The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

After patiently waiting for good weather, I was finally able to finish the cabinet of my Victor III. Tonight, after reassembly, tweaking and adjusting the motor and turntable brake, and calibrating the speed to a perfect 78 RPM, it came back to life. No longer a bunch of individual parts, but a working phono. This is the very first playing in at least 60 years. Its hard to describe the feeling I had when the sound of music emanated from the horn... Loud and clear.

Enjoy it with me - https://youtu.be/UJ-LiqI1zRM

Your post brought a smile to my face and I enjoyed the video as well.

Best wishes, Jerry Blais

Beautiful old machine--you really brought it back to life.
Congratulations!

Steven

Thanks for the comments!

I will be taking out my digital camera to post some close-ups to add to this thread. I'm very pleased with how it turned out. And again I have to thank Dave D for the help with motor overhaul and nickel plating of some of the exterior hardware. And he provided a lot of guidance, advice, and moral support throughout the process... I probably filled his hard disk with an overabundance of emails.

Jim

I finally finished polishing up the Nickel Horn today. Someone suggested trying Blue Magic on the Nickel and I must say that was a WINNING suggestion. First time I had ever used that product. I'm very pleased with how it turned out. But my arm is tired. Here are a few pics.

Jim

That looks stunning! I think I need to try that product. I'm amazed by the shine.

If you go up a few posts and view my video you can see the horn before I polished it. Its incredible how much oxidation and dirt came off the horn in the process. I probably have 4-5 hours invested since I did both the inside and outside. 9 panels.

What an amazing job! That horn is just stunning.

Sean

Very nice job. Nickel horns are my favorite and yours is extra nice.

Thank you for the nice comments. Now I'm working through a pile of records - all of which need to be cleaned and test-played to see if they are still playable. I plan to post some additional YouTube videos of the phono playing any interesting records that sound particularly good.