"Teardrop" '39 RCA Victrola

[decojoe67]

Originally Posted by dtvmcdonald

Dear Decojoe67:

Have you found a way to replace the cartridge in your original teardrop set? I have a
set with the same arm and am using a home-rebuilt cartridge. You said you found
a ceramic one that did not bottom out. What was it? Where to get one? Is its needle
still the metal replaceable one? If not, will the needle ruin records? I measured
my tracking force at 80 grams. That includes the pot metal cartridge case, but the
new innards are much lighter than original.

My set is an RCA U10 radio-phono, also I actually USE the TV input with the set it was
intended for, a TT5.

I was told to use an Astatic 51-2 cartridge which can be gotten cheaply on eBay. The new cartridge is very small and light and, with it's flanges, was easily installed in the old tone arm with the use of a few washers. Without the heavy old metal cartridge the bakelite arm is reasonably light. When you place the arm down on a record the needle does not bottom out. I'm sure the tracking pressure is on or close to max, but it sounds great, and I don't use the unit a whole lot. My collection of 78's are mostly the common popular ones so I am enjoying them without worry. No, the new cartridge does not use the replaceable steel needles. I actually screwed the old set-screw into a small cube of plastic which I epoxied to the top of the new cartridge at just the right position so it sticks out of the notch in the arm. It looks better IMO like that than without anything there. Hope that info helped!
PS - Lucky you with the TT-5! I would be tempted to trade my entire collection for one of those. It's a beautiful piece of art-deco and TV history - Joe