The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Snowball wrote: It is funny you mentioned that because it came with 3 in tact castors and 1 broken one. I went ahead and removed all of them because even the 3 'good' ones were in bad shape. After removing them I went ahead and put felt pads on the bottom of the legs.

You also bring up a good point about needles. I know that they should be changed often, but exactly how often and where is a good reputable place to order replacements?

One of the articles on the Antique Phonograph Society web site addresses this and other concerns. It's titled, Basic Antique Phonograph Operational Tips, and it's "required reading" for newcomers!

You can access it directly here:

http://www.antiquephono.org/basic-antiq ... onal-tips/

Needles are readily available from a number of reputable dealers. Go to the "Links" tab on this forum, then click on "Repairs, Parts, Dealers, Sales & Auctions." You'll find the two excellent suppliers mentioned above, plus others. Note that Ron Sitko closes between Thanksgiving and New Years.

George P.

Check the "Links" section for several sources for parts and needles. When he is available, Ron Sitko is a great contact for help, parts, and repair.


I owned a VV- XVI and enjoyed it. There is plenty of room for the records. In what area are you located?


Don M.
(Indiana)

Snowball wrote:

Henry wrote:Ditto what the others have said about your "new" machine! It looks to be in great condition. With a rebuilt and adjusted sound box, it should sound great too.

From the link above, it would appear that the XVI went through more radical cabinet design changes than most, if not all other, Victor models.

It's a bit difficult for me to tell from the photos but, assuming that the casters are present under each leg, be cautioned that rolling these heavy objects across wood floors will surely gouge the floor, and make you most unhappy. I've placed teflon pads under each leg of my XI, allowing the machine to slide much more easily across the floor, without denting the wood.

Enjoy your new toy, and remember to change needles after every play!

It is funny you mentioned that because it came with 3 in tact castors and 1 broken one. I went ahead and removed all of them because even the 3 'good' ones were in bad shape. After removing them I went ahead and put felt pads on the bottom of the legs.

You also bring up a good point about needles. I know that they should be changed often, but exactly how often and where is a good reputable place to order replacements?

I change steel needles after each play of one 12" record side, and usually after each play of a 10" record, although I've been known to stretch the latter by another play of a 10" record side Under no circumstances would I play more than two record sides without changing the needle.

Steel needles are available in soft, medium, and loud varieties (increasing diameters of needles increases their output volume, with soft having the smallest diameter and large the loudest). I have found that soft-tone needles are best for all-around playback, with occasionally a medium-tone for early acoustic recordings. Electrical recordings played on acoustic machines of the vintage of yours and mine, if played with loud-tone needles, will blast you out of the room while noticeably distorting the sound quality. On a rebuilt Exhibition sound box with fresh, pliable front gaskets and new back gasket, new mica diaphragm, if needed, and carefully adjusted Exhibition sound box, soft-tone needles would be my first choice. (BTW, I notice that in your photographs the sound box has a fibre needle; this type is not commonly available now, but there are those who use them and I'll let them speak to that topic.)

Some years ago I purchased 5,000 Bry-O-Phonic brand soft-tone steel needles from Martin Bryan, d/b/a The New Amberola Phonograph Co., 213 Caledonia St., St. Johnsbury, VT 05819-2477, ph. 802-748-9264. I do not know whether this source is still viable, however. Others on the board will surely chime in with more sources. Also try the Antique Phonograph Supply Co. (http://www.antiquephono.com/), Victrola Repair Service (http://www.victrolarepairservice.com/index.html), Wyatt's Musical Americana (http://www.wyattsmusical.com/), among others. Good luck with your new machine!

Thanks again everyone for the wealth of information. It did indeed have a fiber needle initially, but I 'found' a steel needle in the cabinet. I've only played two records, mainly to make sure everything worked, on this steel needle. Now I know not to play anything else until I get new needles. Also, I need to give all my records a good cleaning and find a better way to store them. Right now they are in the paper sleeves within 100 year old Victrola albums which are falling apart. They were given to me with the player in a cardboard box.

Welcome and congrats on the XVI.
I just acquired my first ever "Victrola" and as luck would have it, it's an H version of the XVI.

Snowball wrote: You also bring up a good point about needles. I know that they should be changed often, but exactly how often and where is a good reputable place to order replacements?

The consensus here is to change them before (or after for that matter) each play.
I've seen Walt Sommers of Gettysburg Phonographs praised as both a reliable source of parts and service but also quality needles.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/300-SOFT-MED-LO ... SwGtRXyZwv

I've already had a chance to deal with both Dwayne Wyatt of http://www.wyattsmusical.com/ and George Vollema of http://www.victroladoctor.com/ and am comfortable recommending both for parts and service.

Just a heads up about storing your records in old albums... people tend to lay them flat like a book and turn the pages with the records inside, which more often than not, results in the records having a semi- circular bite (broken edge) or crack from the stress. It is best to store them on edge in sleeves (not leaning) or flat on a shelf. Milk crates work perfectly for storing records on edge. Shellac records are sturdy but prone to breakage if flexed. If you choose to store them in albums, stand the albums up so the records are on their edges and carefully change pages.