Weber Syncrofilm Model E

[Adam Liberman]

I have a couple of Simplex Regulars that are equipped with Weber Syncrofilm Model E optical heads. I plan to eventually restore one of the sets to working order for display. I figure that the mechanics of the soundhead should be relatively self-evident, but it would be cool if anyone had the documentation for it (almost nothing found on web, Internet Archive, or Film-tech) or any history about these (the soundhead, not the projector, which is plentiful). Thanks!

[Tj Hopland]

Which one was the E? I think I may still have a manual for one model but I don't recall which one it was. I recall a model that was a more basic square box that had an external motor and a fixed sound drum gate sort of thing containing the photocell. I'm trying to remember if it had a sprocket or if it was like one of the Western Electric models where you ran the film back up to the projector to use the projector's lower sprocket as the sound sprocket.

There was also what I assume was a late model that was more like what became the popular models from the likes of Simplex and RCA with a rotating drum. This one was a pretty slick looking unit with an integral motor. Motor was sideways like Motigraph or later Century but instead of sticking out the back it was flipped and either built in or perhaps it just had a slick looking cowling. Its been 30 years since I saw or worked on one so memory could be a bit off.

I don't really know much about Weber, if they were popular in my area they were mostly gone by my time. I suspect like many other early brands they were constantly evolving to avoid or after getting sued for patient infringement from the big guys like Western Electric.

[Adam Liberman]

Fixed drum. Confusingly, it looks like they had a speaker system that they called model E also.

[Tim Reed]

I only ever had one Synchrofilm soundhead. It was long and was reverse scan. Pretty cool. As I recall, it had a proprietary pedestal mount. Does yours match a common bolt pattern, like a Century or an RCA head mount?

[Adam Liberman]

OK, I found a bunch of advertisements. The boxiest is from 1931. The biggest long one is the 400 from 1945. The model E is from 1946 and is the low-cost version and has a fixed drum instead of the ball-bearing rotating drum that the others have. I assume that it has common bolt holes but haven't looked at it closely.

Syncrofilm 400 and E theatre-catalog-1946_0369.jpg

[Tim Reed]

Model 400...

That looks like it!

[Tj Hopland]

The 400 was the ones I sort of serviced back in the 90's. The E I had seen but not running, they were salvaged from a long closed drive in and guy was trying to see if he could get them cleaned up and possibly running. I don't know how far he had got with the project. I do recall looking at the drum thing and could see they had some miles on em. The drum had pretty badly worn. I remember wondering if that was considered a regular wear item and how often they had to get replaced back in the day.

The 400 I seem to recall used link belt timing chain(s) like Century originally had. You can see the built in motor like I was trying to describe.

Interesting they say built under licence. Maybe the fees had got more reasonable by that time so a little guy could compete with the big guys?

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

When ever I ran into these out west, they were already sitting in the Generator room or "junk" room. Lee Artoe also had a large shelf full of Synchrofilm reproducers at his shop in Chicago. I never paid much attention to them.

[Gordon McLeod]

I service a adult theatre in the past that had the syncofilm 400 and they were a very good sound head with very low wow and flutter. I also serviced one othe one piece machines and it was interesting to say the least

[Tj Hopland]

I'm imagining their projector to be in the Holmes Devry sort of family. Lots of cost cutting to meet the price point and market they were going for.

[Tim Reed]

Interesting they say built under licence.

Century R6 reproducers had that exact same notice on them.

[Tj Hopland]

Century R6 reproducers had that exact same notice on them.

Was the R6 the fancy one with the, dual exciter, dual sprockets, enclosed fluid? rotary stabilizer, Cinemeccanica like film damper, and the motor was vertical behind the lower magazine?

Seems like I also saw a manual or ad for a Century that was more like the Weber pictured here like perhaps something they made in their early cinema days when they were making a Simplex clone?

[Gordon McLeod]

The model E reminds me of the CTR soundheads

[Tim Reed]

Was the R6 the fancy one with the, dual exciter, dual sprockets, enclosed fluid? rotary stabilizer

That's the one! Had very low wow and flutter. The gearing made a cool whirring sound when you started the motor.

[Jesse Crooks]

I do recall looking at the drum thing and could see they had some miles on em. The drum had pretty badly worn. I remember wondering if that was considered a regular wear item and how often they had to get replaced back in the day.

Most of the soundheads with a fixed "drum" (technically I think it would need to rotate to be considered a drum) or a similar half-cylinder that the film drags against when it's being scanned were very early designs, most from manufacturers that disappeared within a few years, and I expect that they wouldn't have been replaced by a better reader before they wore down enough for it to be a problem, but there were also some 16mm projectors (I think Victor Animatograph?) that used a similar design that remained in use long enough that it would wear down to the point that it became a problem. On all of the ones I've seen, they were relieved in the center to protect the picture area, with only the edges dragging across the surface. Eventually the sides wear down to the point that the picture can contact the relieved portion, and then you're scratching it to hell.

It's wild that they were still using this design in 1946! Must have been the super budget option.