The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I used to have all the catalogs for Columbia and Victor up to the 60s' but a while back sold them off. Now of course I find my self once again buying album of mostly classical things. But I am not doing a very good job at remembering what the serial numbers designating manual and drop sequence are. It seems that maybe some early things that have an "M" actually are drop sequence. Maybe there is a difference in the number system as well at the point they changed. Columbia's appear to M for manual and MM for drop, is that right? Victor I know uses DM for drop mechanism but I have some earlier victors that m with a drop sequence? If someone has a list of these for those two companies will you please post them. I know there is also a third for things like the Capehart because I have some that don't follow either of the first two patterns.

Oh an one more thing. How do you know when the album has lead in grooves.. Some I have won't work on a changer because they have to lead in. Is there a number to watch for for that as well?

thanks

Larry

On Victor, numbered album sets began with M-1 in 1927. Previous sets were unnumbered. M=manual [½, ¾, etc.] AM was for the early Victor changers [⅕, 2/6, 3/7, 4/8]. DM was the common drop sequence [⅛, 2/7, 3/6, ⅘]. I'm not sure when Columbia began their M - MM system, but it was in place in the early 30s. M=manual, MM=Victor's DM. Two-record sets wered unnumbered in Victor's catalogue, and just bore the record numbers. Columbia called these, X=manual, MX=Victor's DM sequence. On other labels, I don't know the system. As time went on, it became cumbersome, pressing every album three ways, so Victor dropped the AM series by the start of WW II. As late as 1938, AM sets were still in their catalogue. Bob Ault