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I just picked up a really nice Victrola 8-12 with two reproducers. My first Orthophonic! As you can see from the last picture, one of the reproducers has an obvious crack in the case. It appears that both reproducers are identical except that one has lost its gold plating??? Or did they ever come without plating. I would have assumed that the gold colored reproducer was brass while the other was pot metal but I am thinking that both are pot metal. I am clueless (and 300 miles from my phono library) about most Victrolas. Is it usually obvious if one is pot metal or brass?

Can the cracked reproducer be repaired or if not are there any parts that should be retained?

Thanks,
Scott

The both appear to be pot metal. The ones with brass cases have 7 of the tear drop shaped openings instead of 9. One of the many drawbacks of pot metal is that it does not hold plating very well.

Clay

Can you share the serial # of the machine ?

Generally speaking, Orthophonic Sound Box (OSB) finishes matched the finish on the tapering tone-arm and interior hardware.

Choices were: gold ( usually a bright satin / frosty gold, not a mirror-finish, mirror-nickel, or antique bronze

This one seems to have bright gold.


I have a two 8-12's ( both labelled VE 8-12 X ), one with bright-gold arm, the other with antique bronze arm (nearly black now) and a bright nickeL OSB. ( This second machine was bought new by my great-grandmother, and retains the OSB that came with it from the dealer.)

As for the cracking, the one with the split and travelling-crack around the rim, there's not much hope for that... if it still plays well, enjoy it as-is, but I would consider this a parts-donor if anyone ever tried to disassemble it...

As for what to keep: anything this is not cracked / broken beyond use. Things like: screws, bearing covers, needle-bar and thumb screw, back-plate and retaining ring, diaphragm, bearing balls...

The darker one, if the pot-metal parts are intact, would probably be the candidate for rebuild.

I don't think any OSBs left Victor as raw-pot-metal: they were either plated ( Nickel or Gold ), or painted ( portable Orthos such as the 2-55 ). The back-plate and retaining ring were painted black with some sort of "Japan" black. The all-brass OSBs had a chemically-darkened back.

I don't know that I would want to take a chance subjecting a 90 year-old OSB cover to the plating process... I think I would probably either leave it alone, or perhaps paint it to approximate the original painted finish.


If you are uncomfortable working on the OSB, Walt Sommers has replacement body parts, and a great track-record.


The 8-12 is a very nice machine, second only to the Credenza ( in my opinion ), and you should enjoy yours !

Good luck !

Both of these are potmetal. They may play well as they are and, if they do, just enjoy them. You might want to use gold paint on the one that has lost all of the plating. I have several of them with various amounts of plating loss, but they are not bad enough worry about. My main concern is that they sound as good as possible.
Most of those reproducers range from difficult to impossible to open up to install diaphragm gaskets, but if it is still airtight, that isn't too much of a problem. What can be done is to rebuild the "bottom end" - the needle bar pivots. This entails disassembly of the ball bearings in order to clean, lube and replace parts as necessary. There have been recent threads on this process, but if you don't feel confident about this, then send it out to Walt for repair. What this process will accomplish it to allow the bearing assemblies to move freely as they were designed to do. This will give you better quality sound and less record wear.
The 8-12 is a good looking machine and a great player, so enjoy.

Jim

If you want to replace the sound box with a brass one, the cheapest way to do that is to buy a VV 2-65 suitcase Victrola. Those came with gold plated hardware and brass orthophonic sound boxes. I suspect that most of the Credenzas with brass sound boxes originally had pot metal that was replaced by pirating from a suitcase.

bigshot wrote:If you want to replace the sound box with a brass one, the cheapest way to do that is to buy a VV 2-65 suitcase Victrola. Those came with gold plated hardware and brass orthophonic sound boxes. I suspect that most of the Credenzas with brass sound boxes originally had pot metal that was replaced by pirating from a suitcase.

Were they brass? Mine are both pot-metal, but a later, stable formula without any cracks or swelling. Both are marked RCA Victor, too .

bigshot wrote:If you want to replace the sound box with a brass one, the cheapest way to do that is to buy a VV 2-65 suitcase Victrola. Those came with gold plated hardware and brass orthophonic sound boxes. I suspect that most of the Credenzas with brass sound boxes originally had pot metal that was replaced by pirating from a suitcase.

1. NO the 2-65 never came with a brass soundbox. It came with a pot metal one, but they improved the formula & the cracking problem is gone.

2. NO portables were originally issued with brass soundboxes.

estott wrote:


1. NO the 2-65 never came with a brass soundbox. It came with a pot metal one, but they improved the formula & the cracking problem is gone.

2. NO portables were originally issued with brass soundboxes.

That's what I thought, thanks. The 2-65 boxes are very surely desirable, but not made of brass. Neither of mine has either a "spider" nor a "phasing plug", btw. I think the lack of both is advantageous. However, I've used both so much that the needle-chuck threads are shot. They need to be re-threaded for a larger screw, if that's possible.