

Tube audio equipment is the coolest and imho the best sounding. This is a great source for reading up and understanding tubes and audio circuits. Most of these tubes won't glow very bright since they're small and relatively low power.

Great resource, thanks! Ill pull it out again tonight and see if I can find anything wrong or if I can give it a little bit of TLC to get it to function a touch better.

 

[Zorba]

It has a mix of Octal and miniature tubes - which places it at the very late 40s to mid 50s. The cabinet style is consistent with that time period. If you want to pick up radio stations, you'll need to add an antenna - I think I see an antenna connection mostly out of frame to the left of one of your pictures. Several feet of plain wire will help it immensely! It probably also needs to be "re-capped" (all capacitors replaced) as well.

The turntable doesn't have a belt, it will be a friction drive with a rubber wheel inside. If you're lucky, the thing just needs a good clean and lube - but more likely its worn out. I don't know if these kinds of parts are still available or not - old turntables are a pain to deal with.

Strongly suggest you take it to somebody who knows how to work on this kind of equipment...

 

[Hook_62]

Anyone knowledgeable on old record players? We picked one up from my in laws and we'd like to know more about it. I can tell you its a Montgomery Ward Airline but beyond that I don't know anything else. It has a radio, 3 record sizes, and a single speaker down below. If I had to guess 50s or 60s era? Has 60 watt power tubes that light up when power is applied We fired it up for the first time in probably 30 years or more. The radio is weak picking up stations, and we couldnt get it to spin vinyl.

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If you can see some number/letters on those old RCA tubes you can find dates of manuf. here:

http://pax-comm.com/rcadates.pdf

 

[Nimbley]

Properly restored it should sound beautiful. I wouldn’t power it up much until then. The selenium rectifier should be replaced as well as all the capacitors and out of spec resistors. If any of these components go out they can take out a transformer which gets more difficult to source a correct one. The turntable is likely something simple unless it’s the motor. The tuner gets a bit more difficult because it takes special equipment to properly set up the frequencies. I’ve restored a few old tube amps and the sound from them all has been incredible. That’s a great find.

 

[tworley]

It has a mix of Octal and miniature tubes - which places it at the very late 40s to mid 50s. The cabinet style is consistent with that time period. If you want to pick up radio stations, you'll need to add an antenna - I think I see an antenna connection mostly out of frame to the left of one of your pictures. Several feet of plain wire will help it immensely! It probably also needs to be "re-capped" (all capacitors replaced) as well.

The turntable doesn't have a belt, it will be a friction drive with a rubber wheel inside. If you're lucky, the thing just needs a good clean and lube - but more likely its worn out. I don't know if these kinds of parts are still available or not - old turntables are a pain to deal with.

Strongly suggest you take it to somebody who knows how to work on this kind of equipment...

I've found a couple place online that sell parts, but I am not 100% sure what I would even need yet. We do have a lead on an older gentleman who is able to fix vintage audio equipment. Found him thru a series of searches of older online forums. Found out he is still in business. We'd like to get everything functional again, then the surface of the cabinet repair/better looking.

 

[Zorba]

Properly restored it should sound beautiful. I wouldn’t power it up much until then. The selenium rectifier should be replaced as well as all the capacitors and out of spec resistors. If any of these components go out they can take out a transformer which gets more difficult to source a correct one. The turntable is likely something simple unless it’s the motor. The tuner gets a bit more difficult because it takes special equipment to properly set up the frequencies. I’ve restored a few old tube amps and the sound from them all has been incredible. That’s a great find.

Simple yes, easy not necessarily. If the drive wheel is worn, finding another may be challenging. Back in the day, we would junk those old turntables and replace them with a BSR (well known turntable brand).

There may or may not be a selenium rectifier, and care is needed on several fronts if it needs replacement - the forward I-R drop is greater than than modern silicon rectifiers which *can* mess things up depending on the circuit. Re-aligning the radio is "usually" pretty easy.

 

[Zorba]

I've found a couple place online that sell parts, but I am not 100% sure what I would even need yet. We do have a lead on an older gentleman who is able to fix vintage audio equipment. Found him thru a series of searches of older online forums. Found out he is still in business. We'd like to get everything functional again, then the surface of the cabinet repair/better looking.

I would seek his advice and help. These things are easy enough to work on for those who know how, but bewildering for the uninitiated. I was one of the very LAST electronics techs trained in vacuum tube circuits, and much of what I know came from a guy that began his tech career in 1936. I love vacuum tube equipment, still have my tube tester and a bunch of other stuff.

 

[tworley]

....a friction drive with a rubber wheel inside. If you're lucky, the thing just needs a good clean and lube - but more likely its worn out. I don't know if these kinds of parts are still available or not - old turntables are a pain to deal with.

Took a quick peek (should be doing actual work) underneath the player and I do see a wheel, I couldn't tell if it was rubber or something else but it is dry as can be. Some of the mechanical arms I saw appear to be moving (not seized).

Here are some additional photos if it helps depict anything. I'll get more once I am off the clock.

 

[tworley]

This sat in her parents basement since she can remember. So at the very least 30 years. We picked it up last year and its been in the garage since. We've been doing some interior revisions in the house and thought of the perfect spot for it if we can get it presentable and functional

 

[Zorba]

Took a quick peek (should be doing actual work) underneath the player and I do see a wheel, I couldn't tell if it was rubber or something else but it is dry as can be. Some of the mechanical arms I saw appear to be moving (not seized).

I've never seen one that wasn't - but there was all kinds of funky stuff back then. Usually its a rubber tired metal wheel and the rubber is both worn and as hard as a rock!

 

[pagrey]

From what I remember, if you ever come across a tube device of any kind unless it is in known working condition you don't really want to plug it in or turn it on. I think all the tubes have to be pulled and the power supply carefully tested to make sure you don't damage the tubes. There are probably plenty of good resources floating around. They work at high voltages, be careful.