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From: vinylseat
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  • I have a BSR Monarch, all in perfect working order and nice condition for age...Sad thing is we no longer have room for it when we move to our new house, just wondering a rough price of what I should sell it for?

    Great Video!

  • @davidbrown303 Hello David, Not sure if you have just the BSR changer or a complete player of some form incorporating it. Not worth very much I'm afraid. Just the changer on it's own maybe around £10-15. Complete with a simple amplifier maybe £30-40 but if fitted in a radiogram very little due to size of cabinet, not popular with enthusiasts. Ebay probably worth a try but with Paypal charges and the hassle of transport, probably not worth the effort. J.

  • hi, thank you vey much. mike.

  • what are the names of the songs?

  • @TheComputerUser100 Check postings one year ago.

  • @TheComputerUser100 , I would email vinylseat directly to there email address, they can tell you the song titles, at least 3 fo them, I heard was, Love letters in the sand, "PAt Boone", "and Rose",( but dont know the artist name of the song,. "Rose). And also "tutti fruit," Pat Boone again. . Thx.

  • Comment removed

  • @teendude16 That's Frankie Laine singing Rose Rose i Love You and the girl singing the shoemaker song is Petula Clark and after Love Letter by pat boone that's also Frankie Laine don't know the title of the song and the song after that is Chicago i don't know the band that's playing it hope that helps

  • great 78 collection..loved the bsr...what make was the unit?had a bsr monarch in a late 50's suitcase radiogram..great video.

  • What kind of cartridge does this player use? I have a monarch ua12 and can't seem to find the appropriate cartridge.

  • @aj2479 This particular player uses a magnetic pick up. Autochangers were not supplied to manufacturers with a pick up cartridge fitted leaving that to the designers of the unit they were to be fitted to. As a general rule ceramic and crystal types were fitted from the mid 50's such as the TC8 series. J.

  • This is the oldest BSR turntable I've ever seen, it sounds excellent matched up with that amplifier. Have you changed its phono cartridge or is that the original? I've also serviced many 60's & 70's BSR turntables that always run too fast until I file down the motor shaft and idler wheel a bit to bring it to an accurate 33 1/3 & 45 rpm. In the late 60's early 70's BSR made a higher-end turntable line called BSR McDonald that didn't have any speed issues they were fitted with a pitch adjustment.

  • The changer I believe is the first produced by BSR in 1953 named Monarch due to the Queens Coronation in June of that year. The pick up cartridge is a magnetic one and is original. The crystal and ceramic types tend to deteriorate after years in use. [Dampness] I have serviced many of these changers and never encountered a speed problem! The motor is synchronized to the 50hz mains and cannot vary. Motor pulleys were produced for different mains frequencies. U.S. for example is 60hz J.

  • @vinylseat Check with a strobe disc one of the commonly used BSR's that were placed in low cost stereo consoles, all in one systems, and most/all Panasonic sets sold in the US during the late 60's & 70's. You will find they all run too fast. I was told by a reputable source that the reason for this was that consumers would not accept a player that ran too slow but they would accept one that ran slightly fast and sounded perky. It doesn't make much sense but that was the reasoning behind it.

  • That is really odd! The U.K. versions of this changer would never have been accepted if they were running fast. It would have been noticed straight away and the customer would have returned it with a complaint. I have been informed that other make changers appear to run fast in the U.S. If played with U.K. pulleys at 60hz they would of course run fast but export models would have been fitted correctly. Very odd. J.

  • @vinylseat It could be the voltage difference that makes BSR's run fast in the US but Garrard turntables do not have the same problem here. I've also restored quite a few Garrard's and I have never come across one that had a pitch problem, even the lower cost models with no pitch adjustment.

  • I may never come to a definite conclusion with this one. The actual voltage applied to the motor, within limits is not important Its the frequency that counts. The U.S. mains is 120, U.K. 230. The motors supplied for the U.S. would have been 110/120v at 60 hz. I can't recall a U.K. changer with a pitch control [variable speed] I believe the Goldring Lenco single play deck was the only one in the U.K. with variable speed control. Mains frequency is very carefully controlled in the U.K. J.

  • @ShitFromShinolla That is correct. They did run slightly fast. I was told the reason was to allow for neglected servicing. The oil would be thick and sticky if neglected.

  • is the amp tube?

  • Yes it is. Transistor record players that produced an audio output level of around 4 watts were not available until the early to mid 60's, certainly in the U.K. The unit including the radio circuit uses a total of 5 valves including rectifier. The tubes [valves] are British 'loctals' with similar characteristics to the U.S. 6K8, 6K7 6Q7 6V6 and 5Z4. Hand wired chassis with preset long and medium wave radio. This would have been much prized by it's owner in 1953. Thanks for comment. J.

  • wow thats really low wattage lol, my guitar amp puts out 15. nice player though, btw i have an RCA Vibra, can you tell me what year it was made?

  • Yes, 5 watts does not seem a lot today but it was rated at RMS rather than the silly 'Music Power' nonsense. A 15 w guitar amp would be fine for normal use but due to the limited frequency response required by G. amps a higher output is normally required for a consistant output hence the higher rating. Loudspeakers used with vintage equipment also tend to be a lot more sensitive [responsive] than modern types that appear to require a larger input before the cone moves! J.

  • yea man, my guitar amp is solid state 15 watts RMS 8 ohms i beleive, and i can play a 15 watt tube next to it, omg no comparison, tube is so much louder at lower wattages, like a 30 watt tube amp really puts out an equivalent of 120 watts or so.

  • Its fast on 78's but very gentle at 33 and 45. J.

  • the tonearm looks "violent" for his speed eheheh

  • The problem with auto speed selection in the U.K. is that our originl L.P. records were 10". This would have been a problem, selecting 78 when the record was a 33! We also had a number of 7" 33rpm adding to the confusion. What speed did it select when 12" 78's were being played? These were often autochanged due to mostly being boxed sets. J. think it added a lot of complication for little gain but fun to watch the action of the changer.

  • Nothing spectacular about this record player; however, Emerson had a model which had the feature to change speeds when the tonearm denoted the size; my mother had this record player with detachable speakers; she had been playing 12" albums but, when the last few records, 78 rpms stacked on top of the lps, came on, the tonearm swung over to the 10" size while I watched the speed dial cross from 33 past 45 to 78, with the tonearm landing perfecly when the platter was playing the new speed.

  • hi

    could u plz tell me the names and the artist of the all the 78's u are playing in the video

    thanks very much dave

  • Hello Dave. The snippets of 78's played are as follows.

    TUTTI FRUTTI. Pat Boone

    THE LITTLE SHOEMAKER  Petula Clark

    LOVE LETTERS IN THE SAND. Pat Boone

    THE 3.10 TO YUMA. Frankie Laine.

    CHICAGO Syd Phillips and his band.

    THERE'S A NEW WORLD. Debroy Summers Band.

    ROSE ROSE I LOVE YOU. Frankie Laine.

    Hope this answers your question Dave.

    Cheers, John.

  • Wow, that is a REALLY nice player, most of the BSR systems i've been exposed to tend to have bout 10 second gap between songs on 45s, but that tone arm moves so fast, its nothing like i've ever seen, plus putting 8 records on at once, I've never put more than 4 on one!

  • The BSR changers were very quick but were controlled by the speed selected so a 33rpm would be slower. This will play 10 records without a problem so a good margin of error was allowed for. Thanks for your comment. J.

  • Very nice BSR changer!

    I know the more modern, 1970s era changers were complete crap (although do have a reliable mechanism), but doesn't seem to be the case of these older changers!

    I also have an older BSR... a model UA16 from 1962. it plays 78s wonderfully. i just need a new stylus for it lol.. I wore it out, and I also think someone had a microgroove stylus on both sides.

  • The UA16 was a very good changer and you can get stylus for it from a company called MUSONIC. They are not expensive but you will have to tell them exactly the type you require as various cartridges were fitted. J.

  • That Is One BEAUTIFUL PLAYER! And That Frankie Laine Song Is GREAT! I Have To Agree Those Old Bsr Decks Are WONDERFUL!

  • A lot less mechanics than most of the other makes thus improving reliability. They just got it right with autochangers. The Frankie Laine record sounds incredible on a good radiogram, J.

  • Is the speed selector concentric to the on/reject lever, as on a Magnavox? And was a 45rpm spindle adaptor made for this model back then? It would've been different from the one I have, which works on several models from my 1960 UA25 to my 1980 polka-dot. On the UA25 the speed selector is on the left and the holder arm is next to the automatic size detector. It can even start a 10" properly while a 12" sits on top, while a Magnavox can't!

  • [1] Yes. [2] Not sure. Export model if produced in 1953 would have been supplied to U.S.A. with this facility. [3] A version of the Collaro/Magnavox changer used the pick up arm to sense which size record was about to be played. The auto cycle was supplied by a constant drive and was not effected by record speed. The last two features added a lot of complication to the mechanism for little gain thus reducing reliability. Regards, John.

  • That's justly what I meant: on my UA25 I can put a 10-inch, then a 12-inch on top of it, and the finger will sense the 10-inch properly as it falls, while if I did that on a Magnavox the tonearm would sense the 12-inch on top and try to start the 10-inch at the wrong spot. What's the 2nd song?

  • Sorry! I missed your last question. The song is 'The Little Shoemaker' sung by Petula Clark on Polygon record number

    P1117. I guess recorded around 1952/53.

  • Nice record changer. This was a BSR record changer and its finest. One of the earlier ones. My GE Wildcat does the same thing as the BSR does. GE made the Wildcat back in the late 60's and the early 70's with the same exact record changer than the BSR. It would hold up to 8 to 10 records. My GE Wildcat holds up to 5 records including the 45's and the 78's.

  • Wow! Nice BSR Player! Compared to the units made in the late 60's and 70's this one looks especially well built.

  • I agree with your comments. BSR let themselves down in the 70's by producing cheap models with plastic turntables for the bottom end of the market. The entire 'U' series changers were a superb design classic . J.

  • Yes, those plastic platter changers with the pointy ceramic cartridge/head were ubiquitous here in the US; I was given one for free and couldn't stand it. Their higher end models during those years, and the umbrella-spindle models that showed up here in the late '70s didn't look half bad, but I think their reputation had suffered too much by then. Yours looks like a nicely built machine.

  • I once had a BSR SO cheap that it only offered two speeds at two preset sizes. 45-7" and 33-12". Want to play a 12" single at 45rpm or a 7" 33rpm EP? Too bad... not automatically at least. 78? Go somewhere else. As usual, plastic platter, played too fast, gritty sounding ceramic cartridge. Yours is excellent though.

  • That was a budget release just before the collapse of a very good company. 12" 45's were not generally available and by this time very few played 78's so it did the job.

    I agree, the plastic turntable was very nasty but the pick up should have sounded very good providing it was in good order and matched to the amplifier usually requiring a high impedance input around 1M ohm as compared to 47K ohm for modern magnetic types. Thanks for comment. J.

  • Well, the stereo is installed in was very cheap as well. But I played lots of records on it and it worked well, that including me trying to scratch (like a dj) and trying to play records backwards lol.

  • Oh well I suppose you can't win them all! J.

  • But I had 7" 33rpm records (Disney storybook records). The way around that is start the turntable at 45-7" and when the needle sets down, shift it down into 33-12".

  • This is a great video, I like the records too

    Good sound for a 1953 model! :)

  • Thanks for your comment. It does sound good but so did all valve record players and amplifiers. Some guys don't enjoy the music anymore and just listen to the amplifier! J.

  • Glad you like it Chris. It also has a preset radio unit that works just as well. J.

  • I love this record player!! Fantastic post!

  • Thnx to this video i discoverd that my BSR Monarch record player was actually an auto record changer!! (it 's in the case of my valve radio) but after repairing it and making it all smooth working again i tried singles, 10 inch records and 12 inch records.. only the 12 inch records give problems, the "arm" goes too quick to the middle of the record so the music skips.. do you know this problem? (does it maybe "think" there is a 10 inch record on it?)

    Great video, i enjoyed it!! :)

  • Hello M, The record size selector arm is to the left of the rear of the pick up. When the records drop its the amount of movement 'on the flag' that governs the drop position. The problem is hardened grease preventing the mechanism from working correctly. They are easy to service but you need to know what to do or damage can result. You can lift the unit and observe what is happening to the selector arm but don't bend anything. Lubrication is required with great care! J,

  • Thnx for the advice! its working fine now!

    The only problem is that the sound is a bit poor so i'm thinking of changing the needle, can i change the needle for a stereo one and connect the cable's parallel so the output is still mono? and what is the serial number of the origial needle?

    --great that people still have old record players/changers---

    -sorry for my spelling mistakes, i'm from holland ;)--

    thnx!

  • Your spelling is better than the British! The cartridge, the electronic part, that the stylus fits into is not a universal part and was specified by the manufacturer that was going to fit the unit into his particular player. The original standard one was magnetic and stylus are still available for these. The unit will play stereo records with a suitable cartridge and stylus but is more suited to mono, shellac and vinyl records. J.

  • GREAT!

  • I thought you would like that one! I'm laughing! Thanks for the comment. John.

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