The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I just picked up a better than average 1-90 with an original Orthophonic reproducer than needs rebuilding. I put a rebuilt reproducer on the machine and it sounds fine, but the needle is almost straight up and down (70-80 degrees) instead of being at the usual 60-ish degree angle.

It turns out that the pin in the flange on the 1-90 reproducer is at about 2 o'clock, instead of the usual 1 o'clock I have found on other reproducers. The back of the 1-90 reproducer (the part stamped with "Victor Orthophonic") is also rotated a bit more than usual. However, this puts the old reproducer at the correct angle on the 1-90.

Does anyone know if this is a quirk of this machine? The 1-90 reproducer is not great and I'd like to be able to use other reproducers without killing my records.

Thanks!
Kevin

As far as I know all should be at the same angle. Sounds like it got assembled incorrectly.

Orthophonic reproducers sit at a steeper angle than others.

You may need a new flange insert for that reproducer. Would be nice to see some pics of your VV 1-90. I wish I had one, all I have is a similar Japanese Victor VV J 1-80. I would love to find a VV 1-90.

You can change the position of the rubber flange insert to correct the needle angle. If the rubber is hard it should be changed anyhow.

I'll put pics of the 1-90 in a separate thread. Here are pics of the angle of attack of the original 1-90 reproducer (darker color) and a Peter Wall rebuilt one (lighter color). Comments welcome.

I did notice that the darker reproducer is cracking, so it's possible that the outer case has swollen and the back piece turned as a result...

The second photo, lighter color, is correct.

Thanks for the feedback, everyone. I may be able to rotate the flange on this to set it correctly until I get it rebuilt.