Victrola Orthophonic Reproducer - Advice Requested

[JerryVan]

Jmad7474,

"Considering Victor's stringent quality standards of their production, I doubt it had anything to do with the original casting quality of the metal."


It had EVERYTHING to do with that. In their defense, I don't believe anyone knew at the time how important it was to eliminate any and all presence of lead from the casting formulation. Pot metal decay has nothing at all to do with how well the reproducer was cared for, (unless you just dropped it repeatedly), or how wealthy the owner was. The survival rate of any old pot metal item depends more on just how much lead contamination there happened to be in its original mix.

[mick_vt]

After spending about 20 minutes fishing it out, I discovered that someone had stuck an entire UNUSED tin of Tungs-Tone needles into the opening! Aside from a few patches of surface rust, it's in like-new condition and will display very nicely on the needle tin holder clips. Talk about starting the new year off right

Great find, congrats!

Unbelievably I just had the very same experience, I have been refreshing a XVI that I bought just before Christmas, and fund a full tin of Tungstone mid-tone needles in the throat of the horn. I also found a flyer extolling the virtue of Kakti needles over others, the instructions for a kakti needle sharpener and an empty tin for Victor half tone needles (also in great shape)

I think this stuff must have been put just inside the grill on the horn (they do kind of look like little shelves, and then fallen back an in over the years.

[jmad7474]

I finally have an update on the reproducer! (For folks who have stuck with this thread for this long, many thanks.) I found a reputable seller and have purchased a later (around 1931/32) rebuilt golden Orthophonic reproducer which, while not historically accurate to the VV 1-90, will allow me to play it as intended and look great on the machine at the same time. I have also heard from some sources that the later production models of the Orthos were made of much better quality pot metal than the earlier production models, so I am really looking forward to that!

The seller is shipping it out today through Priority mail, so I will post pictures of it all once it arrives and I mount the reproducer on the tonearm. I want to again say a HUGE thanks to everyone who helped me get this matter of the missing Ortho reproducer solved! I had no idea these would be so difficult to find (especially already rebuilt), and now I am in a better position to advise (warn?) others on this issue.

Stay tuned for some (hopefully) final developments and pics...take care!

[jmad7474]

Well folks, I finally got the reproducer in the mail last Saturday and spent yesterday doing the final work to the VV 1-90! In addition to the reproducer, I had to adjust the auto brake spring tension so that it wouldn't prematurely activate on eccentric records but would still activate on Victor records with eccentric grooves (probably the most tedious job I have had to do in my time repairing these units since it was all trial-and-error!) The motor plays strong and will easily play both sides of a 10" record on not even a full winding. On the later electric 78s (like the late 1930s and newer) the volume is so loud it can hurt my ears, even with a soft tone needle...there is plenty of bass and the internal folded horn really helps to balance the sound! I also found a copy of the original 1927 dealer's ad for this unit and a reprint of the original Orthophonic user's manual.

Let me know if you want more photos, I LOVE this unit and can hardly wait to show it off at my next record club meeting!

[Victrolacollector]

That’s a nice machine. I have never seen in person or found a VV 1-90 in the wild. I think they are rare as hens teeth.
You have a beautiful machine. What type of motor does it use? Double mainspring?

[jmad7474]

That’s a nice machine. I have never seen in person or found a VV 1-90 in the wild. I think they are rare as hens teeth.
You have a beautiful machine. What type of motor does it use? Double mainspring?

I have only seen one other VV 1-90 in my time as a collector (almost 20 years) at a flea market in Crystal, MN during the early 2000s and it was trashed beyond repair. I am so fortunate to have found this one, and with proper care and feeding the cabinet and mechanics should easily last another 92 years without issue. Even without polish, the cabinet literally shines like its finish is brand-new, and there are NO dings or dents anywhere in the wood.

The motor on this unit is unusual. It uses a single-spring portable-style "pancake" motor (which is typical for the less-expensive Orthophonic era models), but it has large white lettering that reads "EXPORT" painted on the underside of the motorboard next to the governor. I assume this model was meant for export to Japan or Canada (possibly South America?) but it never got that far because someone purchased it from the factory directly before it was shipped (which is possible since I purchased it from a seller in Pennsylvania).

What makes it even more unusual is that the mainspring on this unit is CRAZY long - while single-spring, I suspect it has the same spring length as a double-spring motor would be if both springs were connected end-to-end because the motor runs over 10 minutes on a full winding, and most single-spring motors I have run into barely go over five (maybe six) minutes. If anyone has more info on these types of motors I would really appreciate it!

Thanks for the kind words, it was definitely a labor of love refurbishing this unit but one that I think was very well-deserved for such an attractive machine!