PYE P32TG Table Radiogram.

[Heatercathodeshort]

Continuing my sort out of various receivers that have been festering in the workshop I decided to have a go at this Pye table radiogram. It is a very attractive unit in a dark blue rexine cabinet with a steel, pale blue hammer finish motor board. Coverage is Long and Medium wave, signals supplied by a neat frame aerial mounted on the back panel of the cabinet. The five valve line up is the standard B8A series of the time, around 1954, ECH42 EF41 EBC41 EL41 EZ40.
The record deck is a very well constructed Collaro 3 speed single play unit the motor of which would be capable of driving a circular saw..
Now something unusual. The magnetic pick up and stylus coded mauve in colour will play ALL records both 78's, 45's and 33's without adjustment. Reproduction is certainly very good and I can see no groove damage after playing a variety of records.
After a quick visual inspection I plugged the unit unit and awaited some action. After a few moments a very loud hum announced the failure of the main electrolytic capacitor. This capacitor appeared to have been replaced around 1961 by the date code and was a 32uf+32uf 325v + a 25uf 12v working section that was used to decouple the cathode of the EL41. Another search amongst the boxes produced a capacitor of similar size but lacking the 25uf section. This was fitted and an addition capacitor fitted in the wiring to bypass the output valve. A general check of the remaining capacitors proved them all to be of good repute including the Hunts grid coupling capacitor.
Applying the mains again resulted in a lively radio section, switching to gram and tickling the stylus proved that all appeared to be in order. With the waveband switch and volume control cleaned I righted the motor board and pulling the arm back to start the motor. The motor awoke after its very long rest but protested at its rude awakening producing a noisy sluggish performance. This turned out to be the felt suspension on the speed selection 'gantry' having turned to dust. Cutting up a three small bits of 'fuzzy felt' and gluing them to the tags cured this and after reassembly the motor assembly ran as designed. Records sound great with a surprisingly good bass response considering the rather heavy metal construction and the 7" X 4" R&A speaker.
The frame aerial just about provides enough signal and bringing the lead from the outdoor aerial close to the frame increases the signal level to a very satisfactory degree.
The gram was rescued from the tip a few years back complete with a Christmas gift tag. What a present to receive all those years ago! It must have given many hours of pleasure to it original owner.
I must admit I do like anything that will play a record particularly 78's. and this little unit does that admirably. I have attached a few pictures to show the general construction. Regards, John.

[chipp1968]

Looks nice. I dont like the ideaof using the same needle for 78s and vinyl though

[Heatercathodeshort]

Agree Chipp,
I think it worked fine with the early long playing records. They were stamped from a much harder vinyl than the records produced in the later 50's. Saying that I have about a dozen LP's that I use for testing. I have been trying to destroy them for years but this little Pye is not going to do the job for me. It appears to be incredibly kind to even later vinyl. The pick up is very light. It is incredibly difficult to ruin a 78 or 45 rpm record. I have played 45's with an acoustic soundbox weighing in at destructible weight and even after a number of playings, they still sound ok when played on the correct pick up and stylus. Have a go yourself. Great fun....Regards, John.

[Autochanger]

Are you sure it wouldn't have had 2 different (interchangeable) stylus assemblies (one for 78s and the other for 45/33)?
Once groove damage has been done, audible distortion is inevitable if the records are then played on anything approaching HiFi.
Stereo records for example can easily be damaged purely by playing with a mono cartridge (even with the lightest of pickups) because the stylus only flexes in one direction which is all that mono records require.

[Heatercathodeshort]

My thoughts exactly Auto. There is no provision in the cabinet to store the extra head such as a dummy arm, socket or clip. Looking at the service data Pye state that the mauve stylus and pick up are designed to play all records. With twin heads the 78 was usually coded green and the LP one red. I have just discovered this note in Radio and television servicing and the release date of 1950! It is a lot earlier than I first thought. 'Special note: The pick up uses a universal type sapphire stylus coded mauve which is suitable for microgroove and standard records.' The frame aerial etc. 1950 is a very early release date for LP records and my 1950 Decca LP's certainly appear more like 78's than the later ones. The vinyl is very solid and the recording modulation appears to be quite low. The Pye probably coped with these very well as it still does. 45's sound a treat. Regards, John.

[dave walsh]

Very unusual "one off" stylus set up John and a very nice restoration job. As you say. must have given a lot of pleasure [and clearly still does]. Your description brings back the nostalgia of the particular scent of the valve heat and rexine plus that sense of accessing whole new worlds through an otherwise mundane device-like a PC perhaps? Dave W

[chipp1968]

Im amazed the styli is still ok . I suppose if 78s and vinyl were played from new , not so bad but if older chewed up 78s were played ,i cant imagine the tip lasting long .
When did vinyl first appear , must have beenabout this time . I rememebr seeing in a junk shop in the mid 80s a small HMv player and records , which had a large hole fitting perminately fixed if i rememebr rightly , large hole records ,all small 45 size .I think all the recordings were classical .

[Heatercathodeshort]

hello Dave,
Thanks for your comments. Yes it certainly has that 'Gramophone Scent'. I was thinking of selling it in aerosol form but I suspect most forum members can produce it themselves. I have learnt one thing in over 40 years in the radio trade. 'There is always a piece of equipment/valve/component you have never seen before' and that pick up arrangement is one of them! I suspect it is the first PYE player capable of playing microgroove records but that topic would be O/T for this section.
I will attempt to investigate the stylus used in this model and maybe open a thread in the audio section if I discover anything of interest. Regards, John.

[Autochanger]

It is interesting to note the chain reaction of record/stylus wear. 78 Shellac records (apart from being brittle and easily broken) are extremely durable. The old steel needles on early gramophones wore down with the heat etc from the pressure used when playing shellac before the actual records themselves.
The problem was after a certain amount of wear (playing one side of a record) it was recommended that the needle should be changed, and most people didn't. So when the needle became too worn it changed profile and then started to wear the records. Another problem was that people thought if they rotated the needle they could use the 'other' side, but the burrs or jagged edges which had formed still caused the damage.

I have in my collection, from towards the end of 78 record production, some 10" records on the Pye label (and other labels from the same group) which are made from vinyl, they had stopped using shellac but the other companies didn't. I have always played these vinyl 78s on a lightweight sapphire or diamond pickup and they have virtually no surface noise at all and I thought they sounded better than most of the 45s that were taking over.

Roy

[Heatercathodeshort]

Hello Roy,
I have sent you a PM regarding record wear as I don't want to go O.T.
Regards, John.