Thank you Walt for this excellent detailed accounting of your experiences with the needles and the various white tubing gasket material. I find it especially interesting that you can tell a definite difference in how airtight the rebuilt reproducers are with the gasket material from Wyatt's. I haven't tried his before, but will order some to experiment with. I rebuilt a Zonophone reproducer from a late pre-Victor rear-mount Grand Opera a couple of months ago, that I assumed would use the same type gasket material as the Victor Exhibition. This reproducer has very similar construction to the Exhibition. I was surprised that even with the halves tightly joined, the diaphragm was actually somewhat loose; not pinched at all. I had to make a shim to get it to seat properly. I wonder if this is normal for that reproducer, or if the machining wasn't quite standard on my particular example.
Good also to lear your trick for getting the red rubber #2 soundbox gaskets back to the round shape. I've received these somewhat misshapen as well, and used an angled wire to poke the inner one into position, and my fingernail to nudge the outer one, while snugging the screws down. The hot water treatment sounds like the better way to go. Regarding the needles, I recall seeing some really poor new examples some years ago, with coarsely ground ends, about the same proportion to the shank as the ground end of a pencil, but of the scale of a typical steel needle. These were put up in packages of 25 in a blister pack. I don't recall the maker. Could you suggest a supplier or two for the best quality replacement mica diaphragms? Thanks again for taking the time to communicate your findings. Andy On Nov 1, 2006, at 10:17 PM, Walt Sommers wrote: > Hi Andy, > > APSCO's loud tone needles continue to be a tried and proven item > for my > personal use and sales from my shop. I am not much of a fan of soft > tone > needles at all. I would estimate that APSCO's loud tone needles > are, as Ron > pointed out, virtually identical to early old stock Victor parts. > Their soft > tone needles are also like original Victor parts. The quality of their > manufacturing has been constant in my experience. The only steel > needles > that I prefer more than the loud tone are the early Victor extra > loud tone > needles, but to my knowledge, no one is reproducing them. APSCO's > needles > are made from common carbon steel rod. I suppose that anyone should > theoretically be able to manufacture them as long as their > processes are > consistent. I have never had a defective needle from APSCO. That > is, the > needles are always uniformly machined and are never characterized > by the > presence of excess metal or poorly ground ends. > > The white gasket material that APSCO supplies (the same as Ron S > and a few > other folks out there) is like the original Victor material. It is > natural > white rubber, but I suspect that the modern chemistry now used may > be more > durable than the original Victor rubber. The dimensions of the tubing > (inside and outside diameters) are right on the money. I have also > used the > tubing that Dwayne Wyatt's Musical Americana sells. I do not know the > precise chemical composition of the white gasket material that > Dwayne has, > but it is definitely synthetic and I am convinced it has a > significantly > higher durometer. Dimensionally, the two are identical, but the > synthetic > material is more difficult to compress. But the effect of that > difficulty is > that once the reproducer's castings are secured, I can achieve much > tighter > clamping of the diaphragm edges which translates into noticeably > better > frequency response. It is noticeable to me, but I don't think that > most > people would really care to discern the difference - both are very > good. > Although I have not tested nor compared the durometer of either > APSCO's or > Dwayne's gasket material, I personally prefer the material that > Dwayne sells > because I can achieve the tighter clamping. I have also used both > types on > an innumerable variety of reproducers. My opinion is that the > larger the > diaphragm (say, like a big Pathe Concert reproducer) the stiffer I > prefer > the gasket, especially when it comes to the types where the front > gasket is > merely seated against the inner rim of the front casting. > > On the subject of the No.2 gaskets, without question, I think that > APSCO > generally supplies the superior part. The durometer of them seems > right on > the button - not too hard, not too soft, but you do have to deal > with two > halves unlike the originals (and I do not know of any makers of > such a part > either). I have not ordered any of these from Dwayne because most > of the > parts I have received from APSCO are fantastic. Sometimes APSCO > will send me > a bundle that have become out of round because of how they were > stored/shipped, but a pot of boiling water and a quick dip > generally gets > them back to a nice circle. But, it is rare that I have ever had to > mess > with doing that. The other variety of gaskets for the No.2 that are > out > there, are, in my estimation, a bit too flaccid. APSCO's gaskets > are again, > natural rubber. But one of the other materials that I have seen > used is a > closed cell sponge rubber product. I do not know for sure if the > material is > neoprene or blended with nitrile, but I suspect it is pure neoprene > polymer. > They seal very well, but because their durometer is much lower than > the > rubber the diaphragm seems to float rather than have a nice tight > pinching > of its circumference. I might be splitting hairs to try to insist > that one > is better than the other, but for my money, I like the APSCO material > because it is very much like an original part. > > I don't know if you had a desire to know about any of the black and/ > or fiber > gaskets for other reproducers, but if you do, let me know...For now > though, > I need to get some shut-eye. Also, be careful if you buy new > diaphragms. > > Walt > Gettysburg Antique Phonographs
