Victor Victrola the 9th VV-IX 72576-C 1913, Playing
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- čas přidán 4. 01. 2020
- The cabinet has been cleaned, original patina retained, motor cleaned. I replaced the govenor springs, the mainsprings are a replacement set from 70+ years ago in excellent condition. Exhibition reproducer has been rebuilt, and 30+ records played. Another Victor phonograph returned from the scrap heap. I mentioned the turntable felt twice, forgot, just ignore it the second time.
Looks and sounds great. Thanks for demonstrating the auto break. I have not gotten mine to work on my Sonora here in Gettysburg but will make another attempt. Will contact you mid week when back in NY.
Good job, sir, as usual!
Love the song on side B! Pick up your sins?? You did a beautiful job on this cabinet.
Hours of work with Kotton Klenser products, toothbrushes and soft rags. This one is with a collector down south who plays it frequently.
I have one that looks like this one but stamp says Academy. What can you tell me about it.
If there's not a "Victrola" decal, or a "Victor" ID plate, it's likely you have a "third party" machine; one of many that were produced after the Victor/Columbia patents ran out.
In the late 'teens and early twenties, hundreds of companies went into the phonograph business, often using generic parts. It is still a great puzzle trying to sort them out: the Antique Phonograph Society has a partial list of the manufacturers of this era; but there is not much detailed information on many of them.
Great video, easy to understand. I just purchased my VV-IX with a rebuilt Exhibition. I was unaware of the auto brake. :-)
I hope the motor was serviced along with the reproducer. If it's thumping, bumping, and not keeping consistent speed then it wasn't serviced. The IX was in Victors top three for best selling machines during it' time. Very good all around machines for playing records.
@@Rockisland1903 You mentioned a 4B reproducer. Are they rare?
If I said 4b in this video I probably meant 4A, or plain 4 . The No4 is rare if it's made by Victrola as these are all brass body, and made just for a couple of months. The 4A used potmetal for the reproducer body, they are only uncommon if found in any shape to be used, pretty much never. HMV in the UK, and Electrola in Germany made brass body No4's also, HMV for several years, Electrola I am not sure, but not long. These No4's will fit any Victrola tonearm that will take the No2, like the IX. Victrola No4's are very expensive due to the difficulty finding one. UK eBay will usually have a brass No4 for around a hundred bucks as is plus shipping. It is possible to use a No4 on Victrola Orthophonics or the HMV 102 by changing out the rear isolator gasket for the smaller one used on the No2 reproducer. I have done this when the HMV 5a, or 5b reproducer was bad and I didn't have a replacement. Bad as in potmetal crumbling issues. Victrola Orthophonic reproducers also fit the 102 directly, and play just as well as any HMV reproducer if they have been rebuilt. There are still arguments saying this one is better than that one, in truth few of us have the trained ears to tell one way or another. Thinking of upgrading that IX to the No4? A Victrola one will run around $375 if you can find one for sale, then you still have to rebuild it. The No2, or the Exhibition both provide excellent sound reproduction when playing IX era acoustic recordings, and don't do badly with the electric ones either.
@@Rockisland1903 Thank you. Great information based on experience. I sing barbershop so am attuned to subtle pitch changes. It would be nice to hear a sample side by side.
For side by side you will need two IX's and two identical records with similar wear. I can provide the extra IX, I always have five or six on hand. Not so many No4's.
While rare, people find phonograph (electric horseshoe) needles from the late 20s and very early 30s with good rubber, like it was made yesterday. Most are crumbling or very stiff, but some have aged very gracefully.
I have seen this with some of the HMV reproducers. It's also possible that the gaskets were replaced at a later time. HMV remained in business making gramophones until 1958, it's likely you could still order gaskets, or obtain repairs from them at that time.
Curious: my 1916 VV-IX does not have an auto-brake. I have a 1912 VV-XVI which has an auto-brake (with the same attachment strap found here): could it be that these were dealer upgrades?
These were available as upgrades on all the larger Victrolas. I find them on older VV-IX's a lot, one turned up on the 1913 VV-XVI I have been playing with.
Thank you for talking about the record cleanliness!!! Can you do a video on how you recommend cleaning the 78 shellac records? My parts for my VV-IX are going to be delivered today! Hopefully I can rebuild the reproducer and get it running by the end of tonight!
Take your time, remember that the needle bar must be such that the "foot" just touches the diaphragm while at the same time the needle is aligned 90 degrees with the reproducer body. Just about every bar is bent, and it can take hours of careful tweaking to get it just right. With the exhibition be sure the mica isn't touching the reproducer body, this is a tight fit. Use clear nail polish , just a dab, to seal the ends of the tube gasket, and a few dabs to hold the diaphragm in place. I cut small strips off a common business card and stick them between the reproducer body and the diaphragm while it sits on the first gasket until the polish dry's enough to hold it. This is to ensure it is not touching the body, if it touches you can expect sound issues. Once dry then I install the second gasket, and clamp the two halves of the body together. I just sold the 1913 IX, and now have a 1916 IX on my bench. I just cleaned and reinstalled the springs moments ago. The important thing about reproducer rebuilding is to take your time, take all day, all week, nobody is clocking you. If the reproducer isn't right then nothing else you did to the rest of the machine matters. I hope you bought the rebuild kit from Walt Sommers at Gettysburg antique phonograph. If so then he would have sent you a paper with it that is a repair guide. He doesn't go into needlebar repair in the guide, that is something you just have to learn yourself using his guide for the basic steps. Good luck with the rebuild.Cleaning? Dawn dish soap, a soft toothbrush to get into the grooves, warm, never hot water, avoid the label, avoid anything but batwing label, and VE Victor records as they are solid construction. Many other labels are a shellac sandwich with something in the middle that can swell if it gets wet instantly ruining the record. You will not see the tiny crack that kills it, for these just wipe with a soft cloth and if possible play with a fiber needle as they can really pull the dirt from the groove. You can also experiment with white glue, there is a video online someplace, but I have never gone that far. Let the record dry before playing it, this can take hours or days depending n the humidity at the time. I don't like cleaning records, too risky, I only do it if there is such a mess of filth and mold that I can write my name in it.
I had one very similar but mine didn't sound as good.
Did you rebuild, or have rebuilt the reproducer? Motors can sometimes be a bit noisy, but how well the record sounds is all up to the reproducer so long as the turntable spins at 78, or 80-depending on the record required speed. If it has a rebuilt reproducer and it still doesn't sound the same as mine then it could be a worn record, or improperly rebuilt reproducer.
How do I find someone who can work on my V it's on my VV4 - 4 it's a 1926 I think and clean it and make it work properly it works but not very good
That's the Granada, one of Victors mid 20's premium Orthophonic machines. Nobody I know of does house calls to fix these, and it's a bit large to ship. You will have to learn how to remove the motor so it can be shipped out for service. George Vollema at Great Lakes Antique Phonograph can handle that as well as a reproducer rebuild. Walt Sommers can do it also at Gettysburg Antique Phonograph. Be careful with the tonearm, these use potmetal parts i the mount, they can be weak with age and snap.
Nice machine would lile to have one
I just received two more IX's, and had several in stock already so I can make that happen. Right now it would only require cash and a road trip to New York state to make you the owner of an IX. Not the one in the video as that one already went to a new home.
Thanks for the video. I need a help from you. I have similar Victrola VV-IX model. It is working fine. I like to lubricate its spring motor mechanism without disassembling the motor. What I planned, I will spray WD-40 thoroughly to make the old grease and gunk soften. Then blow compressed air to remove old grease . Then , I will put new grease. How about the idea? what type of grease I should use? regular grease or lithium or white grease? or any liquid silicone lube? Your advise will be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
I don't know how dirty your motor is, however WD-40 is unlikely to do more than wash off dust. The deep seated dried on black graphite mess will unlikely even notice the WD. This will also do nothing for the mainsprings were cleaning and new lubrication will make the greatest difference in your motors performance. A good cleaning for a Victrola motor is disassembly and individual cleaning of each part with brushes, I use copper brushes, and a strong solvent. There are videos on youtube that can walk you through this process . If you have the earlier IX like this 1913 then it has two individual spring barrels, these are easier for a first timer to deal with than the one piece barrel with both springs inside. There are also places you could send your motor for a full service. Watch using compressed air around the governor and friction leather. I use light grease, white grease works.
@@Rockisland1903 Thanks for your advise. I will follow that. Appreciate your helping attitude.
It's surprising to hear that people played these a lot. The records were expensive and only had up to 2 songs on them. How many times can you listen to the same few records over and over? Plus they need attention every 3 or 4 minutes.
This was an era with no radio, no TV, No internet. For entertainment you could read a book, go to a silent movie, or play the Victrola. If you wanted to hear music you formed a band yourself, bought a ticket to a concert if you lived in a city, or played a record. These machines were very expensive, the IX easily went around $2000 USD in todays money, the records were five or six dollars in todays money, sometimes cheaper depending on the company making them. Victor records were expensive because they were the industry leader, and had signed the top performers of the day. You could get lesser known bands on dime store records if you wanted.
People of that time were used to working for anything they needed. They worked a crank to use a telephone, they worked a crank to start the car, Watches and clocks required winding daily or weekly, many ordinary household items from coffee grinders to sewing machines were activated by hand, or foot. Winding up a Victrola would have been nothing for them. To have a machine that could reproduce sound from a disc of shellac with grooves in it was astounding. The 1913 IX would play between five to six sides of a record with new springs. The larger four spring models would go twice that.
@@Rockisland1903 What I meant when I said it required attention every 3 minutes was that it would be difficult to get anything done while playing records because they don't play for very long. So if you're cleaning the house, the records are so short that you have to flip them so frequently. I do think people were stronger and less averse to using muscle power than we are.
I don't think inflation calculators are particularly useful over such a long period of time. People had much less disposable income as a percentage of their wages. This record player was $50 at a time when a laborer might make $.15/hr and an accountant might make $1/hr or $2k a year. This unit was more or less completely out of reach for the laborer. There's a youtuber named Norman field who tells the story of his grandfather getting together with friends to all chip in a buy a bunch of cylinders in a package deal where a free player is thrown in where the men take turns taking the player and cylinders home to play, though IIRC, it was a bit later. (though from what I know, wages were much better in America than in England where Norman is from). From what I know, the records were fairly expensive too. I read they went for about a dollar.
Do you sell these?
Some I sell, others I keep, mostly I accumulate machines until I run out of room, and then have to thin them out a bit. I have a lot of machines, both playing, and some waiting for repair, or service. I am close to finishing another VV-35 portable, and I have a stack of VV-50's yet to do, and VV-IX's, VV-VI's ( not the one I am currently working on, that's not mine) VV-IV's, and others.
@@Rockisland1903 - Nice, thanks for your reply and educational vids. I am kind of looking for a VV - IX in decent condition to buy. Let me know if you have need of making some room :)
Thanks Kevin
How many do you want? What condition? Fully serviced or in need of cleaning and service? Needing full restoration due to someone slapping poly all over it? I even have one coming in with one of the slide in custom floor cabinets. Flat bottom early models or later ones with " feet" and fat tone arms? Parts of all sorts available, I have been tinkering with IX's for 30 years, and acquired many of them.
rockisland1903victrola@gmail.com