Victor VV 2-35

Discussions on Talking Machines & Accessories
User avatar
Dischoard
Victor II
Posts: 495
Joined: Tue Feb 16, 2021 11:41 pm
Personal Text: Born in the wrong century...
Location: St. Albans, Vermont

Victor VV 2-35

Post by Dischoard »

Picked up a new project today, a little VV 2-35 in need of some TLC. It's also in need of a crankshaft. I suppose I could make one but I'm hoping somebody here may be a source for that part? The shop I got it in had it listed for $60 but we negotiated ⅓ off that once I showed him the inside. Not bad for $40 and if nothing comes from it I haven't lost a whole lot.

I just hope that, once I find a part, I don't find that it has a broken spring, not exactly the kind of project I was looking for!
It's serial number 11970 so probably early 30's. The orthophonic reproducer seems to be the nicest thing about this machine, too bad it's not swappable, I would try it out on my Consolette.

If anyone has one of these and has any insights into fixing them up I would appreciate it, I'll certainly post my progress in the cleaning and refreshing of this machine here. I won't repaint or recover, I like things to look their age... I just like them clean, working, and lubricated.

Here are some 'before' pics. What would you clean the outside with? Does Gojo work as nicely on this faux leather as it does on wood? And how might one stabilize the decal so as to avoid more loss? Thanks everyone
VV 2-35 Serial #11970
VV 2-35 Serial #11970
IMG_2313.JPG
IMG_2315.JPG
IMG_2316.JPG
Victor Orthophonic
Victor Orthophonic
Half of the crank assembly and the rock-hard reproducer protector
Half of the crank assembly and the rock-hard reproducer protector

User avatar
Dischoard
Victor II
Posts: 495
Joined: Tue Feb 16, 2021 11:41 pm
Personal Text: Born in the wrong century...
Location: St. Albans, Vermont

Re: Victor VV 2-35

Post by Dischoard »

And it's already beginning to reveal its secrets. You don't know how badly I was hoping all that rattling was a missing crank-shaft :lol:
This Little Wonder Record is as bent as it is broken
This Little Wonder Record is as bent as it is broken

User avatar
Dischoard
Victor II
Posts: 495
Joined: Tue Feb 16, 2021 11:41 pm
Personal Text: Born in the wrong century...
Location: St. Albans, Vermont

Re: Victor VV 2-35

Post by Dischoard »

Well all I can say is that it truly pays to completely disassemble a machine. Found the crankshaft!
Anyone see what I see?
Anyone see what I see?
Found it!
Found it!

OrthoFan
Victor V
Posts: 2178
Joined: Sat Jul 09, 2016 7:12 pm

Re: Victor VV 2-35

Post by OrthoFan »

One thing I'll tell you not to do and that's to try to dissemble the reproducer or sound box. All the parts are press-fitted together, and cannot be taken apart. (These are virtually identical, in design, to the HMV 16 sound box.) Also, a conventional Orthophonic sound box cannot be fitted to the tonearm without substantial modification. Hopefully, the one you have will perform well. If not, the best bet is to hunt down a replacement. I've seen a few come up for sale over the years on eBay, normally included with the tonearm.

While not as full as the larger VV-2-55, which has a standard Orthophonic sound box, the VV2-35 actually sounds pretty good:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsolCZ8GXec


OrthoFan

User avatar
Dischoard
Victor II
Posts: 495
Joined: Tue Feb 16, 2021 11:41 pm
Personal Text: Born in the wrong century...
Location: St. Albans, Vermont

Re: Victor VV 2-35

Post by Dischoard »

Yeah, it does not look like it was ever meant to come apart or be serviced. I played it last night and it was pretty good but a little raspy on the loud parts. It's hard to know because it may have been the record. When I grabbed I thought I'd grabbed from the 'clean' pile but that wasn't the case. I'll get a decent record and grab a video. Thanks for the recommendation for sure!

User avatar
Dischoard
Victor II
Posts: 495
Joined: Tue Feb 16, 2021 11:41 pm
Personal Text: Born in the wrong century...
Location: St. Albans, Vermont

Re: Victor VV 2-35

Post by Dischoard »

Here's a video of the first diagnosis-playing with a medium tone needle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvO1C1S ... nel=AGarso

It seems to have a bit of distortion which may be the soundbox or may be something loose down inside. I imagine those with more experienced ears can pinpoint the issue fairly quickly. I'll have to dive in this weekend...

CarlosV
Victor IV
Posts: 1835
Joined: Sun Mar 15, 2009 6:18 am
Location: Luxembourg

Re: Victor VV 2-35

Post by CarlosV »

The distortion seems to come from the soundbox, but it could also come from resonance of the lid. Try playing with a towel or a sheet covering the lid and check if the distortion is gone. I had this problem with one of my VV35s, the record holder was half loose and caused a distortion.

OrthoFan
Victor V
Posts: 2178
Joined: Sat Jul 09, 2016 7:12 pm

Re: Victor VV 2-35

Post by OrthoFan »

Hopefully Carlos is right, but if it's the sound box, and I suspect it is, there's little you can do. But, given that, you might try removing the sound box from the tonearm, by unscrewing the locking screws, and then shake it to make sure there's nothing loose rattling around inside. If you don't hear anything, then squirt a little WD-40 or put a few drops of Goo Gone into the hole and swish it around so it makes its way to coat the edge of the diaphragm. (That actually helps sometimes.)

Also look to see if the needle-bar pivot joint is okay--I believe they used a twisted flat spring pivot, but do not know for sure since it's been about four decades since I owned a VV-2-35--and also make sure the needle is held firmly by the thumbscrew.

OrthoFan

User avatar
Dischoard
Victor II
Posts: 495
Joined: Tue Feb 16, 2021 11:41 pm
Personal Text: Born in the wrong century...
Location: St. Albans, Vermont

Re: Victor VV 2-35

Post by Dischoard »

Well I removed the soundbox and wouldn't you know it? I found the remains of a broken needle still up inside the receptacle. I wondered why I couldn't fit a loud-tone needle in there. I carefully removed the busted needle and gave it another go. Maybe it's wishful thinking but I think it's better:

https://youtu.be/Pp3zbMJrjSc

It seems as though I can gently move the needle-holder into two different positions: out-of-line and in-line. I'm thinking at some point the case was moved around aggressively and the tone arm, with needle still attached, hit against something which broke the needle and dislodged the stylus bar somewhat. At this point it's passable to me, the bari-sax in this one actually sounds pretty darn good. Still a little distortion at the very end where it gets louder but for what it is and for $40 I can't complain. Just looked at your post above, I'll try the goo-gone trick, see what that does.

Oh, one note. Gojo does a great job getting the grunge off the naugahyde but I think it also does a good job of removing the dye. There's no way those paper towels would have come out that black had it just been dirt so I stopped. No noticeable degradation (thank goodness), in fact it's gorgeous but I definitely didn't want to go too far. I'll see how it is in a couple of days when the Gojo dries and evaporates.

Happy Weekend!

User avatar
gramophone-georg
Victor VI
Posts: 3984
Joined: Mon Jan 20, 2014 11:55 pm
Personal Text: Northwest Of Normal
Location: Eugene/ Springfield Oregon USA

Re: Victor VV 2-35

Post by gramophone-georg »

If you need to soften rubber gaskets this may help:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/6-oz-Rubber-So ... SwZXFfIxGQ

I think the #5 and 16 gaskets are felt, though
"He who dies with the most shellac wins"- some nutty record geek

I got PTSD from Peter F's avatar

Post Reply