Some background info: Some years ago Lucien posted a wanted post on the UKVrrr forum for a replacement control knob for an Ekco record player. He stated that this was his from when he was a lad and recently moving it he discovered a control knob had mysteriously disappeared, as these things have a habit of doing!
I had a rough machine so I offered Lucien a knob from that, but Lucien didn't want me to cannibalise my player he said he just wanted a knob from someone's spares box. We agreed to wait to see if he could get one that way.
This is a long post anyway so I won't bore you with what it needed. The motor was seized, the amp cooking the valves due to leaky capacitors and the usual hardened grease problems. I had a Collaro cartridge from the other player so I was able to put the correct cartridge in it to replace the intermittent one that was fitted and of course the replacement knob.
A few pictures and hopefully the links to youtube. Here is thinking of you Lucien! I appreciate this is nothing on the scale of Sam Battle (Look mum no computer) But I hope in a small way I can add to the tributes....
Rich.
Ah, the RP329. I have two of those, one being in that colour scheme. Nice unit, push-pull output, decent cartridge and my favourite autochanger too, the Collaro Conquest.
I plan to get rid of mine in due course: I have too many record players with these changers. The only survivors will probably be my Murphy A482R and my Decca "Auto-Deccalian" with the push-pull EL84s.
The same record-sensing mechanism is used by the Thorens TD224.
That looks good. There is one of these in good condition for sale in my local antiques place which I keep looking at and you've made me more inclined to want to buy it now! I didn't realise they had push-pull output.
The only record player I have at the moment is the Collaro RC54 out of my gran's old radiogram that I've been working on. The mechanism works well after a good clean and service but it has a non-original cartridge and is a bit worse for wear having a little corrosion on the deck itself and some minor cracking to the plastic at the end of the tone arm, so a Conquest in good nick is quite tempting...
Laurence
@lsmith I'd go for it if I were you - Conquests are, despite some claims, very easy to service - the whole mechanism can easily be removed from the motor plate for cleaning, degreasing and lubrication. The Ronette crystal cartridges sound superb (better than any BSR junk) and the whole machine is a superb player. Pair of ECL82s in the amplifier.
It will sound good once overhauled. As Mike says the deck is straightforward enough to service.
I have the Collaro service sheet for this deck which allayed my fears of dismantling it. When you dismantle something you haven't worked on before there is always a worry something will ping off or a ball bearing will roll out of somewhere. No worries here, it's no more difficult than a BSR or lower end Garrard.
The motor in this one was was seized solid, the pully comes off easily which makes dismantling easy. The bearings needed soaking to get all of the old gunk out and then gently heating when re oiled which helps the oil thin and soak in well. The bearings have felt oil pads which I soaked in thin oil.
When lubricating the mech don't get any oil or grease on the fibre gear (cog?) it runs silently with no lubrication.
Both of the rubber drive wheels needed refacing, both were otherwise still flexible. because the mech is driven from the motor pully rather than from the turntable the mech can be operated with the turntable removed which is a novelty.
The amp will need re capping - easy enough. The circuit is available on line. I replaced the capacitors apart from the smoother and reservoir, all of them read way off value I checked the HT was around what it should be and tried it it worked well penty of volume no overheating and the tone controls do what they should so I left it at that. The amp sounds very good, push pull to drive a fairly small speaker may be a bit overkill but the smallish speaker handles the power very well much better than a Bush SRP31D which usually rattles it's head off!
I'm impressed with the sound, it plays all records well but the performance on 78s surprised me. The covering is really durable so it is easy to give it a good clean if necessary without fear of it coming off. The outside of the lid on mine has yellowed a little but that is all part of it's history, it has seen a lot of summers!
If the example you have seen is in good condition and not overpriced I would say go for it. 😎
Rich.
I have added a couple more recordings today.
The Birth of radio. And a record by the famous Primo Scala's Accordion Band....
I found this record in an Amsterdam junk shop years ago. I remember the big ole Walrus moustached man eyeing this shaved- headed man in a Harrington jacket suspiciously as I browsed the large shop until I enquired about the prices of the records, Then he dropped his guard and became very friendly. This was back in the day of Guilders. The prices were very cheap for the 78s so I bought some. They came home as hand baggage and were checked by the xray security, they even sniffed one!
Then one of them turned to me and said "You smell of weed" To which I replied "Of course I do, I have had a week in Amsterdam". At that point I was waved through...
My mate commented that "Another of our lot" who was further back in the queue had spent quite a few nights in the red light area on his own.... "I wonder what they will say he smells of?"
Anyway Primo Scala and co survived this intervention and over 30 years later still plays well!
Enjoy!
Lucien's EKCO RP329. Record Player. The Birth of Radio - YouTube
Rich.
Thanks @cathovisor and @slidertogrid. Dismantling the RC54 earlier this year was quite a challenge, so the Conquest certainly looks a lot less complex and therefore easier. I wasn't brave enough to take the whole mechanism off the motor plate on the RC54, so I just dismantled the different parts in turn to clean them up with IPA. The motor came apart easily for cleaning and lubrication and the rubber drive wheels were fine. I do still have some questions about the RC54, so will start a separate thread for that.
The RP329 example I've seen is £20 which seems very reasonable, so it might make a nice addition to my collection.
Laurence
I would say that is a good price for one in good condition. It is rarely necessary to have to completely dismantle an autochanger to service it. Unless it has been very badly stored. Some parts are better cleaned and lubricated in situ. Like gambling, the skill is to know when to stop. Otherwise you just end up making work for yourself.
Rich.
