I’m new to this

Discussions on Talking Machines & Accessories
PeanutTheRabbit
Victor Jr
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I’m new to this

Post by PeanutTheRabbit »

hello all! I’m Peanut. I just bought my first phonograph yesterday. A victor Victrola the fourth. For 125$ at a record store. All the gaskets are petrified, and it needs oil. But I just thought I’d make a discussion to kinda meet some of y’all. I’m a little intimidated by the...to me...somewhat complex mechanics of a phonograph.

I’ll put up some pictures of my machine tomorrow.

VanEpsFan1914
Victor VI
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Re: I’m new to this

Post by VanEpsFan1914 »

Hey there--welcome to the Talking Machine Forum! My first phonograph was a Victrola, and I just got a VV-IV like you have last week from one of our members here who was clearing up and happened to pass it along and I am going to be restoring it eventually. They're nice little machines.

The matter of oiling-- With a single spring motor you have probably the easiest thing in the world to service. There should be an oiling diagram on the bottom. Run it all the way down, spin the platter a couple times to get all the energy out of the springs. Then you can start disassembling it. To save the motor, use good screwdrivers that actually fit the screws. Take the spring out then the governor (by loosening a bearing on one end, moving it, and then pop the governor out.) When you take out the center shaft there is a ball bearing hiding in a cup under the turntable shaft. It HAS to be there or otherwise, it just won't run. Save all that. You can clean the parts in denatured alcohol with a brass bristle brush. I like to use kerosene on a brush to scrub away the grease. Automotive brake cleaner works too. (All this actual scrubbing is done outside of course.)

Now you can put it together inside if you like, once you've cleaned the parts & wiped them off again. But then there's the spring barrel. That is kind of the hard part; a victrola spring can be a hassle to get in and out. You may send it off to have it repaired (which is about $25, I would recommend Mr Ron Sitko's work. Look for his phone number here on the board. He does great work--like all the phonograph mechanics.) Or you can do it yourself if you've got fairly good grip. Look at a few videos on Victrola springs. Putting it back in the barrel is a lot tougher than getting it out, but if you have a vise, then put some wood blocks or towels on the jaw to hold the barrel (don't let the gear get bent up in the vise) and then you can wind the spring back in.

Make sure you have a good idea which way the spring coils went, so you don't put the spring in turning the wrong way.

The tonearm & reproducer are kind of tricky but very necessary for nice sound & longer record life. Take reproducer off (twist counterclockwise until stop, then wiggle forwards.) Then set it aside, remove the gooseneck next by unscrewing with a coin the plug at the crooked part of the tonearm. You will see a slot there. Put the plug back in for safekeeping & set that aside. Then take the tonearm itself off by loosening the pin at the back support & lifting it up, making sure not to lose the bearings.

Rebuild the reproducer: take all the screws out of the back. The rubber doughnut or isolator is not good at this point but people like Mr Ron Sitko may want it to get the brass ring from the inside & make a new isolator around it with fresh rubber. Then you take a thin screwdriver or a pocketknife blade & work it round the line between the silver bezel & the black part. The back should come off. Now you're looking down into the back of the reproducer body, at a rubber tube, a diaphragm, and a needle bar screw. The screw is the part you don't want to lose. (This whole operation should be done over something like a white T-shirt in a pan, so as to see the parts & not lose them.)

Buy a Victor Exhibition rebuild kit from a parts supplier or eBay or Etsy, wherever. If your diaphragm is bad then you can change that too. Scratch the wax out of the needle bar screw, loosen it with a fine screwdriver, set it aside. Now pull out the old rubber gasket & remove the diaphragm. Polish the bezel with your favorite nickel polish like Blue Magic or Flitz or Simichrome. (Might as well look good.) If the needle bar, etc. are rusty, dab some Birchwood Casey gun bluing (Cold blue) on them and wipe off, then wipe with oiled rag. Make a new gasket out of tubing for the front. Hide the meeting of the new tubes underneath the needle bar. Set a diaphragm in, make sure it doesn't touch the sides of the reproducer (otherwise it will buzz) and screw it down again with the tiny screw.

(You may find a thin paper gasket between the reproducer screw & the diaphragm. That is OK to leave there. It's from the factory.)

Anyway, make another gasket for the back. Put it in and put the joint at the top. Now to seal the needle bar from the back: take the smallest dot of beeswax you can make, put it on top of that tiny screw, and touch it with a heated paperclip. It should melt.

Screw the back on, then flip it over & do the same beeswax thing from the front. You don't want to paint it with beeswax, but you want to just seal it a bit.

Now put the new rubber isolator on, but where the pin is in the right spot so the needle points down. Your tonearm parts will help with this.


Now polish the tonearm after you degrease the parts of the gooseneck joint with alcohol. You'll wipe these with Vaseline or grease when you put it back together, and it will help the needle track. Then clean out the bearing race (in the tonearm holder) and put the spacer in there, coating it & everything else with a layer of vaseline or more grease. Now take your grease on your finger & put a bearing in each notch of the holder, wipe the back sealing part of the tonearm with more Vaseline, put that in the bracket, adjust the pin to hold the whole piece together & tighten the screws. Wipe off the Vaseline you've smeared on the outside of everything. Now put the gooseneck part in, screw the plug back in (with vaseline on the threads so you can remove it) and put the reproducer on. Add a fresh steel needle and an old 78.

Your Victrola should play now.

Any pictures of it? Surely you've got some snapshots of the new arrival. What's the serial number?

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dzavracky
Victor IV
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Re: I’m new to this

Post by dzavracky »

Welcome to the forum peanut! This is a great place to come for advice

Best of luck with your machine!


David

AmberolaAndy
Victor V
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Re: I’m new to this

Post by AmberolaAndy »

Hello, and welcome to the wacky and wonderful world of antique phonographs and 78s!

A Victrola IV is a great starter machine! It beats the pants off having an obscure branded portable as your first machine! LOL!

If you want to know the age And history of your machine this site should tell you.

http://www.victor-victrola.com/IV.htm


I would love to have a VV-IV to put next to my VV-VI and VV-VIII when I get that running!

Jerry B.
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Re: I’m new to this

Post by Jerry B. »

Peanut, welcome to the Forum. I've always like the Victrola IV. In fact I bought one today for about the price you paid. Jerry B.

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Phono-Phan
Victor V
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Re: I’m new to this

Post by Phono-Phan »

The Victrola IV is a well built model. Parts are not that hard to come by if it needs anything. Where are you located? Maybe a member on this Forum is nearby and can assist.
Ken

EdiBrunsVic
Victor IV
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Re: I’m new to this

Post by EdiBrunsVic »

A good parts supply source is Ron Sitko. His telephone number and contact information is in the Links Section. He has rebuilt two of my Victor reproducers and can be helpful to new collectors.

The Victrola IV was built during the era of acoustic recordings.

Don

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mick_vt
Victor I
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Re: I’m new to this

Post by mick_vt »

Walt Sommers (cyber_tigger) on ebay does gaskets, diaphragms, isolators and springs for Victor reproducers

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Curt A
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Re: I’m new to this

Post by Curt A »

Welcome... by any chance does your Victrola IV have a metal grill behind the doors? The earliest versions did, so just wondering...
"The phonograph† is not of any commercial value."
Thomas Alva Edison - Comment to his assistant, Samuel Insull.

"No one needs a Victrola XX, a Perfected Graphophone Type G, or whatever you call those noisy things."
My Wife

PeanutTheRabbit
Victor Jr
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Re: I’m new to this

Post by PeanutTheRabbit »

Curt,
No unfortunately mine does not. Mine has 5 wooden slats behind the door! (:
I’ve put some antique Victrola needles from a machine that my grandmother had. I’ll have details on that one when i remember what model it is (:

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