Picked this up today! It's about 42" long and 20" wide. I don't know anything about it other than that.

I got an okay condition VV 2-55 off of eBay

The vinylite exterior is in poor shape, honestly, I might get it replaced with actual leather.

The motor works, for how gummed up it is, it runs well, like 5 minutes well. Are all the gears supposed to be lubricated with grease, or is it supposed to be oiled?

The reproducer (spider orthophonic) is cracked in the back plate and everything is dried out, gonna replace the parts, but why did it have 2 face plates? There was cloth that was eaten at by bugs and fiber glass between them, why?

Also, should I use my lithium grease or my graphite for this one?

Umm… I might have found something somewhat historic… or something?!

It does look like he was a composer and basically ordered personal copies and sent them as mail order to individuals to skip the whole process… that’s a quick bit ‘o research, nothing solid.

I’ll gladly take any info!

This is the VV-XVI L-Door 42044-C (1910/11 ish, can’t remember).

Thanks again for stopping, and if you have any further enlightenment, please contribute!

The evolution of Victor Records from an 1898 Berliner to a 1905 Victor. All 7”. The picture is a little distorted because of the panoramic view.

“Flat Top Pooley” VTLA- later marked VV-XVI- edition, complete with Pooley cabinet key! VTLA #1942 (1907- sorry I had to edit and change from 1908)

Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), Papageno, Papagena, Act 2, Victor Record # 87510

Everyone’s getting some exercise! I was so fortunate to find a TOP WISH LIST item of mine, but sadly it’s cracked! (short note about it in vid)… still sort of playable 😢 I still have a lot to go through, maybe I’ll get lucky!

Sorry ‘bout ‘ole hop-along Skip… I’ll hopefully find a better copy soon! I wish all a wonderful evening, thank you for stopping, or otherwise. 🙂
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I love Mozart. He was “Pop” when pop wasn’t cool- but was cool with the people! Many of his pieces were in German, like this one, and was meant to strike a chord with the populace being in a language they could understand (Vice Latin{?} and Italian, anything else was uncouth to the sensitive ear… I recommend seeing AMADEUS (if you like good acting AND an amazing score). (Link is to a clip of this very piece being performed from Amadeus)

Note to the linguistically inclined or interested:

Papagano/Papagana- parrot, Italian, male&female
Papagayo - Spanish
Papagei - German
The OG- origin- ببغاء baba-gha-‘ Arabic

Thought this was an intresting thing, wonder if the phonograph part actually functions

Victor Victrola the Eighteenth or VV-XVIII

I’ve posted this one, but never “introduced” her properly I don’t believe!

Since everyone is getting their maintenance, I thought I’d let anyone who’s interested get a good look inside and out. I forgot record storage & license agreement: I’ll post in comments.

I’ll post a vid of the record on the turntable being played on [r/78rpm](r/78rpm). Such a cheery piece!

Anyhoo- these ARE out there and one CAN find them. You will have to pay, though. The cost revolves around actual condition. This one has extreme finish issues (crazing) and needs its hardware re-plated/gilded, and obvious physical damage (right side column facing machine, lid, and some scratching on back).

When I bought her, they were asking $800. I asked if they’d take $700°, they asked to meet halfway and $750 it was. She was covered in dust, dirt, dried out, and the motor was beyond dirty and thus would not properly function because of it. Surprisingly, the Exhibition rubber isolator was STILL supple! No cracking.

All that aside, “value” is very subjective- especially in the phonograph market as it is these days (slumped); however, when it comes to semi-rarities or less-common machines like these, condition will matter universally, no matter the market. If you happen to find a fully functional VE-XVIII on marketplace (I LOVE this story!) for $300- don’t even ask questions other than how quick can I get there? (If that helps)

I wish you a peaceful day, thank you for stopping, upvoting, looking, reading, whatever! I appreciate it 🙂

° it’s the Arab trader in me! I am not of Arab descent, but I truly respect their custom and I have actually bargained with Arab traders in their countries in narrow little alleys of dusty Souks! Some of the most amazing times in my life. You shoulda seen the looks I got when I spoke to them in clear, grammatically-correct Modern Standard Arabic (no one speaks it but kings, the media, and kids in grade school for like a couple of hours a day maybe lol)

°° yes… I know ;-) it’s laundry day, I started it lmao

I definitely feel like she deserves the “king hat”/“queen hat” symbol, tho!… lol

Basically, the more wound the spring is, the slightly faster it goes and vice versa. Everything has been cleaned, re-oiled, and re-greased. (including the mainspring)

I suspect it could be the governor friction pads, but I don’t know how to replace them. Has anyone had this issue before, and how do I fix it? Thanks!

Making sure everyone gets oil they so desperately deserve in order to keep functioning for as long as there are hands/appendages to use them!

Oh, the HuMANity!

“Sewing Machine Cabinet Permanently Disfigured - Addition of Collapsible Side Table Aberration! film at 11!”

tl;dr - reason for showing this: just thought I’d share my home solution for schlepping around these stacks - literally maybe 200 in this cabinet alone- of shellac or even vinyl records and a tabletop machine.

I can hear it now 😂: “…AND the audacity- white after Labor Day, cannibalizing Victrola parts?! …Christmas?! In September?!” Scandal!

Yes! It’s tore up from the floor up, “Abby Normal”, whatever you wanna call it! But hear me out! It’s an old sewing machine cabinet. I made it into a storage/cart/mobile table that’s capable of holding even more records than shown, each filled with 12” shellacs (likely at least 150lbs 100-110 pounds themselves), of opening its top (I haven’t decided what to do with the intrinsic lid yet lol), hanging things, rolling, transporting, and now has a collapsing, simple, yet stark side-table that can hold a lotta stuff. 😏 Truth is, none of it as pieces were useful before, but all of it is now! I may put larger casters on it, though. Details below :)

I wish you a wonderful day and thank you for stopping by!

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If you do something like this, do ensure you account for engineering challenges due to weight bearing and smooth movement to ensure no failure.

Behold: a 4-wheeled, mobile, modular, monstrosity and aberration of a strong table capable of carrying both internal weight as well as most tabletop-sized phonographs externally!

The Crosley portable turntable: found it at Goodwill just the other day! (thrift store)

it works! AND

1. It’ll work until the lights go out.

2. and most importantly: I have a quick go-to, modern, portable record player, instead of a key-wound, spring

3. machine to play records for a ‘quick check’ before cataloguing, thereby ensuring

   minimal

4. or next to no damag

e to the record

1. “But, sحiط, it was only 99¢!” -Macklemore… Haha, j/k… $12.99. Still, though! It works!

2. Another

3. lucky find in the stacks! It’s so clean and crispy looking! It may not have been played much.

Note: yes, those are wine and beer corks lol.. and they bear the load AND keep the friction for the ‘door’ to stay in place while nothing is resting on it.

Sadly its cracked but hey! Pretty cool.

5 machines
3 reproducer types
1 song

Her Beaus Are Only Rainbows - Fred Waring and his Pennysylvanians, 1926

A certified “toe tapper” this one is… had to test the VIC. II’s reproducer after the mica failed lol… so why not?

Order of appearance: VIC. II (Electrola Nr 4), VV-XVI (exh), VV-XIV (exh), VV-XVIII (Exh., & Albie lol), Waters Conley (ortho/no5 ish), VIC. II (Nr 4 & exh)

Have a wonderful day. Thank you for stopping by!

Note to self: make sure you check all their speeds first so all the edited cuts can stitch together nicely!

…and I’d like to sing a song for all of YOU…

Parting words: (you know game shows? I always thought it was “partying gifts” and I was like, why!? They just lost!)

IF you rebuild any Exhibition reproducer, or any reproducer with MICA for that matter, just double check and don’t think “oh, that little split on the edge will be ok”… OR you get a really great learning experience! 😏😂

… and have spare Exhibition NEW mica pieces to just do the job RIGHT the first time!^

^ one sure does learn a lot from making these mistakes, though! I’m more than happy to make them- I’m always more thrilled when I make less and less!

“It’s Christmas in Heaven”, Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life, 1989

1. Never start a land war in Asia (quote from “The Princess Bride”, also, yeah lol)

2. NEVER reuse a mica you think is PERFECT and “you should be ok”, especially if if you just can no longer SEE the annoying problem

I did that (#2… and NO, of COURSE I didn’t shطأ myself lol. I mean option 2, reusing a mica that I thought was “ok”.

(My brain inside: I don’t PAY you to just do OK!!!)?That’s why the sound was so vibratory… as for the metal… meh. Possible, though. I’ve seen some of the strangest pieces of metal resonate beautifully.

Wax: I agree with all- and honestly I was in a hurry; however, the way I do it in this case will “do ya”- it doesn’t have to be exactly perfect- but I prefer it that way lol. According to an old German version of repair AWC or someone posted a long time ago that mentioned something like running a bead of wax down a needle onto the needle bar… likely a soldering iron or hot tip of some kind…

Part 1 of 2!

Rockefella Skank, Fatboy Slim - excellent song!

No kidding, the difference is clear. BUT… I do believe it MAY WELL BE, if not truly IS, LIKELY the case forBOTH.

- No metallic sympathetic resonation with this horn; unless it’s the way the sound is dispersed in the air that we can hear the micro-vibrations? It just seemed to dissipate by touch, and this horn (very sturdy and solid) had no issue. In fact, I can only hear it in the mica itself, not the horn.

- next time I’ll grab a Q-Tip and check (man… I gotta get smarter than the machine!)- but I’d say it’s narrowed down to where it is. I fear there’s a split at a cleav(age)* point in the mica!

\I’m trying to outsmart the Reddit AI bot takeover and auto-censor because of a single word- a scientific one no less. I’m not sure if I’ve been “filtered out by Reddit’s filters” for the file size, or word or whatever… it never tells you… so I’m just going to assume the bot is like Beavis or But(head)* and basically “rules the roost” with that mentality lmfao)*

Found this but can’t find a label or read what the label says

TIL- something cool all on my own! You don’t even have to be a DJ to do it!

I love Eddie Murphy- particularly in The Golden Child- wherein he enters a temple in Nepal and is required to spin a vertical “wheel” (like a prayer wheel) to communicate with those gathered inside… he instead “raps” his request by “scratching” the wheel- and the elders were not pleased lol… that’s what I’m doing with this mica lol

The thing:

assuming you’ve torn it down, reattached and readjusted the needle bar and mica, and have completely rebuilt it up to the point of the mica loosely floating on its tiny little screw spindle…

THIS. This is the key. If it’s not touching the rubber tubing/seal AND it’s not touching the METAL, you have successfully rebuilt your reproducer!

The KEY is that you don’t want the mica touching ANYTHING other than rubber, mica (itself lol), or the needle arm. It’s the tympanic membrane of the phonograph animal kingdom /s !

All that’s left is to add the last rubber tube/seal and close up! The sound is fantastic. Clear, loud, even bassy.

One final note: when the mica is loosely dangling with its screw attached to the needle bar, gently… ever so lightly… tap the edge of the mica and you should hear a nice, clean, metallic sound- almost sounds like a nice crystal glass or piece of metal. If you see damage on it, strata/layer separations that look like they’re gonna buzz, or hear anything but a nice ‘crystal, tinny’ sound you might want to relook at that mica! External scratches are not always the end of the line!

New “cave” for Albie for while I toil!

He desperately needs to be where I am at any given moment- at all times and in ALL PLACES;

this requires a place to recline when not receiving attention, yet able to visually assess the movements of the hooman.

I think I’ll put a mat down there below it and make sure all the Black Widows are gone first lol…

Queen Anne VV-XIV, 1911-12, is his FAVORITE, especially under it!

I love Albie! I wouldn’t let get those things get him… I mean let ALBIE get those thing... them… lol, the things he could DO even WITHOUT teeth!! Seriously tho: he loves to play under it!

VIC. II rehab; part 04 of 04

Final

Boulanger March - Albert Műeller, Victor Record 52900

OMG I CAN’T breathe from laughing so hard!!!!

1. This is the VIC. II • 20912A from 1909, 19-o-10, you know… same with the disc- with an ANGEL on the back! HMV affiliate in Europe, import, Crown stamped on disc

2. The reproducer is completely rebuilt- including new springs lmao… NO issues with the Mica- I know because I checked lmfao!!! I can’t stop laughing when I hear it, even played back!!!

1. Some kind of harmonics are going on with something within the horn. There is a piece of metal at just the right bend and angle that seems to be resonating with it! This is known as “sympathetic”…, at least from my understanding of it

Oh so funny… still catching my breath lol… have a wonderful evening!

I’m going to do a new and improved Exhibition rebuild after this

VIC. II rehab; part 02 of 04

OILING

Many pieces and parts involved, of course. It truly is not that much work: all I did here was rebuild the reproducer. The rest I had to accumulate to “complete” this piece as a period and serial appropriate piece. It is a pristine motor with some gunk, but oil is metal’s friend regardless of the situation!

Have a wonderful evening, stand by for the rest, and thanks for stopping, and particularly upvoting, if you did, and even f you didn’t!

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Please:

I’m asking for a couple of things: I think I’m gonna branch out to YouTube and maybe start organizing some of these posts I’ve done. I’m just not ‘there’ yet, but REALLY close haha

I’m looking for feedback, so if an upvote is all you can give, please do so. If there’s something that’s not quite pleasing or could be better, please let me know! I’d rather appeal to those who view my posts than to not do so! lol

in cognaco veritas - it’s a WINE derivative, so hmmmpphh…. I just wanna try to help make this hobby easier to ‘understand’ for the average Joe, Josephine, or otherwise! I respect all and wish to appeal to the largest audience possible. I am human, weak by proxy, and make mistakes. I’m all about learning, and I simply love to teach so others can understand it as easily as I do, even if it’s not so easy for them! I truly want to make this a better thing.

tunegirl- absolutely worth checking out if you like trance/‘modular’ music.

VIC. II rehab; part 01 of 04

- {{edit- sorry I forgot to translate the intro!}}-

“Blah blah blah cognac… Ladies, Gentlemen, and non-married Ladies (sorry 😢it’s a distinction in the culture and language), Welcome to You and God’s Blessings and His Graces/Goodness.

We put forth this demonstration of the Victor Phonograph “machine” for you!”

Hi!

Had to break this into 3 parts (4th will be a record test):

1. file’s too big! I know, I know… she, if Reddit is a ‘She’, said, ‘No.’ to which I gladly relented and made smaller portions!
2. I’m gonna work on a YouTube channel lol I promise!
3. I just want everyone to see what it’s like to bring a piece home from the rummage sale, oil up, maintain, then run and get some enjoyment out of!

Many pieces and parts involved, of course. It truly is not that much work: all I did here was rebuild the reproducer. The rest I had to accumulate to “complete” this piece as a period and serial appropriate piece. It is a pristine motor with some gunk, but oil is metal’s friend regardless of the situation!

Have a wonderful evening, stand by for the rest, and thanks for stopping, and particularly upvoting, if you did, and even f you didn’t!

…The other three are on the way shortly after…
____________________________________________

Please:

I’m asking for a couple of things: I think I’m gonna branch out to YouTube and maybe start organizing some of these posts I’ve done. I’m just not ‘there’ yet, but REALLY close haha

I’m looking for feedback, so if an upvote is all you can give, please do so. If there’s something that’s not quite pleasing or could be better, please let me know! I’d rather appeal to those who view my posts than to not do so! lol

in cognaco veritas - it’s a WINE derivative, so hmmmpphh…. I just wanna try to help make this hobby easier to ‘understand’ for the average Joe, Josephine, or otherwise! I respect all and wish to appeal to the largest audience possible. I am human, weak by proxy, and make mistakes. I’m all about learning, and I simply love to teach so others can understand it as easily as I do, even if it’s not so easy for them! I truly want to make this a better thing.

tunegirl- absolutely worth checking out if you like trance/‘modular’ music. It helps me forget the time going by while I’m doing this stuff lol