The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Oh great...so now I have to find the parts to turn this into two proper phonographs. My wife will love that! I will keep you posted when I pick it up.

I picked it up today and think I have it figured out. The ID plate says that it's a Vic 0.



But the cabinet isn't from a Vic 0 like everyone had decided. It looks to me like a Type Z cabinet like I was thinking. There are small filled holes next to the rear mounted arm that were originally from a front mount arm like that on a Type Z.



But in addition to that, I measured the cabinet and it is exactly the measurements given in the "Look For The Dog" book for a Type Z. It is 11-¾" X 10-¼" X 5-⅛". The bottom trim is identical as well. I think this is a Type Z cabinet with everything else from a Vic 0. Here is a question though. Could this have been something that was made like this in the factory. Like I had mentioned, the Type Z was later replaced by the Vic 0. Could the cabinet be from leftover stock and possibly have been used on the early Vic 0's?

The crank isn't very long at all. Does anyone know if the crank that came with this is from a Vic 0 or Type Z? It is slotted and the shaft is only 2-¾" long. It has an Exhibition reproducer and 8" turntable. Any information would be great. Thanks for the help!

Here is another question. I am looking this over and found a date stamped on the neck of the horn where it inserts into the elbow. It says, "PAT.OCT.9.1905." The Vic 0 was produced in 1908. And I know that the last patent date is not a good indicator of when something was made. But a patent on a horn from that time seems like it would be different. Could this horn be from an earlier machine than the Vic 0?

There were two different sizes of the slip in horn elbows on the Vic. O. The earliest had the smaller sized ones. I have a Vic O with a serial number 87**D and it also has the same patent stamp in the end of the horn. That horn was unique to the Vic O in the semi-circular stampings on the horn bell.

ColoradoPhonograf

Could the cabinet be from leftover stock and possibly have been used on the early Vic 0's?

It's highly unlikely (in my opinion) that Victor would have released any of their machines with filled holes. The early Victor cabinets with the Remove This Plate To Attach Rigid Arm plate for the transitional front mount machines that could be used for the rigid arm configuration was an obvious effort to inform the customer that this cabinet could accommodate two different tonearm configurations. Filling cabinet holes would seem to go completely against their strict efforts to maintain the finest quality machines available. Best, Doug

Thanks for the information, Doug. So this was probably a Type Z that someone converted to a rear mount at some point? Or do you think this is just a "handy man's" way of fixing a machine in need of parts or a cabinet?

My feelings are that you have a cabinet, motor, crank, turntable, motorboard and reproducer hardware for an early Victor I and a Victor O tonearm, backmount, elbow, horn and ID plate. It is likely that someone had those parts and decided to put them together. It sounds like you got a great deal and you have some very desireable original Victor parts and the only modification of any concern appears to be in the back of the cabinet. If you can find the original Victor I backmount, tonearm, elbow and horn you have the Vic-I. Or you can search for the Vic-O parts (not as easy as finding the Vic-I parts). The Victor I ID plate will be the only part for the Vic-I that may present any problem. Or, enjoy the machine as she is. It was a decent find no matter what with all the nice original Victor parts and I would have bid on it too since the Vic-O parts are hard to find! There's no reason to be disappointed at all. Best, Doug

motorboard and reproducer hardware

Sorry...I intended to say "motorboard, hardware and reproducer for an early Victor I". Guess it's too early in the morning to check my grammar and sentence structure