The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Hi everyone. I ran my Victor JR last night. After cranking it fully and playing a 10" Victor single-sided record, there were portions where the machine sped up and slowed down, evident by the vocals going all over the place in range. I tried a 7" Victor single-sided record, but I had the same problem again.

Also, the sound coming from the reproducer is very, very harsh. I'm embarrassed to say that I know little to nothing about reproducers, so I'm unsure what's causing this.

paradroid1793 wrote: Fri Dec 05, 2025 8:26 am Hi everyone. I ran my Victor JR last night. After cranking it fully and playing a 10" Victor single-sided record, there were portions where the machine sped up and slowed down, evident by the vocals going all over the place in range. I tried a 7" Victor single-sided record, but I had the same problem again.

Also, the sound coming from the reproducer is very, very harsh. I'm embarrassed to say that I know little to nothing about reproducers, so I'm unsure what's causing this.

Sometimes, cranking fully can cause the tightly wound spring coils to stick to each other, especially if the spring has not been cleaned & re-lubed, making the spring output erratic as it sticks & releases intermittantly. I never wind a 120 year-old spring fully, whether it's been cleaned & lubed, or not.

A couple of things to consider…

As regards the harsh sound, please check to so if the Micah diaphragm in the reproducer is cracked or loose. Also, has the gasket under the micah been replaced, or is it original and hardened.

As regards the variable speed of the record, it sounds like a governor issue. It could be that the governor end bearings are shot. You can certainly get new bearings of the same size. Also, are the governor springs tight with no loose weights? Also, are the leather pants on the governor in good shape?

Just some things to consider.

John

Speed variation in many spring motor phonographs is frequently a governor issue. If the governor shaft is sticky even a tiny bit the friction disc will vary its position on the shaft and the result will be transferred to the turntable. Check the governor weights, springs and lateral movement of the governor assembly on its shaft.
A video might help. Good luck.

Thanks for the help. I recall now that one of the governors is missing and that's probably causing the erratic running.

The reproducer is an exhibition on an adapter, not the original that shipped with the JR.