The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

On a recent phono trip we visited a collector that had a Victor D with a rigid arm assembly. I've never seen such a machine and would value other opinions. I checked and the needle drops at the spindle.

Jerry B.

Fascinating. I’ve never seen a rigid arm on a 12 inch turntable machine in Europe either.

According to the Victor Data Book, the Victor D (fancy case D that would quickly become the Victor V), was introduced September, 1903. The rigid arm was mostly phased out earlier in 1903 on other models.

By late 1903, the rigid arm would have been outdated technology. Even though its not been documented in any known catalog, it is not out of the realm of possibility that is was factory issued.

Accurate measurements and comparison with the MS and M rigid arm machines would be valuable additional data.

Shawn

Interesting. I have never heard of one. I would be interested in the length of the tone arm. The bracket looks like the one on an M. If the length of this one is longer than ones on an M or MS then maybe it is legit? The arms on my E and R rigid arm models are 9". The arms on my M and MS are 10". With a 12" turntable, I would assume that one for a D would be longer than 10".

Beautiful machine. I would expect to see a nickel plated back bracket as found on the MS but who knows. Is there a sticker on the bottom of the cabinet?
Joe

It would be interesting to know if the rigid arm is longer or the bracket is shorter to account for the larger base?

That is a nice machine with a huge horn - a lot of weight for that elbow to support...

WOW. Looks like another Rigid arm machine directly behind it.
Thanks for sharing

Blizz