I have the same issue on the Magnavox, but I also am sharing a 45 adapter between the two instruments. I haven't tried them on a Collaro.

I have that same problem with some LP's. It's usually the newer ones, the ones that were really flexible and thin. I'm wondering when RCA decided to make stereo 45's, if that process required a change so they were made thinner or cheaper. Have you tried them on your portable Maggie with the VM changer, or maybe a Collaro?

Bill

At 2:38 this afternoon I had played 500 sides of 45 rpm records on this old changer. The only problem I've had is that it doesn't want to drop stereo 45's for some reason. I only have maybe a half dozen stereo 45's but it won't drop a one of them. It never skipped a beat on the mono records. The needle is getting really bad, so I'm probably done until I get a replacement. This needle is either the original or it's a genuine GE replacement needle. I have only played about half the 45's we have. There is a lot of good music there I hadn't heard in many, many years. I counted sides instead of records. Some selections I played more than once, so to be accurate, I counted sides.

The flexibility of the speaker cones can make a big difference in bass response. If you have speakers you could connect or sub just for test, that might give you a hint as to where to start looking. Elusive bass is not the easiest condition to troubleshoot, at least for me.

I wish I could say the same thing with my Motorola not so portable. I have plenty of mids and treble, but the bass is nonexistent. :( :(

Bill

Okay. I'm an idiot..... :oops:

I was tinkering with the wing speakers this afternoon. You get the treble in "expanded stereo" that affects the wing speakers. I had been running the stereo with just using the two speakers in the main cabinet. I haven't figured out how the expanded stereo feature actually works, but it brightens the audio considerably.

This is a semi-wonderful old stereo. I say semi-wonderful because it could use a tad more treble. It has more bass than my Concert Grand. I have no idea how the GE engineers got so much sound out of so few components. Playing 45's should not be the ultimate test of a stereo's performance, I think that is fair to say. I haven't tried playing an LP yet because the needle is not good enough. I am certainly impressed with this stereo. I believe this parts set sounds better than the one I did for Don. Maybe I kept all the good parts? ;) ;)

I have seriously considered selling my Magnavox collection and to start collecting GE. Lots simpler to work on... ;)

This almost-done stereo has developed a small bug. I lose the left channel at very low volume after about 5 minutes. Turn the volume up just a tad and it springs back to life. Methinks I didn't get the volume control clean on one end. I'll retest tubes again just for grins. I noticed this after it had run for about three hours. Instead of listening to talk radio, I decided to play every 45 we have. It's been really fun.... ;) :lol:

My stepdad was a GE dealer back in the day. He told me that GE made some high-end audio, but I never saw any of it. RCA and GE were cousins business-wise, and Sam always felt that GE benefited from some of RCA's engineering. They made it just enough different so as to not annoy their benefactor lest GE plagiarize some of RCA's designs. The RP-1590 has a really cheaply built cabinet and the infamous flimsy PCB chassis. But it uses speakers from a well-respected manufacturer and has high dollar output tubes. And the bulletproof VM 1200 series changer. This thing won't get any accolades on AudioKarma, but I am impressed with the performance of something that has no technical reason to sound so good. ;)

As I have gotten into this hobby, I too have discovered that GE for being cheaply made, usually sound much better than they should. Not sure what GE engineers did to do that, but they definitely knew what they were doing.

Bill

I reckon I'm going to have to fall on my sword while I eat crow. :oops: :cry:

I BADLY misjudged this small, cheap, minimalist GE stereo. In fact, I am so impressed with it that if I wasn't already heavily into collecting Magnavox, I would consider collecting GE. This this has less tubes than the remote control on the Concert Grand.

I played 45's on this thing with a worn-out needle for about three hours this afternoon, after Western Red was over. It never skipped a beat. The wonderful VM 1200 series changer, having never been serviced worked flawlessly. The drive tire may have gotten a tad slippy when it got warm, but it never stalled. The amp pulls 76 watts in full song, so I'll put a 1 amp fuse in. Those little 6" blue-framed speakers work hard. I was only using the two in the main cabinet, I don't have the wing speakers ready to go yet. I replaced a couple of .01 uf coupling caps, the cathode bypass cap and both filter caps, cleaned the external speaker jacks and cleaned the ridiculously dirty controls and tube sockets. The GE stereo sounds much like the Magnavox TP-241 I redid. It has more bass than my Imperial. Mine sounds better than Don's did.

I was going to see if I could sell this after I get it done. No more, this thing's a keeper. I can't wait for Don to see and hear his parts set. I can't remember the last time I was so pleasantly surprised with how something performs, something I didn't expect to work so well.

I played a stack of 45's I hadn't heard in awhile. The red label 45 you see is "My Eyes Are Jealous" by Little Jimmy Dickens, on Columbia, circa 1963, the same year this stereo was made.

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Here's another good example of an either or:

https://www.thevoiceofmusic.com/popup_pics.asp?FOLDER=modelfinderpics/p&FILE=560.jpg&TITLE=560

Also, this one:

https://www.thevoiceofmusic.com/popup_pics.asp?FOLDER=modelfinderpics/p&FILE=562.jpg&TITLE=562

Both links are from Gary's site. I have the 562 but for now it sits on a table. Someday if I come across matching legs it will sit on the floor.

Bill

Yes, Elton, that might be considered a consolette. Bigger than the typical table model, with variable mounting provisions, wall, floor, etc. Posting in Record Players or in Consolettes would both be appropriate. This is why we started the Consolette board. Some might not want to post in Record Players, due to it's floor mounting cabability. Also in the description rules I posted on Record Players, it says record players don't sit on the floor. That would put the unit you mentioned in never-never land. Now it would have a home on Consolettes. Does that make any sense? :oops: ;)

Still lost ... would this be considered a consolette? it is wall mountable, or can sit on a shelf ,or optional stand.... but it has a carry handle?... so portable or consolette?

You can use a console the on a table or let it stand on the floor. This stereo has has removable legs.

Dumb question ... what is the dividing line for when it gets called a consolette over a portable?... the additional detachable speakers?...

I have been tinkering with this stereo while I'm waiting for parts for my little record player project. This is one of the parts sets we used when I restored Don's stereo like this one. I believe I got the best one of the bunch, although it needs a LOT of work still. I "fixed" the blue speaker in the main cabinet that didn't sound very good. In fact, it SOUNDED like it was beyond help. Dedicated tinkering has revealed that the issue was not the speaker itself, but rather was a severely dirty balance control. The control panel is a PCB mounted to a wood panel, then mounted to the cabinet. To clean the controls properly, it is necessary to nearly disassemble the entire instrument. You need to remove the changer so you can move the wires on the control panel. God help them if they'd given an extra half inch of wire. Then you have to remove the control panel from the wooden panel so you can clean the controls. They are PCB mounted and the part you clean is against the PCB. Dandy engineering. If you get the screws too tight in the control panel, you can crack it. But, again after extensive tinkering, I have the player where is actually sounds pretty decent. The wing speakers both need wiring work. One wire has been cut for some reason, this is why it shorted out the whole channel when the right wing speaker was connected. This stereo is a paradox of contradictions. The control panel bezel is the fanciest part on the whole thing. The hinges and handles re all chrome plated. Somebody did a fairly good job of installing the cabinet covering, better than the Magnavox cabinet covering as I got it. I'm leaning towards doing the cabinet in black with silver interior, red inside the lid, on the panel over the tubes and on the end caps of the external speakers. Do the decals in white. Use red grille cloth, if I can find it with gray piping made from hookup wire, probably 10 or 12 gauge. There is room in the wing speaker for another 6" speaker. I have a matching set I got out of something, so those would be likely candidates. This instument will represent my most ambitious record player restoration project to date. Wonder what all that chrome plating will cost? Yeah, it needs it all redone.... :shock: ;) :oops:

Nothing on this thing unplugs, except the changer. Everything else had to be unsoldered or removed as a chunk. That is the best route, although ungainly. I exercised my vocabulary extensively on Don's, this one won't be any better. This is perhaps one of the most aggravating-to-work-on sets I have ever encountered. A Zenith radio with inverted bakelite chassis was THE worst, by far..... :evil:

:D :D

Yeah I believe I have managed records for a long time without using a gimmick like GE's records saver. I must have missed the discussion on the big forum.

Bill, the instructions on this set says to unsolder certain wires in order to remove the Amp chassis. It can all be removed in one piece but it is ungainly.

One should not fondle records when eating tacos... :lol:

For using poor printed circuit boards, I find GE an interesting product. Any that I have worked on, were well engineered in that everything unplugged. I did not cut any wires or unsolder any wires. Even the little Wildcat, everything unplugged. The changer was easy to service too. And they sounded good. The GE that Greg is working on reminds me, in looks, like my Motorola portable. I bet Greg's has more bass than my Motorola.

Mr. Mogul. Thanks for sharing the GE record holder thing. That is actually a very good idea, it makes it easy to install the inner record sleeve leaving greasy fingerprints from the record.

Bill