Victor VV 1-90 Spring Motor

[ejackett]

I just found and purchased a Victor VV 1-90 in descent shape from an antique shop,
for 170.00. I have the two books by R. Baumbach and reading through them, the
"look for the dog" book says it has a two spring motor and nickel plated hardware,
and the "victor data book" say it has a single spring motor and says nothing about
the hardware. I then went to the Victor-Victrola site and it also says a two spring
motor and again nickel plated hardware. Here are some pics of the machine I have.
I believe this machine to be all original and nothing has been replace or changed.
Any thoughts from your forum members vast knowledge would be greatly
appreciated.
Gene

[JerryVan]

First, please swing the tone arm back so that the reproducer is not resting on the motor board. Bad practice!

I believe the oxidized bronze finish looks correct. It appears that the tone arm has been polished at some point, which removed the oxidized finished and stripped it down to bare brass. It's also possible that the tone arm has been replaced, possibly due to the original having a broken tone arm support. Not certain about that however.

As for the motor. Look at the lubrication label on the underside of the motor board. It will depict the correct motor for your phonograph.

[52089]

The motor is correct on your 1-90. It is a single spring machine.

However, the tonearm has been replaced. Your machine has a self-supporting tonearm, but it should have a bracket and pin setup. Your tonearm appears to be much too long as well. I suspect it came from a much larger Orthophonic machine.

Here are pictures of my 1-90 which I sold to a board member last year. This will show you what the correct tonearm and reproducer should look like. For what you spent, you did fine, but you will want to try to find a better tonearm. This will improve sound and reduce record wear due to bad tracking angles.

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=42302&hilit=has+been+sold

[ejackett]

Thanks Jerry and 52089, I appreciate the feedback. I had a feeling
the tonearm was wrong but the machine did play when I bought it,
so I didnt think to much about it at the time. I have been looking at
a lot of pics since then and realized it was wrong so I will be looking
for the correct one. If anyone on the forum has the correct one for
sale please let me know. Thanks again for any help.
Gene

[Inigo]

It's it maybe compatible with the tonearm of the suitcase models 2-55 or 2-65?

[ejackett]

I'm glad you brought that up enigo I checked both my portables
a 2-55 & 2-60 and neither one is compatible
Gene

[52089]

I'm glad you brought that up enigo I checked both my portables
a 2-55 & 2-60 and neither one is compatible
Gene

I'll save you trouble and note that the tonearm from a 1-70 won't work either.

[AmberolaAndy]

I'm glad you brought that up enigo I checked both my portables
a 2-55 & 2-60 and neither one is compatible
Gene

I hear ya it’s been 3 years and I have not found a replacement bracket for my VV 2-60! I wonder what’s keeping folks from making replacement brackets for portables and the 1-70 like on the big machines?

[MarkELynch]

The 1-90 uses the same tone arm as the 4-7 and the 4-40, the back bracket is the one commonly reproduced now for the 8-30, Credenza and others. The back bracket is available from Ron Sitko and our usual suppliers. I’d check with George Volema for the tonearm, the 4-7 and 4-40 were produced in large numbers.

[ejackett]

Mark, Thank you so much for that information that helps
my search alot, I did check with Ron Sitko and he did
say he had the overhang bracket so slowly but surely
I will get something that works and looks correct.
Gene