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Help Identifying Mouthpiece

Started by tekuhn, October 04, 2016, 09:41:27 AM

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tekuhn

I recently bought a Western Electric 20AL (my first antique phone) and after much reading and disassembly, I can't identify the mouthpiece that is attached to the transmitter. I was unable to unscrew it, and after removing the front plate and looking at the back, I can see that it is glued in place. It is the correct diameter, but either the threads were the wrong pitch and ground off, or they were simply stripped out. The outer set of sound holes are not actually drilled all the way though. I can't find any markings at all. Unfortunately, you can also see that someone was very heavy with a wire wheel and took quite a bit of brass off the 323 tag  :(


poplar1

That is a repro mouthpiece. That style was originally sold by Turtle Lake Telephone Co. in Turtle Lake, Wisconsin.
"C'est pas une restauration, c'est une rénovation."--François Martin.

tekuhn

Interesting - makes me wonder why it was glued in if it was not damaged. Maybe just to prevent me from unscrewing it and seeing that the transmitter was gutted and empty.  >:(  Thanks for the information. I won't feel bad tearing it up when I remove it.

poplar1

Either the threads on the mouthpiece were stripped, or they tried to make the wrong mouthpiece fit. Kellogg, Stromberg-Carlson and other transmitters have different threads than Western Electric.
"C'est pas une restauration, c'est une rénovation."--François Martin.

tekuhn

I heated the assembly in the oven for about 5 minutes and the plastic softened right up enough for me to screw it right out. Now I need to find a nice original and all the internals for a 323. Will also be making a new post about the receiver shortly.