The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Folks,

Its time for another episode in the ever popular series, I Never Saw It In Real Life! Episode 6 features coin-operated mechanisms not yet seen in real life!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDezy7Cv7ak

Enjoy!

Shawn

As usual... very nice and interesting. Thanks a lot!!

Great video!!!
One Victor that I have never seen is the tapered arm Victor R. I have seen several pre-dog R models with the "Remove This Plate to Attach Tapered Arm" on them. And, ones with "Remove This Plate to Attach Rigid Arm" on them. I have never seen a tapered arm Victor R. The back bracket and tone arm from a Victor I or E doesn't fit properly. The tone arm is too long and the needle bar reaches past the center spindle.

Nice video! Buster Keaton's clip is a great add-on!

Thanks all for your kind comments.

Ken, I too have never seen a taper arm version of a Victor R in real life. However, I've never seen one in a catalog either. The general consensus seems to be that the Victor R was only produced as a front mount or for a very short time, Rigid Tone Arm rear mount. The existence of Victor R's with a "remove this plate to attach taper arm" (instead of rigid arm) probably speaks more to Victor using up existing cabinets and tags, rather than an indication they actually produced a taper arm version. The Victor R was available as a front mount until 1904, according to "Look for the Dog", long after the Rigid Tone Arm was abandoned in favor of the taper tone arm.

That being said, you never know. If you find one, I'll start a new series "I Only Saw it in Real Life"!!

Shawn

Phono-Phan wrote: Fri Sep 20, 2024 9:28 pm Great video!!!
One Victor that I have never seen is the tapered arm Victor R. I have seen several pre-dog R models with the "Remove This Plate to Attach Tapered Arm" on them. And, ones with "Remove This Plate to Attach Rigid Arm" on them. I have never seen a tapered arm Victor R. The back bracket and tone arm from a Victor I or E doesn't fit properly. The tone arm is too long and the needle bar reaches past the center spindle.

I must admit, I thought you may have been mistaken in seeing a "taper arm" label on an R. Then I found this photo. Notice the late ID tag as well. An ID tag from the post-dog era, and well into the taper arm era. My guess would be that this "taper arm" tag that was chiefly for an "M", but used for the "R" as well, even though a taper arm option may have never available.

(How about those awesome horn stripes!)

JerryVan wrote: Mon Sep 23, 2024 9:01 am

Phono-Phan wrote: Fri Sep 20, 2024 9:28 pm Great video!!!
One Victor that I have never seen is the tapered arm Victor R. I have seen several pre-dog R models with the "Remove This Plate to Attach Tapered Arm" on them. And, ones with "Remove This Plate to Attach Rigid Arm" on them. I have never seen a tapered arm Victor R. The back bracket and tone arm from a Victor I or E doesn't fit properly. The tone arm is too long and the needle bar reaches past the center spindle.

I must admit, I thought you may have been mistaken in seeing a "taper arm" label on an R. Then I found this photo. Notice the late ID tag as well. An ID tag from the post-dog era, and well into the taper arm era. My guess would be that this "taper arm" tag that was chiefly for an "M", but used for the "R" as well, even though a taper arm option may have never available.

(How about those awesome horn stripes!)

1.png

I used to own an R with the "Taper Arm" plate. It was a late production machine, with a 39k serial number. It didn't have that fancy horn though. I like that.

Steve

The metal plate for the R has the lower left hand corner notched out for the support bracket. The plates for the M are not.

Phono-Phan wrote: Mon Sep 23, 2024 1:38 pm The metal plate for the R has the lower left hand corner notched out for the support bracket. The plates for the M are not.

Correct. But an M type plate could have been easily notched for use on an R. Just speculation of course.