Full Restoration - Victor Victrola Record Player from 1917
It's always fun when a machine I restore is from a friend or family member. This broken down record player from the early times of record players was my sister-in-law's grandfather's, purchased new in 1917 for $15 plus $4 more for records and needles.
It has sat unused for over 50 years. Someone couldn't get the handle out by reversing its direction, so they opened it up and removed a main gear instead. Then put all the parts back inside and left it.
At first glance, I thought it would be too difficult to restore - it looked half complete and not very special. But as you will see in the video, all of the parts are there. The only unuseable piece was the thick rubber gasket that attaches the playing arm to the reproducer (sound head).
Probably my biggest amazement was the availability of quality reproduction parts and supplies, such as that gasket, and needles by the hundred. Why by the hundreds? Who needs hundreds of needles? It turns out, the needles are just plain steel points that are meant to be discarded after one play (of one side of a record). Fortunately, they were about 3 cents each.
I like this model because although it was the cheapest in the Victor lineup, its sound is channeled through a cast iron passage and out the front, making it much more compact and portable.
A couple of other pleasant surprises showed up along the way that made it a pretty attractive little machine. Please enjoy watching the journey on what was one of my most satisfying restorations.
I noticed you didnt fit the reproducer soundbox gaskets correctly, they need to be a excess tight fit before installing otherwise it will leak air and you get the bad rattley sound as heard here. Its usually a specialist job, it took me ages to get correctly myself. It would be good if you could revisit this and try new tighter fitting seals as you will be impressed with the sound quality😎.
Fascinating video, thankyou.
You got this Victrola looking beautiful! I always love learning about retro tech and how they work through restoration videos. Thank you for sharing this! ^_^
It looks great and you did a wonderful job restoring it as well!!!! I enjoyed your video so I gave it a Thumbs Up
Qual o tipo de borracha que foi usado para segurar a mica ?
Tengo el orgullo de decir que fui uno de los disyokey de esos tiempos aún lo recuerdo ya habían otros antes que yo ja ja ja . Y algunos eran encargados y tenían buenas disciplinas ja ja ja
Very good 👏👏👏👏👏
I appreciate the workmanship and the mechanics of these old players. But that is where it ends. Playing a record on them is very close to nails on a blackboard for me. Piece looks good.
I actually agree - playing the 60-odd records that came with it, some were surprisingly clean sounding, but still I instinctively wanted to adjust the sound and apply a filter to "de-noise" them.
Techmoan did an excellent video about shellac records degradation and 78's sound quality... And given than nobody press shellac records anymore (in any meaningful capacity, at least) chances to hear their true sound are very slim.
They sound amazing when the soundbox seals are perfect, ive put a seperate comment on why this sounds rattley and loud like you say.
słuchałem płyt z muzyką z takiego patefonu to były czasy WSZYSTKO było takie proste naturalne a obecnie szkoda pisać 🙈
Nice job. When I polished my reproducer, I found out that the nickel plating was extremely thin, and it basically just came off by polishing. Dunno how you got away with it. I replated mine, looks fantastic. One thing I was surprised by, as I had never operated a Victrola before, was just how loud they play. With medium volume needles, I would still keep one door closed for comfortable volume level.
Beautiful, excellent job.
What type of rubber was used for the micam gasket?
Truly enjoyed this restoration and learned some things about early victrolas, Thanks
So how did you clean and regrease the mainspring?
Excelente restauro, muito bom e bonito, parabéns 👏👏👏👏👏
My dad threw one in a skip while I was at work On is way back to the car another man saved it At least he had vision😂😂😂😊wonder if it’s still around Great video thanks😊😊😊
Интересная подача материала. Ничего не говорить, но при этом сопеть носом😂.
The First World War Battle of Vimy Ridge. Nice restoration. 🤝🤗🤩😁😀😊😎🤓🌟🌟
Perfect❤
🥃👍👏🥃👍👏🥃👍👏🥃👍👏🥃👍👏🥃👍👏
pero por ,la forma de tratar el artefacto solo la dañara mas jajaj
somewhat careless manufacturing, does not impress in terms of technique and craftsmanship! Such a device must be worked with care!
I LOVE Victrolas would rather listen to them rather than anything…they , like early silent films are such a major piece of history
👌wow
Restaurada vitrola toca discos 💿📀😉
Nice work, but have you figured out why there are Chinese characters on the label?
The Chinese symbols mean "Registered Trademark". I don't know how widely they were sold there, but it is a little surprising that they were at all in 1917.
should use lacquer, not Poly
I have to ask, why use a synthetic sealer instead of shellac? Bees wax would help as well…😢
Видео интересное,но ....прости мужик- Реставрация это не твоё.Я бы такому "мастеру" после этого просмотра видео никогда бы не отдал бы на восстановление.
Compared to other restoration channels, this was subpar. No disassembling of the motor and cleaning each part, the wood was not fully sanded, the brass was not fully polished, and the felt turntable was off center. Need to be more professional.
Restoring doesn't imply full dissasembly and make things look like new. It's about bringing old stuff back to life in reasonable good conditions. The risk of ruining the whole thing if you disassemble the spring motor is very high I presume. This object is more than 100 years! Over-restoration would be a mistake that Mr. BOM Review avoided wisely.
@@ivanrubenlopeznunez3947 Thank you for your comment. "Bringing old stuff back to life in reasonably good condition" might be the new tagline for my channel!
That blue background behind the workbench is distracting.
Tried something new - thanks for the feedback.
Zamzam water