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I have both a VTLA & an L Door VV-VXI. I have the Motorboard complete with Motor for the VV-XVI. It has to be an early Model as it has a Bullet Brake. When I put this Unit into the VV-XVI the Alignment for the Crank to connect with the Winding Shaft is correct. When I do the same thing into the VTLA the Alignment is not correct for the Winding Shaft to Crank hole.The wood Motorboard fits into the opening, but the woodscrew holes positions are different. The VTLA has 2 woodscrew holes. I am thinking that the early VTLA had a slightly different Motor & Motorboard. My VTLA has a 4 digit Ser. No.
Any info & photos will be helpful. [email protected]

Some cabinet and motor board photos would help. I have seen some VTLAs that have the same style motor as an early Victor VI. Is the VTLA a flat top? Also, the motor board on a VTLA sits on top of that area while a motor board of an "L" door sits flush. Could that be the issue?

Jerry B.

And there are also 3-4 different motor boards in those VTLA and L door Victrolas. Some of them set on top of the frame down in the cabinet and others sit down inside the opening. And there are a few other differences between machines as well, but I can't remember all of them. Pictures will help on that one of course.

Not sure this example is going to help you much (my machine is serial number 894) but it gives me a chance to ask other forum members if they were as much surprised as I was by how little attention Victor paid to the design of these early Victrolas. Except for the little metal angle pieces you see in the picture no real attempt was made to fit the motor board to the cabinet- it's literally just the top of an early Victor VI. The fancy molded edge on the board insures that it will never sit securely in the cabinet. The scruffy appearance of the cabinet interior opening is the result of the motor board's bouncing around as the springs are wound. Resourceful owners might have used some wood screws to hold the board but obviously no one did that with this machine. All this would be excusable in a prototype but to have done nothing about the problem after hundreds of VTLA's had been made seems odd to me.
-Dave

The motor board on my VTLA did have two screws added to secure it to the machine. My VTLA (#6420) and XVI B (#15998) both have the same motor board sitting on top of the cabinet, but another L-door XVI here has the later motor board fitting into the opening. The motor boards on the VTLA and B are interchangeable and the crank opening on both machines is in the same place.

Bill

Not sure this example is going to help you much (my machine is serial number 894) but it gives me a chance to ask other forum members if they were as much surprised as I was by how little attention Victor paid to the design of these early Victrolas. Except for the little metal angle pieces you see in the picture no real attempt was made to fit the motor board to the cabinet- it's literally just the top of an early Victor VI. The fancy molded edge on the board insures that it will never sit securely in the cabinet. The scruffy appearance of the cabinet interior opening is the result of the motor board's bouncing around as the springs are wound. Resourceful owners might have used some wood screws to hold the board but obviously no one did that with this machine. All this would be excusable in a prototype but to have done nothing about the problem after hundreds of VTLA's had been made seems odd to me.
-Dave

Dave, thanks for the thought provoking post. I think the flat top VTLA was put into production perhaps a little too quickly. It has several design flaws such as the multiple position lid support and the depth of the turntable for a smaller person to change records. Most were were corrected with the domed top VTLA. Most know that "VTLA" was an abbreviation for "Victrola." Even the Victrola XX was tagged as a VTLA. This would seem to indicate that Victor did not initially anticipate other models of internal horn machines. I would say that the first VTLAs were a bit of a gamble for Victor. But that gamble paid off and Victor went from a leader in the talking machine field to nearly a dominating force.

Jerry B.

Years ago Harold Braker wrote a document that may address some of your your questions concerning which Victor motor fits which Victor cabinet.

Members of the Antique Phonograph Society can access the full article at this link.

https://www.antiquephono.org/victorvict ... ld-braker/

Here is one of the pages.

Mark

MarkELynch wrote: Thu Apr 07, 2022 7:12 pm Years ago Harold Braker wrote a document that may address some of your your questions concerning which Victor motor fits which Victor cabinet.

Members of the Antique Phonograph Society can access the full article at this link.

https://www.antiquephono.org/victorvict ... ld-braker/

Here is one of the pages.

Mark

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Harold’s motor guide has been posted on this board for over ten years, just sayin’.

John,

If you knew about this helpful document why didn’t you alert the poster about its existence?
Your comment is unwarranted and causes me not to want to share future information with board members. I have an extensive phonograph backgrounded and many first-hand source materials that can help collectors. Opinions and conjecture are rampant on most of the message boards. I never post information that cannot be backed up by original source materials or actual experience. It is much easier to ignore this message board and not share information. Your comments offended me.

Maek

We’ll, you answered before I even read the post. Don’t know why you’re offended. I’m simply stating that Harold’s motor guide may also be found on this forum, and has been here for at least ten years. I put it there.