Victrola Granada

[Elaine Jones]

My husband surprised me with a Victrola Granada today. It's in kind of rough shape, but I think I can clean it up fairly well.
I've determined that it's a 1926, due to the cloth on the speakers.
Can anyone show pictures of the insides of one? Mine has a little screw sitting loose on top of the needle container, wondering where it goes.

[gramophone-georg]

Looks like the pull knob for the motor board. I have some loose screws myself.

But seriously- Granadas are great and underappreciated machines in my opinion. Welcome to the wonderful world of Orthophonic!

[Elaine Jones]

Wow, thank you for the fast response! So, what is a motor board? And what does orthophonics mean?
My only other machine is a grafonola. I really have no idea what I'm doing.

[Jerry B.]

I really have no idea what I'm doing.

Well Elaine you've come to the right place! Your Granada spring motor is attached to the motor board. The motor board is generally attached to the rest of the cabinet with screws at each corner. The loose knob probably goes on the motor board. It provides an easy way to lift and gain access to the motor once the crank and the four corner screws are removed. "Orthophonic" refers to the revolutionary method of electronic sound recording with microphones as well as machines for playback. When I have visitors I save my Orthophonic Victrola for last. The sound quality of a good clean electrically recorded record and a Orthophonic machine with a good reproducer is nothing less than amazing. I tell my guests that it made every other machine in my collection obsolete overnight. I hope you enjoy your Granada.

Jerry Blais

(look for the screw that goes with the knob. It probably is under the motor. )

[gramophone-georg]

To illustrate- this machine is a Credenza with gold trim as opposed to the Granada's nickel. See the knob? Same principle.

Hope this helps clarify.

[OrthoFan]

Hi Elaine:

Prior to 1925, most records were recorded using the acoustic or mechanical recording process in which the singer or instrumentalist performed before a horn that captured the sound waves or vibrations. The sound was transmitted via a hose-like connection to a mechanical recording head that was equipped with a diaphragm that vibrated in sympathy with the sound waves. The diaphragm was attached to the stylus that physically cut the record.

Starting around early 1925, the major record companies had adopted a recording process that used a microphone to capture the sound waves which were then transmitted via wire to an amplifier. That, in turn, was connected to an electrically driven record cutter to record the sound waves onto the record.

The result of this new process was greatly increased fidelity. For instance, bass as well as sibilants could be recorded for the first time.

As Jerry notes, above, the Granada model was one of the "Orthophonic" Victrolas, first introduced in November of 1925, designed to play the new electrically recorded records with greater fidelity than the older Victrola models. Other major phonograph manufacturers such as Columbia and Brunswick, marketed their own instruments under different brand names. In addition to non-electric (wind up) models, all electric models fitted with electric pickups, tonearm, amplifiers, speakers, etc., hit the market around the same time.

Here's a few sites that provide information about Victrolas & Orthophonic Victrolas.

Victor-Victrola.com -- http://www.victor-victrola.com/
Orthophonic Victrola -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Or ... c_Victrola
Victor Talking Machine Co. -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Ta ... ne_Company
Granada (4-4) Victrola -- http://www.victor-victrola.com/4-4.htm

HTH,
OrthoFan

[Phono-Phan]

Elaine, Welcome to the Talking Machine Forum. There are some great collector friends here. I hope you get a lot of enjoyment playing your Granada. Don't hesitate to come back to this great Forum to ask any questions. How does your phonograph sound? It should have a great tone and volume. If not, your reproducer needs to be rebuilt.
Ken