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Here's a photo of the reproducer that came with my recently purchased Victor Junior. Stan S. purchased it from a non-collector in Vancouver, WA. Stan passed it on to me in the same condition as he found it. I am reasonably sure that this sound box has been with the Junior for a long time. I believe the adaptor is a Victor part that allows the Junior owner to use an Exhibition with his machine.

How does this affect the value of the machine? I've seen quite a number of Juniors and they've all had the special Junior sound box. Using an Exhibition on a Junior improved the sound quality. If I had the choice of two Juniors of equal condition, one with a factory Exhibition and the other with a Junior sound box, I'd take the one with the Junior reproducer. I'd be interested in other opinions.

Jerry Blais

More on this adapter, but not a discussion of value, can be found on this thread: http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewto ... =victor+jr

I agree. Exhibition soundboxes are found on a wide variety of machines. The Junior soundbox is special and makes the Junior machine special.

(Sometimes I hate this autocorrect.)

These adapters are as scarce as the Victor Jr. reproducers. It is a Victor product so I wouldn't have a problem with it on a Junior. I have one on mine. I would agree that having a choice, collectors would prefer the Junior reproducer.
Ken Brekke

Here is a link to another post on Victor Jr. reproducer variants.

http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewto ... reproducer

I think this is a legitimate upgrade. Like everyone else, I would prefer the Jr. reproducer. But if a Jr. comes my way with one of these adapters, I would still be interested in it.
Harvey Kravitz

This is my question... Why are so many Victor Juniors missing their original reproducers? I know of at least three people locally who are looking for original reproducers...

Jerry- two questions:

1. Does a 2/4 minute factory upgrade bother you on an Edison cylinder player?

2. If no, why would a Victor factory upgrade bother you on a Junior?

Just some perspective.

Agreed. I think an Exhibition sounds great on anything, and would rather take a Junior if it had the Exhibition. As far as the "primary appeal" of the Junior--a front-mount machine built into 1920? Come On--that's a phonographic Last of the Mohicans right there. Pretty cool!

Does a 2/4 minute factory upgrade bother you on an Edison cylinder player?

On most Edison machines I would prefer the 2&4 minute upgrade. But on very early machines, like a Spring Motor, I would prefer factory original.

If no, why would a Victor factory upgrade bother you on a Junior?

The factory upgrade doesn't bother me but I do prefer one with the Junior sound box. Maybe that's because any Junior I would own would be a machine to view and not really play regularly. The Junior that is the subject of this thread will be for sale. It will be a nice machine and one that I'm proud to sell. But I do expect to explain why it does not have the Junior reproducer to many potential buyers.

Jerry Blais

This is my question... Why are so many Victor Juniors missing their original reproducers? I know of at least three people locally who are looking for original reproducers...

Good question... Wish I had an answer. At Union many years ago (decades... George and I had hair) I remember a seller that was offering a Junior without a reproducer. In his display case was the Junior sound box with a huge price. I remember thinking it was a disservice to separate the reproducer from the machine for the almighty dollar.

I suspect many Juniors were purchased as a child's machine and received hard use. As a result perhaps the reproducers were separated from the rest of the machine.

Like the Concert sound box, the Junior would be difficult to service. I might have been easier to use a different reproducer rather than rebuilding the Junior reproducer. With that said, I have never seen a Junior offered with an odd ball replacement reproducer.

Jerry Blais