The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I recently purchased an extremely nice Victor V with the oak spearpoint horn. It was so nice and original that I couldn't pass on it. I've owned this Victor V since the mid seventies. DeeDee and I celebrated our 40th anniversary last August and this V was already mine. When it came to me it was missing the horn and elbow and was covered with gold paint and the paint job was horrible. It looked like someone had taken a quart of gold paint and a two inch brush and had five minutes to apply paint before the next episode of Downton Abbey started (or whatever we HAD to watch in 1974... was Dynasty showing then?) I always suspected the gold Victor was used as some sort of store display and was one of my very first restoration projects. I've owned nicer Victor Vs over the years but I've kept this one for sentimental reasons. My dilemma... I don't think two of any machine makes a collection more interesting. My solution... Rules are made to be bent just a little. I've had this minty #24 Flower horn on the stack of spare horns for some time. The perfect solution was to display it on my original Victor V. Problem solved! I didn't realize the immense size this machine with its standard equipment horn becomes. It seems much bigger than the same machine with the spearpoint horn. After admiring this outfit for a few minutes I realized we seldom see the big Victor V with the basic original equipment horn. In its own way, it is a very impressive machine.

Jerry Blais

I know the feeling Jerry. There's nothing wrong with having a ability to change up horns now and again. I put a near mint 24" on my Vic. V sometimes too. Actually, I found this horn in Oregon...loose with elbow. I use a 24b horn on my mahogany V.. .

Jerry, Your story about your first Vic 5 reminded me about the Vic 5 I got at an auction last year. The auction was a general merchandise auction with a wide variety of merchandise. The Vic 5 was sitting there next to a VV-XI and everyone seemed more interested in the XI. The Vic 5 was covered in layers of dirt and grime but everything looked original and intact and the 24 inch horn made it look very impressive, at least to me. When I got home with it, I thought I would try an old record on it just to see if it would play at all. I knew it needed cleaned and the reproducer needed rebuilt but just couldn't wait to play it. There was barely any sound at all when playing the record. I took everything apart to start cleaning it and found the entire tonearm was filled with mud dabber nests. I think this must have been sitting out in an old barn or shed for many years. It's amazing how well it cleaned up. I think the layer of dirt must have protected the finish. It's one of my favorite machines.