The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

phonogfp wrote:

Jerry B. wrote:An unsolicited suggestion... I would not replace the turntable felt.

Jerry B.

I second that suggestion!

George P.

Out of curiosity, what’s your reasoning for not replacing it?

P.S. thanks so much to everyone for leaving feedback! I’ll have this thing looking great in no time

LtFrenchFries wrote:

phonogfp wrote:

Jerry B. wrote:An unsolicited suggestion... I would not replace the turntable felt.

Jerry B.

I second that suggestion!

George P.

Out of curiosity, what’s your reasoning for not replacing it?

P.S. thanks so much to everyone for leaving feedback! I’ll have this thing looking great in no time

Speaking only for myself, an all original machine beats a fully restored machine everytime. However, that's not rational when a machine has reached a certain point and is very degraded. At that point, restoration is an option, but preserving anything possible is for me, preferred.

Replacement TT felt almost always looks like it is an obvious replacement, and especially so on less common or rare machines.

Sometimes the bumps and bruises being preserved actually can increase the potential value of a highly desirable or even rare machine.

Just like repainting a horn, or refinishing a worn case's finish, it's only original once.

Proceed with caution and don't do something you can't reverse.

Cheers,
Fran

*double post removed*

LtFrenchFries wrote:

phonogfp wrote:

Jerry B. wrote:An unsolicited suggestion... I would not replace the turntable felt.

Jerry B.

I second that suggestion!

George P.

Out of curiosity, what’s your reasoning for not replacing it?

P.S. thanks so much to everyone for leaving feedback! I’ll have this thing looking great in no time

The turntable felt is original and it's wool. It's very, very difficult to find the proper color, material, and texture of those original felts. Plus, the colors changed over the years on Victor/Victrola turntables. After you've had experience and seen many phonographs, the wrong color on a turntable will jump out at you.

In general, original turntable felt, paint, cabinet finish, and nickel plating will be far more attractive to an experienced collector than "refurbished" parts - - even when those original parts aren't perfect. They're very old, and that's a big part of the attraction for many/most of us.

There were times in the past when a number of collectors insisted that their prize phonographs look like new. Nowadays, these are called "overrestored." There's no reason to do that to your nice Victor E. A few hours' work of cleaning and preservation will make that machine as nice as can be. Congratulations!

George P.

This Victor E is in too good of condition to do any more than a thourough cleaning. The shaking you referred to is most likely a missing governor weight. Ron Sitko sells them. If you are missing just one, you should replace all of them and the weight springs to get a proper balance.

Phono-Phan wrote:This Victor E is in too good of condition to do any more than a thourough cleaning. The shaking you referred to is most likely a missing governor weight. Ron Sitko sells them. If you are missing just one, you should replace all of them and the weight springs to get a proper balance.

Actually, I have gotten into the habit of replacing governor springs as necessary maintenance since every Victor machine I've gotten in the last decade seemed to suffer from speed regulation issues, likely due to the fact that they are all a century or more old by now. Even minor variations are annoying. So, it's automatically new mainsprings, governor springs, and complete service on everything I buy before I even wind it up.

A thing that might help is rebuilding the old reproducer. It's not hard, and it will help the records last longer and give the phonograph its original voice back. If the mica diaphragm is still in good condition, that's great; reuse it. If not, then it is going to be good to swap it for a fresh one. It can be cleaned if it's just dirty but if it is delaminating it won't sound as nice.

Most people do this but there are some collectors who grind away on records with seized-up, worn-out sandboxes and say "oh well, it's over a hundred years old." All my phonographs get reproducer rebuilds before they get put on active service, except my Viva-Tonal machine which actually is still compliant and functional...but it's also 25 years newer than your ancient Victor E front-mount and was designed to run on ball bearings, not rubber rings that have gone bad.

All Victor Exhibitions could sound great but most have deteriorated into record-shredding disasters over the years. Rebuilding takes a half an hour at the most, usually 15 minutes, and it will go for at least another ten or twenty years before another quick tuneup. Try it--I promise you will love the sound, and how your records last longer!

Here's a couple of phots of a Victor M I purchased a week ago. When I received a photo from the seller I thought there was a fair change it would need refinishing. I would estimate it looks quite similar to your Victor E. I apologize for not taking before photos but I was so anxious to see what some GoJo followed by Howard's Wax would do. This represents about four hours of effort. I think it looks great and your Victor E could look very similar.

Jerry B.

Jerry B. wrote:Here's a couple of phots of a Victor M I purchased a week ago. When I received a photo from the seller I thought there was a fair change it would need refinishing. I would estimate it looks quite similar to your Victor E. I apologize for not taking before photos but I was so anxious to see what some GoJo followed by Howard's Wax would do. This represents about four hours of effort. I think it looks great and your Victor E could look very similar.

Jerry B.

Very nice! I was planning on using GoJo since I’ve heard so many people speak so highly of it. Another question I meant to ask was about the detailing on the support arm. I’m assuming that’s a decal you put on yours? Would the Victor E have had something similar? Did it ever have one of the nipper ones on the horn too?

My M is a very early rear mount machine. Rear mount meaning the horn is attached to a bracket at the back of the cabinet. It was a huge step forward in disc machine technology because the horn and tone arm are separate. Unlike a front mount machine a rear mount's horn can be redirected while the record is playing. Also, it was possible to use a larger horn without increasing the mass of the mechanism being moved by the record grove. The decal on my back bracket, although not all there, is original.

Jerry B.