My First Talking Machine - VV4-3

[Paul Cappelloni]

This is my first talking machine restoration project. The Victor VV4-3, S/N 120848, was my grandfathers and has been sitting up in the attic of his house since the 1950s or 1960s. What follows are photographs of the machine before any cleaning has been done on it. The motor does run and is quite (no thuds, thumps, or machine guns). What is the general consensus on motor cleaning and repacking?

vv4-3_front.jpg (63.01 KiB) Viewed 1717 times

There are some surface scratches that I hope will mostly blend in or not be so prominent after I clean the cabinet with Kotten Klenser. There is a little veneer damage in the lower left corner of the left door. I hope I can repair this plus the lifting edges of the maple trim veneer an the center edge of the doors.

vv4-3_l_door_damage.jpg (86.55 KiB) Viewed 1717 times

You'll notice that the lid is missing but the spring supports are all hear. I am working with Great Lakes Antique Phonograph on getting a replacement lid for this 4-3. Here are couple of other photos of the front with the doors open and with the grill removed. I can see why the 4-3 has a good sound. Almost the whole cabinet is horn.

vv4-3_front3.jpg (59.25 KiB) Viewed 1717 times

vv4-3_horn2.jpg (66.06 KiB) Viewed 1717 times

Here is a shot of the crank side. You can see that the crank scutcheon is missing a screw. Does one simply go the hardware store and pickup brass screws or are their sources of NOS screws?

vv4-3_crank1.jpg (62.65 KiB) Viewed 1717 times

This next photograph shows the broken tone arm support. The casting is broken at the top pivot and needs to be replaced before any records can be played. Once I have a new casting I'll reseal the tone arm connections to the horn and reproducer.

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vv4-3_tarm_sup2.jpg (74.8 KiB) Viewed 1717 times

Based on what I have read so far I believe that this 4-3 has a pot metal orthophonic reproducer. It has nine tear drop holes and the casting has several cracks. Is it best to leave a reproducer in this condition allow or have it rebuilt with now gasket material?

vv4-3_orth-repro1.jpg (69.57 KiB) Viewed 1717 times

vv4-3_orth-repro2.jpg (87.04 KiB) Viewed 1717 times

Lastly here is view of the plater. The felt doesn't look to be in too bad a shape. Is it best to replace the felt when doing a restoration and leave it be?

vv4-3_top.jpg (69.16 KiB) Viewed 1717 times

Thank you,

[Shane]

This machine is a project, though it is neat to restore something that has been in the family for generations! A normal phillips screw will work in the escutcheon for now. It may be hard to find a round head slotted screw, as many hardware stores have phased them out. Keep an eye out at estate and garage sales... I was fortunate enough to find thousands of old slot head screws for a song and a dance, and I use them often on phonographs.

If the motor doesn't thud, you may be able to get away with (for now) not repacking the springs. However, you'll definitely want to at least hose the outside of the motor down with some sort of solvent (paint thinner works well) to clean the various gears. Old dirt roaming around amongst the gears is not good for them. Afterward, a lubrication with a light oil is necessary on the gears. Also make sure you get a couple drops of oil on the leather pad that rubs up against the governor plate.

While you're ordering a new lid, you can also get a new tonearm support... this is quite necessary for obvious reasons. As for the reproducer, if it works well enough, you might want to leave it, as this thing may very well crumble if you try to work on it.

[FloridaClay]

Victrola Repair Service in Vermont has some quite nice steel replacements for the potmetal tone arm supports. I just got one for my VV 9-15 and am pleased with it. Indistinguishable from the original and will last.

http://www.victrolarepairservice.com/

Clay

[estott]

I've found that brushing the turntable with a wire brush (a pet hair slicker works well) will improve the looks of the felt. You can replace the felt but if it doesn't bother you leave it as is.

[Paul Cappelloni]

Thanks for the advise. I'm working on getting the lid and tonearm support now. I'll post some work in progress photos and of the finished machine.

[alang]

This machine is a project, though it is neat to restore something that has been in the family for generations! A normal phillips screw will work in the escutcheon for now. It may be hard to find a round head slotted screw, as many hardware stores have phased them out. Keep an eye out at estate and garage sales... I was fortunate enough to find thousands of old slot head screws for a song and a dance, and I use them often on phonographs.

I love the VV4-3 because of the small size, I hope I can find one at some point.
I would not use any phillips head screw on an old phonograph, especially not where it is visible. It looks so obviously incorrect for the period. Both Home Depot and Lowes still carry round head slotted screws, but sometimes not the smaller sizes. Fastenal is also a great source that can order most screws and sizes within a few days. Besides that you can find many sources on the Internet that can sell you any kind of screw. Of course most new screws will be either zinc plated or brass, no nickel plated or bronze finish except for exorbitant prices.

Good Luck
Andreas

[EdiBrunsVic]

I also have a VV 4-3. It was not working when I bought it, but I used a few parts from another incomplete Orthophonic Victrola to return it to operating condition. These Victrolas are among my favorites.

You will definitely have a treasure when you get it restored!

[Paul Cappelloni]

I have since completed the basic restoration of the cabinet and tonearm this past week. The results have been posted here:

http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewto ... 632#p36632

There are couple of videos, one with the speed incorrectly set and the other one much closer to 78 rpms). I have some after pictures here as well.

Thank you,