In the past, Ive mentioned several times how some people in my area expect to get grade-A restored vintage electronics for nothing and how some people have gone so far as to tell me that I want too much, after Ive worked my tail off and spent a good amount of money to restore the item. I was digging around in the basement and found this ratty looking Emerson record player that I almost tossed; but, I then had a thought. I fired it up and it had the usual filter capacitor hum; so, I dug two capacitors out of the junk box of capacitors that I cut out of something. After those were replaced, I found that the cartridge was dead; so, I found an old crystal cartridge in my stash that still had reasonable output, used an old mica capacitor as a spacer, and taped the whole thing in the tonearm (I can also do shoddy work, as well as good work). The next time some jerk makes a negative comment on something decent I have for sale, Im going to list this one with the following description: FS: Working 50s Emerson record player. In the past, people have told me that I want too much money for the nicer stuff that I have listed; so, I dug this ratty looking thing out of the basement. Upon first testing, it hummed loudly due to bad electrolytic capacitors in the power supply. In order to keep cost down, I didnt use my newly purchased fresh capacitors. Instead, I dug up two old capacitors that I salvaged out of a junk TV that I picked up out of a ditch, after it had sat there for 3 months. After I replaced the capacitors, I discovered that the pick-up cartridge was bad and I could spend $30 on a replacement; but, that would run the price up and Im trying to keep cost down. So, I dug around in my junk and found an old cartridge that still had some output. This cartridge mounts differenty than the original; but, thats what they make electrical tape for. I didnt replace any other high failure rate components, such as paper capacitors or the selenium rectifier, in the amplifier; but, dont worry - if something shorts, it will only smoke for a few seconds before the fusible resistor burns up and opens the circuit. In the rare chance that it keeps smoking or starts shooting flames, just pull the plug from the wall socket. Since the motor runs and the turntable spins, I didnt bother to do a full teardown, cleaning, and relubrication of the drive mechanism because that would involve more labor and the use of zoomspout oil, white lithium grease, and contact cleaner - all of which cost me money and, once again, Im trying my best to keep cost down. However, me cutting corners on the drive mechanism shouldnt be a big problem because if it ever stops turning, just hose the whole thing down with WD40 and it should be fine. The case covering is ragged and the case is even coming apart in some places. I could, of course, fix that; but, wood glue and new case covering material would add to the cost. So, if it presents a problem, just mend it back together with duct tape. For this vintage antique phonograph, the price isnt going to be $100, or $50, or even $25 - you can own this amazing hacked together record player for the low, low price of $7.95 and it will finish chewing up your already well worn Barry Manilow LPs.
Posted on: Wed, 17 Sep 2014 01:58:11 +0000
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