[78-L] 78-L] Bell Hood needle for 78 record players (Ron Fial)

[Ron LHerault]

The arms are hard to find, but I think there are nickel plated brass ones.  I'll have to check mine when I get home.  George Vollema is one source and there is another, closer to you who posts to facebook.  I will have to search out his name later.

Ron L

Iñigo Cubillo <ice261263 at gmail.com.invalid> wrote:
>
>Ron:
>
>Years ago I bought a magnific Aeolian Vocalion gramophone (with Graduola
>device) in a low curled-legs pretty carved console, which seems a period
>model, some "old spanish style". It is  a very special machine. The guy
>from whom I bought it, told me the gramophone was formerly located in a big
>luxury hotel (what we call in spanish a "Parador") which is in a main road
>near Madrid. That hotel closed its doors, probably due to our civil war.
>The guy told me that the original owners were selling the building to a new
>owner, and they told their granddaughter to take what she wanted from what
>was left at the hotel. The gramophone was in there. Miraculously, the
>building did not suffer any bombing nor salvaging during the war, and was
>closed for fifty years with its contents almost completely intact. The girl
>took the gramophone for his boyfriend; the guy who sold it to me. The
>gramophone has a sick zinc alloy tonearm, but that was the only failure to
>repair. It seemed to have been well used, but admirably preserved. Indeed,
>I only had to repair the tonearm, cause the motor etc was all in good
>condition. Nevertheless, I did some woodwork on it: complete disassembling,
>thorough cleaning, reassembling with new glue and polishing with walnut
>wax, which restored the beauty of the wood. Formerly, the gramophone was
>very dark, and now it looks very nice at home.
>The guy was fine, and it sold the machine for a mere $450, which is a real
>bargain in Spain, for such a special machine.
>
>Well, and here it is. When i disassembled it, many needles came out from
>between the wood junctions, among them two (yes, two...!) sapphire needles
>in brass shafts. And one of them has the bell hood shape you said. The
>gramophone has a revolver tonearm which allows playing vertical or lateral
>records. But I didn't notice any difference in the sound when using that
>needle...
>
>PS. Is there any known reliable source for a tonearm replacement? Normal
>steel or brass woudl be desirable, for the zinc-alloy is very fragile. I
>repaired it using super-glue and thin wire, and it works, but a replacement
>would be fine. All interior metals are gold-painted... !
>
>Inigo, from Madrid, SPAIN
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