The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Hello all,
Recently I discovered the Victor Concert reproducer “for taper arm”. I was aware of the long throat version for the rigid arm design but didn’t know about the tapered arm version.
Seeing a few for sale on an auction site and other sources of past auctions and sales I noticed some differences.
A few for sale were listed as “reproductions” and one listed as original and they all had the same serial number of “71886”. A couple of these repro examples seemed “off” especially with the stamped lettering.
Then of course there were a few with different serial numbers and they look original to my untrained eye…
Is there a huge number of reproductions of this type reproducer? Do they all have the same serial number? Was there a “daddy” reproducer all the repros were copied from…? How high do the serial numbers go..?
I know lots of questions here…
But I’m looking for information on this reproducer trying to figure out what’s repro or not.
Obviously there are duplicate reproductions out there and some people do not know they are reproductions or they do and selling them as original.
Any information, photos of examples (original or repro) would be helpful.
I have added several photos of this reproducer from just a quick google search.
I’m sure just from looking quickly you could see three different reproducers with the same serial number.
Thanks all for any answered questions!!!

The "For Taper Arm" reproducers and the "Rigid Arm" reproducers look the same, except the mounting holes on the back are spaced differently. The taper arm version will not fit on a rigid arm setup. The long throat version its not for the rigid arm machines, but rather for the earlier front mount machines.

Curt A wrote: Sun Jul 09, 2023 10:02 am The "For Taper Arm" reproducers and the "Rigid Arm" reproducers look the same, except the mounting holes on the back are spaced differently. The taper arm version will not fit on a rigid arm setup. The long throat version its not for the rigid arm machines, but rather for the earlier front mount machines.

Thank you for correcting me about the Rigid Arm/Front mount configuration.

Does the Rigid Arm reproducer state “For Rigid Arm” on the front like the taper arm version…?

No, it's blank except for the serial number. The Taper Arm marking was added when they changed over.

TinfoilPhono wrote: Sun Jul 09, 2023 1:54 pm No, it's blank except for the serial number. The Taper Arm marking was added when they changed over.

Thank you the information