The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

The other day I bought an oak Victrola XI from 1916.I saw a date of August 1,1916 on the paper on the back.What I found unusual about my XI is that there's no semi automatic brake on it.I thought that by then it was standard on the floor model Victrolas.edisonplayer

According to Baumbach's VDB, the semi-auto brake was introduced a few years earlier than 1916, so your machine "should" be so equipped. Of course, some of the parts on your machine could have been switched at some point during the past 105 years. Does the tonearm have the trip post on it? Are there any screw holes in the motor board where the semi auto brake was mounted? If both questions are no, someone went to the trouble of swapping out both the tonearm and motor board. Are there any clues from the data plate such as model letter and/or serial number?

Yes,I did see the upper half of the trip post on the tonearm. I'll have to take a good look to see if there was a semi automatic brake at one time. edisonplayer.

I looked under the turntable and I didn't see any screwholes for the semi automatic brake. Odd! edisonplayer.

The serial number is 325967G and the paper on the back has a date of August 1,1916.edisonplayer

Have you reviewed the information about the XI available at Paul Edie's website?

http://www.victor-victrola.com/

My guess is that perhaps the motor board on your machine was swapped with one from an earlier machine which might explain the absence of brake mounting holes.