Magnavox Regency Symphony, 1947?

[Doug Houston]

Most of us, who have fiddled with phonographs, know that Webster-Chicago upgraded the 56 as playing speeds came on. In 1950, I bought a new W-C 56 changer, with the accessory base, which made it a pretty nice player. I was using a Motorola 45 attachment with it, and had it with me at achool.

Later, I decided to upgrade my system, and bought the 356 version of that changer. There was a plug-in head model, as the 356-27, where I could use two GE VR pickup cartridges (3 mil, and 1 mil styli). If you have the 78-only W-C 56 changers, and have trouble getting a pickup cartridge, look into either mounting a GE 3 mil VR cartridge in the pickup arm, and finding (or building) a GE preamp, and installing it in the cabinet. It would give you a better pickup than the crystal that was the original.

The changer that I'll be sending Ron is a Webster-Chicago 256, that came from a Maggie Windsor, and has a small pickup head. Some cartridges might not fit in it, I fear. We might need to work out an E-V Power Point cartridge for it. More news to follow.

Another possibility might be for W-C 256 or 356 changers, is to get the 78-only pickup arm (They're all bakelite), drill the hole in the top of the arm for a GE turnaround cartridge, and use the preamp with it. Anybody with these changers wil have these problems, getting them to work.