The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I've read differing opinions on whether the Z came standard with a long throat Concert or a long throat Exhibition. Does anyone know for sure what it would have come with? Was the Exhibition available as an upgrade at time of purchase? Serial is 54664 if that makes any difference. Thanks!

I've always thought the Z was very late for a front mount. It was a modified Victor 1 that was offered when the Victor R was discontinued. I would expect to see a long throat Exhibition on most machines. But Victor was not consistent. I've seen machine catalogs which said the Exhibition was standard equipment but the Concert was available on request and then slightly later catalogs that offered just the opposite. I'd appreciate other opinions.

Jerry Blais

For the record, this machine has an Exhibition on it currently, but I wasn't sure if it was correct or not. I'm a purist, what can I say? It would stand to reason that an Exhibition would have been standard by then, I know my R has one as well.

Brandon,

For what it's worth, my Z has a long throat Exhibition, but it also has some odd modifications to it, suggesting some revisions have been made, although apparently done very long ago, maybe even by the dealer.

For what it's worth, I have an early Victor Z S/N 26XX. It has both sets of holes for a Victor I and the Front mount Victor Z. To the best of my knowledge, the earliest Victor Z was made this way, in 1903. My machine has a long throat Exhibition reproducer. Also, there is a plate that covers the rear mount holes that says "Remove For Taper Arm". I hope this helps.
Harvey Kravitz

So far everyone who owns a Z has reported having an Exhibition, and I've yet to see or hear of a real life Z sporting a Concert. I suppose this indicates that it is probable that the Exhibition was indeed standard on this model. Thanks for the input everyone!

HisMastersVoice wrote:For the record, this machine has an Exhibition on it currently, but I wasn't sure if it was correct or not. I'm a purist, what can I say? It would stand to reason that an Exhibition would have been standard by then, I know my R has one as well.

My Vic R has an Exhibition Junior, slightly smaller than an Exhibition. I'm not sure what was standard.

For what it is worth, my Victor Z, I believe to be original, has an Exhibition junior.
Blain