Victrola Ownership Tips/Advise/Questions

[Brad]

Sig,

WOW - Great machine at a fantastic price! You will love it, though the bug has bitten you and there are more to come!

Congratulations, enjoy and don't hesitate to ask questions.

[SignatureSeriesOwner]

Sure, I'll ask two, for now



1. Do you think anyone here would be willing to trade a good No. 2 reproducer for my Orthophonic? Does it hurt it to have the Orthophonic on, or would it sound best with a No. 2?

2. Does this require a specific key, or were they the same across the board? This one is missing on, unfortunately.


Oops, that's three

[OrthoFan]

The Orthophonic sound box was designed to be used on the new style, Orthophonic Victrolas, which hit the market in the Fall of 1925. They were fitted with re-designed tonearms and exponential horns that matched the sound box's performance capabilities, to bring the most out of the newly introduced electrically recorded records.

The #2 sound box was an earlier design for playing acoustically recorded records--those manufactured prior to mid-1925.

In terms of which would sound better on your Victrola, it's hard to say--probably the Orthophonic sound box would be louder--but from an authenticity standpoint, you'll probably want to hunt down a good condition gold plated #2 sound box--preferably, one that's already been restored with fresh, soft gaskets, and properly adjusted. These do come up for sale from time to time on eBay, and are normally always available from the shops specializing in Victrola parts and repair, but in that case, you'll pay a premium price; for instance -- http://www.antiquephono.com/victor.htm

(Other shops are listed on this page -- http://www.proaxis.com/~settlet/record/links.html -- under the Accessories/Restoration section.)

The Orthophonic sound box, if in good condition, would probably make an excellent trade. I noticed it's one of the earlier pot metal nickel plated ones. If you'd like to do a swap, you should post some good quality close-up photos of the front, back and sides, and post a message on the Yankee-Trader portion of this site.

If the turntable makes a sharp ticking noise while spinning, that's usually an indication that something is not quite right. It could be that the motor simply needs a good cleaning, or something is caught in the gears, or perhaps the auto-brake is lightly touching the turntable. Another cause could be the governor. At some point, you may want to have the motor overhauled, if this has not been done by the previous owner. (You got this for a VERY reasonable price, so investing a few hundred in the long term would probably be worth it.)

Good luck.

OF

[SignatureSeriesOwner]

Well, it's no a sharp tick, it's more of a duller "tock" I guess. Almost as if something may possibly be rubbing at one select spot.

Someone said "The noise that you noted is the governor pad rubbing on the governor disc. On Victor motors these pads are made of leather, and over time they become stone hard. It will not harm the motor to run it with a hardened leather, but whenever you have the motor serviced the leather should be replaced."

Does that sound right?

[OrthoFan]

A hard governor friction leather foot should not cause any harm, but you'll probably want to put a few drops of light weight oil onto the foot from time to time--that will quiet it down a bit. (Some collectors I've known have put a tiny dollop of Vaseline onto the leather along with a few drops of oil.)

I agree that at such time the motor is overhauled, it would be a good idea to have that replaced too.

BTW, there are a number of Victrola owners manuals on this page -- http://www.nipperhead.com/old/ephemera.htm -- that show basic oil/lubrication instructions. Click on the thumbnail page images to make them full size for viewing/printing--for instance:

[Steve Stephens]

What a nice Victrola to start a collection with. You can't get too much higher on the high-end scale for upright Victrolas and the price was a wonderful bargain in addition!

The key you need for your cabinet is the common Victrola key with a large "V". You'll see them on ebay a lot but not so much for the gold ones you need.

Steve

[SignatureSeriesOwner]

Gotcha. Thanks!


This, I'm guessing is a problem. It'll play 10 inch records just fine, but on 12" ones, if I crank it until I hit the mechanical stop, and let it play, it'll barely get through the 12" record before it nearly stops turning.


I'm thinking that's not good. It plays 10" ones perfectly, however.

[estott]

You should contact George Vollema victrola@triton.net and send him the motor for a rebuild- he's thoroughly reliable and reasonable. You've got a machine easily worth putting a few hundred dollars into.

[SignatureSeriesOwner]

Thanks for the heads up. That, will have to wait until finances can allow, however. I don't have a spare $500 to drop into a motor.

It won't hurt it to operate it like this, will it? Like I said, it'll play 10" records fine (and now, 12" ones apparently, as long as they aren't "No. 4 Symphony" long.

[OrthoFan]

I agree about contacting George V. Probably, the motor could stand a good tuneup.

In addition to a gunked up motor, a turntable will slow down while playing a record because:

1. ...it isn't fully wound. I've found that it takes about 30-35 turns of the crank, at least, to play 12 inch records--for a Victor two, three or four spring motor. (A two spring motor will take about 50 turns of the crank for a full winding, to run for about ten minutes. The four spring motor on my Credenza would take about 80 turns of the crank before it was fully wound, for about a 20 minute run.)

2. ...the records were not meant to be played on an acoustic machine. On a Victrola of this vintage, it's best to play pre-1925 records. Those made after about 1932-35, especially, were meant for electrical reproduction--in spite of the fact that acoustic portables continued to be manufactured (in the US) well into the early 1950s.

3. ...the records are worn.

4. ...the needle is shot. (Though opinions vary, it's best not to use a steel needle more than once to play one side of one record, and never use a jewel or osmium tipped needle on an acoustic machine.)

5. ...the sound box is out of adjustment, or frozen.

6. ...the tonearm is sticking. (Probably not the culprit in this case.)

The last VV-XVII (possibly, a 130) I came across, about five years ago, had a $1,200 price tag on it, and I don't think it was as nice looking as the one you have.

The nice thing is, once the motor is overhauled, it shouldn't need another major tuneup for about 20-30+ years. (A little spot cleaning and lubrication will be necessary from time to time.)

OF