1962 TrueTone 4DC6231-A

[Hi-Fi-Mogul]

While I'm waiting on parts from Gary I had to re-order
because some nice person stole the package off my porch,
I said:
"Hey, I've got some Christmas gifts to myself to open."

This was one of them. It was an in-state buy, so shipping
was nominal, total cost $25.

It came with the Western Auto little tag/booklet that gives
some insight into the record player. I love that ephemera.

I really like fold-out speaker designs, and these pyramid-like
speakers are especially cool to me.

Somehow, the steel V-M 1223 record spindle top was snapped off
in the past.
How THAT can happen is beyond me, but that's an item coming
from the V of Music.

The cabinet covering has a couple of rough spots, a bit of
fading, and maybe a H2O stain, but the inside is really nice.

I know this will be a quick seller over at the record shop,
when it's finished.

Another simple so-called hot chassis amp, but I bet it
will sound pretty good.

[electra225]

Nice little rig, Mr. Mogul. Did you post the schematic on Downloads? How does one break a spindle?

[William]

That looks like the same chassis as the Arvin I posted about a while back, and that you provided the Sam's for in my post, Mr. Mogul. It will be interesting to see what the amp looks like once you get it opened up.

Bill

[electra225]

Could Arvin have built that record player? It has a well-built amp, looking at the schemetic. IT has a cathode bypass cap, three filter caps, and it has speaker phasing dots on the speakers. Wonder why the cheaper instruments have those, while the more expensive ones don't? Those are handy when you are sorting wiring.

[Hi-Fi-Mogul]

I remembered on ARF some discussion about who made
Truetone radios and phonos.

Here is a nice article from classic radio gallery.

The article gives insight on the various
manufacturers making electronics for probably
numerous re-branded sellers.

https://classicradiogallery.com/truetone_history.html

[electra225]

Thanks for sharing that, Mr. Mogul. I have three items listed in those catalogs. You might want to post this in Literature on Downloads so people could find it easily in the future!

[William]

That's awesome, Mr. Mogul, thanks for sharing. I grew up around the Gamble-Skogmo companies brand name of Coronado. I know a lot of Coronado's products were built by Well-Gardner and Warwick and I'm sure some of the others listed too.

Bill

[electra225]

I spent time hanging around our local Western Auto store. I dated Mr. Sander's daughter for awhile and a friend worked for him working on electronics. My cousin Calvin worked for him part time. The FIL bought his first color TV at Western Auto, a roundy, about 1965 or so. I have a D-925 Truetone console radio from 1935 that appears to have been built by Belmont. I never have figured out who built the little Truetone record player I redid. Our local Western Auto was the largest auto repair shop in town, second only to Hare Chevrolet. That store fixed everything they sold, and many items they didn't sell. They worked on appliances of all sizes and types. They had an electrician and a plumber that went on house calls. The building was two-story and handled almost everything Western Auto offered. The only thing we ever got from Western Auto that was not top notch quality was an exhaust system for Aunt Zora's Kaiser. It wasn't bent right and it hit the frame. Any time the adults went to town on business, I got to go along and would hang out at Western Auto....

[Hi-Fi-Mogul]

Thanks for sharing that, Mr. Mogul. I have three items listed in those catalogs. You might want to post this in Literature on Downloads so people could find it easily in the future!

Greg,
There is no apparent mechanism in downloads to post a web link.

Let me know if there is a method for that.

[electra225]

A suggestion I would offer is to download the material to your computer hard drive as a PDF file. Then you can post it on Downloads.

[Hi-Fi-Mogul]

This is next in line after the Motorola.

It was a bit tricky to get to the shipping bolt clips, but
not that bad.

The little amp is positioned flush onto the cabinet,
which makes for a nice look when assembled.

I have a good start on cleaning the V-M 1223 changer,
with lots of the mech parts removed for cleaning.

The motor rotor/bearing housing was bound up like I've never seen
in an Alliance. It's soaking in alcohol for several days.

I used some alcohol on the platter spindle shaft, and
it was not too difficult to coax it out of its mount.

The new factory V-M spindle on the left and the broken one
on the right.

Besides the odditiy of being broken, the old spindle has
a perfectly clean break line.
Not rough at all, very interesting how that happend.

[Hi-Fi-Mogul]

I have finished the V-M 1223 record changer.

The original idler works !!!

I removed the crystal turn-over cart (dead).

I found a 2 Volt cart for $15.

I fortunately had a mounting clip that fit
perfectly over the new cart. It also has
a brass threaded insert.

I drilled one hole through the tonearm to mount it.

On to the little stereo amp next.

[William]

Looking good, Mr. Mogul, and I see familiar items on your bench, items that I use rebuilding changers.

Bill

[Hi-Fi-Mogul]

Replaced the mylar and gumdrop caps.

The originals were routed underneath a lot
of the circuit, so I ran the new caps above so I could
solder them practically.

After I cut off the e-lytic can, I could not get the old
guts of it removed.

I have the 3 new e-lytic caps secured with a cable tie.

I added length to the original 3 e-lytic can wires.

Tomorrow I'll measure the bend in the new wires to
the e-lytic caps, cut to fit, and solder on the new caps,
with shrink wrap tubing to insulate.

[electra225]

If you have a long nosed pair of miniature pliers, spread the tips then drive the needle nose into the cap guts then twist slightly. What holds the guts in so tight is usually the connections out of the cap.

[Hi-Fi-Mogul]

If you have a long nosed pair of miniature pliers, spread the tips then drive the needle nose into the cap guts then twist slightly. What holds the guts in so tight is usually the connections out of the cap.

Hi Greg,
I tried that. The electrolyte was completely
rock-hardened.

Never seen one that had dried so thoroughly.

I'll find something like a plastic Rx bottle to use,
just to contain the e-lytics.

[electra225]

If you have a drill press, you might be able to chuck up a concrete bit and use it to get the hard insides out. You can wrap the outside of the can with a rag, then use water pump pliers to hold it while you drill out the center. Concrete bits have little wings on the tip that will handle the debris of the cap can better than a regular wood bit. A paddle bit would work well, but it would be harder to hold the can while you drill.

[TC Chris]

then use water pump pliers to hold it while you drill out the center.

Seems to me Greg had said a while back that he had never used water pump pliers on a water pump. Me neither. But last weekend I was changing the oil on the Ranger. My old filter wrench is for the standard-diameter models and the Motorcraft filter is tiny. Usually I can turn it by hand if I grunt loudly enough. But this time, no luck. I pondered the spike-through-can option but there are too many what-ifs with that choice. So I dug into the bottom of the traveling tool box for my biggest water pump pliers. They did the job. Maybe I accidentally bought oil filter pliers.

Chris Campbell

[Hi-Fi-Mogul]

I don't have any fancy shop tools.

It wasn't worth the time and elbow grease to fight
that cement electrolytic.

I got the new e-lytics wired up, and will test tomorrow,
fingers crossed !

[TC Chris]

I replaced electrolytics on a chassis and for some reason could not re-use the can. I found a little cardboard mailing tube with a foil surface and that was pressed into service to hold the new caps. Looks acceptable.

Chris Campbell