[Guest]

Hi Ron, guys, gals...
Okay, I have a 42-1012, just bought a changer for it. Good news: motor is good, photocell is good. Bad news: the drive wheels are shot and the stylus assembly had the mirror installed wrongly. I'm going to laser-cut two side plates to the big wheel to make a pulley, then use an O-ring as a tire. On the small end, I will press-fit a neoprene bushing and lathe-turn it to proper OD. So the drive wheels should come back. But the stylus assembly will need help. I tried unsoldering the stylus pivot, but the stylus jewel itself came off. Resoldering by a non-jeweler (me) yielded a working pickup, but very poorly with the hack job I did.
So, I remember using Mr.Cochrane for replacing a photocell on my 41-608 pickup a few years back. But he didn't seem to have anything to offer when it came to styli or drive wheels. Does anybody know of any other purveyors of these BOL parts? Thanks all...

[Ron Ramirez]

Hi Chuck

Sorry, I can't really help you here. I know Syl Vanier has rebuilt at least one BOL pickup, but I don't know if he's be willing to do any more, if he has a way to replce the original sapphire stylus, etc. You're probably aware of his website, but here's the link for anyone who doesn't know:

http://www.oldradioz.com/

He rebuilds phono cartridges.

I'd like to know more about how you got your changer going when you're done; specifically, if you have the problem with uneven speed that these 1942 changers were known to have.

[Guest]

Hi Ron,
I made a small wheel at work today. With a 5/16 hole drilled in some neoprene, I press-fit it on the 3/8 wheel hub. Then I lathe-turned it down to 0.680, which is what I think the old wheel was originally. The neoprene is stiffer than rubber, and may not give as much friction to the turntable drive rim, but hopefully will not slip during the change cycle. The big end of the wheel has been shorn of its rubber, and I will laser-cut two rings of .030 steel, slightly larger in OD than the bare wheel, to mount up against it to make a "pulley" I can slip an O-ring of 1/8 cross section and 2" OD over. Since there are 20 small holes in the bare wheel, I will put 4 holes in each ring to line up the whole sandwich of parts for either adhesives or very tiny screws. I suppose if this doesn't work I can lathe-turn a bell-shaped nylon wheel with an O-ring groove in it.
As far as the inconstant speed, I notice that there is a degree of freedom present of the drive shaft for wobbling tangentially to the turntable drive rim, which could cause "wow" to happen. Why didn't they just stick with the worm-gear (I think) drive?
In any case, if I can get this drive going, then I'll investigate that stylus issue.