The Sound Scriber
A brief history of the Sound Scriber...The Sound Scriber was recording device that was marketed to businessmen and secretaries. The name "Sound Scriber," was perhaps one of many brand-name dictation-marketed recorders...Edison Voicewriter and Infra Electronic were most likely competitors.
From approximately the 1940's to the 1960's, these machines recorded sounds direct to disc, in a manner similar to the vinyl disc-cutting process. In later years most companies probably adapted their machines for magnetic tape recording, or left the dictation-recording market all together.
Interestingly enough, Joan Crawford appeared in at least one Sound Scriber ad. I even found one Sound Scriber Ad that dates back to 1946.
While doing some work for a man in Gadsden, Alabama, I stumbled across this Sound Scriber microphone assembly. This particular man is a collector of decorative antique sound equipment.
The microphone wasn't being used in the display, so the gentleman allowed me to have it. I revitalized the collectors item by wiring it to modern standards. Here's how:
Here is how the original connector looked, it has six flat pins protruding out. The format seems to be proprietary.
Removal of the rear case revealed the inner workings of a mechanical switch. The switch must have served to operate the recording functions of the Sound Scriber.
Upon removing the plastic switch activator, I found the actual microphone transducer. You can also see an old radial capacitor underneath a copper strap.
Here is a view of the wires inside the cable. Notice that the two audio signal wires are shielded with braided wire. The filler looked like hemp twine and paper.
To install a modern audio connector to the cable end, I hastily soldered the appropriate leads to their respective solder-cups. I admit that I did a very poor soldering job. You can see how I soldered it together without considering the slack left in the wires, leaving me to coil and cram the excess leads into the connector housing. I was just too lazy to desolder, re-lengthen, and re-solder the connector.
Nevertheless, I tested the mic on one of my external preamplifiers, and it actually works! The next time I need a really obscure vintage-voice recording sound, I'll make sure to try the Sound Scriber...
Thanks for tuning in-
posted by Andrew Wayland Hull at 7:23 AM
7 Comments:
Hi,
I found your website and just wanted to let you know that someone has an old Sound Scriber on Ebay right now. Just thought it may be of interest to you.
Great website by the way!
I have been searching museum archives and the internet this past year for information on the sound scriber you've described. I was given my great grandfathers, which I've restored, but do not have the electrical cord. Could you please let me know if it has a power transformer in-line, or plugs directly into the wall. I would be grateful for any information you could provide.
Thank you.
everett lawson
everett.fiction@gmail.com
Everett,
Unfortunately I do not own the device that the microphone came from. It is owned by someone else in a different city.
But I am now trained as an electronics technician, and can offer you some advice on determining the power situation.
You mentioned that you restored your device...did you happen to notice a power supply/electronics inside the main unit?
Chances are that somewhere in the device, you will find a built-in power supply including but not limited to a size-able transformer, filter capacitors and voltage/current regulation circuitry, (given the time frame, likely tubes too.)
If there is not a transformer (that you can tell) inside the unit, then it probably required 1) an external power supply, 2) batteries. Check for internal battery terminals.
I do not guess that the power supply itself is/was separate from the main unit. Although, given the possible portability of the device it may have run on batteries.
That said, if you can find a power transformer inside the main unit, you should follow the transformer leads to the point where they exit the chassis. Knowing that the mic cable connector was not today's mic connector, you might look for other connector types on the body of the main unit.
If the transformer leads lead to one of those connectors, but the connector isn't one commonly found today in hardware stores, its quite possible that the manufacturer made their own proprietary cable to interface with existing power transmission systems. Translated, my guess is that the funky connector terminated in the common two-prong electrical cord of yesteryear.
I can't tell you when the US switched to the 110/220 standard, but its most likely built to operate on 110. 110 is actually 120 in my area.
Its the same idea as the common computer cables we use everyday, the device being powered has a special IEC connector connected to the devices internal power circuitry. The IEC cable interfaces between three-prong american standard to IEC connector.
If you can find a power connector on the unit, replace it with a simple three prong cord. Only, 1) use caution not to nullify any circuit safety measures inside the box, i.e. fuses..etc. 2) do so at your own risk, and 3) make sure it isn't hooked up to the mains when you are doing this.
NOTE: In power supplies, the fuse comes in line with one of the leads BEFORE that lead touches the transformer.
Solder one power lead to one lead of the transformer, the other to the other, and solder the ground/earth wire to metal on the chassis.
The earth wire is a saftey feature standardized after the two-prong scheme was common. It will not affect the device operation, or rather it shouldn't. But there are those, including myself that think you should go without it.
That said, please notice, this device is a well-aged electronic device. It may have stopped working long ago. You may damage the unit if the design was not intended for use with 110 VAC, or the steps I have mentioned turn out to be wrong, and the device needs other methods of power. You may succeed in resurrecting it. There is not really a way to tell what WILL happen.
What I have written is what I would look for, then, how I would proceed cautiously with this project.
I wish you success,
Andrew
Andrew, Thank you for your response. It only occurred to me today to come back to your sight, I had thought, like with all my other inquiries, to be a bust. Sincerely, thank you. There are in-fact 2 step-down transformers, however, it appears that the power mains was incorporated with, what I am guessing was, a foot peddle for operation. From the way the tubes, fuses, and resisters are connected it seems as though maybe the power was routed through an external peddle and maybe even the mic.(on off switch) to record, or play before reaching the device. If this is the case I am only concerned that connecting the mains straight to the internal fuse assembly might be the wrong amperage, having first been configured in the mysterious missing parts. But you are right, there is one way to find out. It would be a shame to blow the tubes, but it is an exercise in electronic faith. I don't mean to bother you, but would it be possible to send you a picture of the main board, to see what you think? Was there a fuse assembly or resisters in the microphone you altered? Thanks for your time, and advice.
Everett,
No bother really. I guess the best way for me to judge some of the things you mention would be to see pictures of the insides. One way to do that would be email, the other would be for you to post some picts on your blogger page, so then I could view them there.
You mention missing parts, can you elaborate?
I would think the device had one original fuse at the the mains chassis entry point, directly before any transformer taps. This would be a single fuse despite multiple transfomers feeding off the mains line.
Since you indicate that the device does indeed have tubes, I can tell you that it is common to see more than one transformer in tube power supplies.
Also, you should know that depending on the tube demands, one or more of those transformers might be a step-up transformer.
But back to the fuse situation...
Fuses are there as you know to blow in case of the load (i.e. the soundscriber, or the microwave for that matter) trying to pull/demanding more current than it should. They are there for circuit and personal safety.
Sometimes there are device circuit issues that cause these current demands, which trip/blow fuses repeatedly.
Without giving you the whole shpeel on how fuse ratings for a circuit are determined, I have one idea about what you could do.
If fuses are meant to blow at or above a certain amount of current, and if you have a bunch of lower value fuses that you can finagle into the fuse position (with power disconnected obviously), then
1. Starting at a low value, say 120V 1/4A rating fuse, try powering the device on.
I would recommend a slow-blow type fuse, but fast-blow types may work fine. I say slow-blown type fuse because we don't know if the "inrush" instantaneous current will cause fast-blow fault, when the normal operating current is much lower and would not cause the fault.
The other specs of the fuse don't really matter, size, shape, etc. Just use what you got and what you can solder into the mains circuit. But start with a small value rating and work your way up!
2.If the fuse blows, you know that the circuit is demanding more than 1/4A of current. Disconnect the power
3. Now try a 1/2A fuse.
4. Repeat 2 and 3 until you reach 1 and 1/2 amps.
If you reach 1 and 1/2 amps, and the fuses are blowing or you are starting to see smoke, you know that the problem was not the fuse, but the load or circuit the fuse was feeding.
To summarize, you could try incrementally increasing the amp rating of the fuse until it either stops blowing, or causes fire, or you realize that the current rating of the fuse you are trying is way too high for the device in question. After all, it really isn't a microwave.
Unfortunately this method cannot guarantee that the tubes will be good or working, but it will at least get power to the transformers...
Concerning the mic, there is a speaker-type voice coil, a capacitor, and a mechanical switch.
Hey Andrew,
I have found a SoundScriber in my basement and I'm not much worried about getting the machine to work as much as being able to use the microphone in a recording situation... I was just wondering if you would send me some more info on how you soldered the wires on the microphone to an XLR connector.
Thanks,
Mauricio Andrew
Mauricio,
I could not reach you to send info, so here are some additional words.
Once you have removed the connector from the connector-end of the cable, strip the outermost insulation back to reveal the multiple insulated wires. If yours is similar to mine, you will find a pair of wires there that are covered with metal braid. These are the audio wires. Use the audio wires to hook up pin 2 and 3 of the XLR, and solder the braided shield to pin 1. This is shown above.
The microphone you get out of this will be a dynamic type. You must crank the gain on a preamp moderately to get a good signal.
I've found that the mic will not a have a terrific low-fi sound straight away. If you are trying for extreme low-fi, try this.
Use a radioshack mic-to-guitar impedance tranformer (XLR to unbalanced 1/4") unit and hook the mic up to a guitar preamplifier. Add distortion, eq, etc to taste. You could even send that signal to a speaker and record it, though I took the line output of the guit pre to a mic pre and compressor.
great success!
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