The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I've read that the back brackets for the Victor III, M, MS and Victor IV are the same or at least the same size. What other models have back bracket, tone arms and elbows in common? I know there were even changes made using different tone arms and back brackets for some models depending on whether it is an early or late model machine. It would be helpful to know which ones are interchangeable when you need one.

The D, V, and VI share the same back bracket.

Jerry

Thanks Jerry. What about the others?

The humpback and plain case Vic II share the same back bracket. That's why there is a wooden hump in the back of the earlier style Vic II. A good rule of thumb is to check if the needle touches or comes very close the spindle with any disk machine. If the needle is not close, there is a problem with the tone arm or back bracket. With Victors it is common to find a machine with an incorrect bracket. This is most likely due to a collector that liked the condition of one bracket over another and didn't realize the difference. Back to your original question... I believe all small case Vic I's use the same bracket with a small tone arm and elbow. The later big case Vic I's used a bracket and tone arm that is larger. I don't know if it's the same size as the Vic II. I have seen Vic E's with the small back bracket and the larger Vic II size. I believe the small bracket is correct. Jerry

The Vic E and small case Vic 1s used the same back bracket and tone arm.

Thanks for all the information. I will keep a list for future reference. I figured a lot of these parts were interchangable and were originally used on different models.