The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Hey all, I have an old black and white label Colombia Graphophone record that I picked up at the last Nauck auction. It's not in great condition (it was a Nauck's grade of V, but had a note that it "plays well"), and I picked it up for a song (pun intended). When I try to play it on my Victrola XVI it drags badly and wont play at the correct speed no matter what needle type I try. However, when I play it on my VV-VI it plays fine. The VI has brand new springs, whereas the XVI has the factory originals - I'm wondering if they maybe are a little weaker with age. This is the only record I have seen this issue with so I am not too worried, just wondering if I may be missing something (like dopn't play those records on your Victor machines) or if you agree with my hypothesis about the springs?

I suspect that the problem may be a combination of weaker springs (as you have suggested) and dirt on the record itself. I am not familiar with Victor models, which for obvious reasons are not well known in Britain, but I used to encounter similar difficulties when using a His Master's Voice portable to play records which were either very loud or very old. In every case, cleaning the record resulted in a perfect cure.

Cleaning methods have often been discussed here. For my part, I have been accustomed for more than thirty years to use cheap general-purpose spray polishes on shellac records of all periods from the 1890s to the 1950s without the least ill effect.

Oliver Mundy.