The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

If you were buying a Victor rear mount machine and given the choice between a nice original Victor metal horn (either black & brass or black flowered) and an equally nice after market metal horn, which would you prefer? Why? Remember, there are no wrong answers to an opinion question!

Jerry,

That's an easy one for me: the aftermarket horn. Much rarer, and more interesting than the stock Victor horns that exist by the thousand.

One exception for me would be the Victor 24B (brass flower horn). That's a great-looking horn and rare as well. On a Victor VI, the 24B would be my first choice, followed by the black flower horn that temporarily replaced the fiber horn (on an early 6 of course); then the fiber horn (again, on an early example); then an aftermarket horn in wood or metal; and finally the typical Victor No.31 mahogany horn. Outside the interesting horn possibilities, Victor sixes don't interest me much.

Back to the aftermarket horns; I do have a red Searchlight Company horn that appeared in Antique Phonograph Gadgets, Gizmos, and Gimmicks. I don't have it mounted on a Victor because it's just too ugly, so some exceptions exist to my general opinion above...

George P.

Yeah, I'd go the aftermarket too. Victor/HMV morning glorys are boring, & I'll save the witches hat horn for a front mount machine.

I like my after market horn on my III which is obviously a Zonophone horn. It's huge, and the sound this beastie provides has always pleased me. You guys have seen this pic before but I'll slap it up again. The horn equipment one sees on Victors up here is often quite interesting. On their own line the Berliner Gram-O-Phone gang in Montreal used horns that were quite different than the Victor ones . The thing is towards 1906 or so you could buy a Victor as well as the Berliner machines and it's my contention that sometimes you got a Victor horn and sometimes you didn't depending on what you asked for. The horn on this machine has been it on it I suspect from it's earliest days.

Jim

George, you're killing me... one of the things that I'm taking to CAPS is a loose Searchlight horn for Victor. Maybe someone out there likes them. I hope so! Jerry

Jerry B. wrote:George, you're killing me... one of the things that I'm taking to CAPS is a loose Searchlight horn for Victor. Maybe someone out there likes them. I hope so! Jerry

My answer was going to be aftermarket, if it's a nice Searchlight horn. Too bad I won't be at the CAPS show. Searchlight horns for Victors aren't as common as the ones for cylinder machines. Depending on condition, I might have been interested. I have a very rusty one awaiting restoration, but it will take a lot of work.

I only have a few outside horn machines, bur for me, I prefer the look of the original Victor horns on victors, and aftermarket horns on Edisons. Call me strange????

Since George mentioned the Victor VI fiber horn, I have a ques concerning one (I think) I picked up cheap at an auction yesterday. I have not even wiped the dust off yet..It is rough around the bell and I wondered if anyone fixes those horns. I didn't think Don G. did anything but wood so thought I'd seek help here prior to sending out any emails. Thanks for any recommendations you can make! Steve

AZ* wrote:

Jerry B. wrote:George, you're killing me... one of the things that I'm taking to CAPS is a loose Searchlight horn for Victor. Maybe someone out there likes them. I hope so! Jerry

My answer was going to be aftermarket, if it's a nice Searchlight horn. Too bad I won't be at the CAPS show. Searchlight horns for Victors aren't as common as the ones for cylinder machines. Depending on condition, I might have been interested. I have a very rusty one awaiting restoration, but it will take a lot of work.

See? It just goes to show that beauty (or coolness...whatever...) is in the eye of the collector! It's not that I don't like them - I bought this one loose - but I just don't want to look at it! Seriously, if I had a bunch of rear-mount Victors, I'd put the Searchlight on one of them.

George P.

Schweg, You might have found something really cool. Any sign of a Victor decal? I have one with a Victor decal and it's 23.5" long with an 18.5" bell. I think so much of it that it will probably go on my Victor Auxetophone when some repair work is done on the bell. What size is yours? Jerry