Repair Services

Victor/Victrola	Edison	Columbia
Brunswick	Silvertone	Pathé
Cheney	Starr	Vocalion
Strand	Pooley	Standard Talking Machine

Motor Cleaning: Although phonographs are well built and have been working for years, the years are hard on the machinery. Over the years the gears and oil harden becoming a sticky, dirt filled, grinding black mess on the motor. This wears the motor down and hinders it's performance. To send your motor to us, remove the motor from your phonograph. To do this, pull off the turntable, and remove the crank. Take out the corner screws of the motor board and lift it out of the phonograph. The motor will still be attached to the board. If you need help, give us a call and we can walk you through the processes. Send the motor to our shop with the board, we will dismantle and clean the motor, frame and gears in solvent and scrub out all the old grease and dirt. Then, we will re-assemble, re-lubricate and test the machine.

It is very important that the motor be sent to us still mounted to your board. If the motor is sent without the board, we can't correctly test for speed variations or the other usual problems that motors have before being serviced. If the motor is sent by itself, then we'll test it to the best of our abilities. If there are further problems that arise from not sending the motor on the board, then the cost of shipping and/or additional parts may be charged to the customer.
Click here to view the process of a motor cleaning/spring cleaning and see how we do it.
Price: $98.00 - $135 plus spring cost (cleaning or replacement)
Cylinder machines add $35 for cleaning of the topworks gears. Exact pricing will be provided on your Free Estimate.
* * Please note: The motor cleaning is a basic price for cleaning the motor. Servicing/lubrication of the mainsprings is extra. Please see the description and the costs above if you have any questions. The motor cleaning service includes the motor and top metal pieces on your board. We'll clean the motor and re-assemble it onto the board. We'll also clean and brush/polish the metal parts on the board (brake, speed control, etc.). Gold plated items will be cleaned and brushed/polished at our discretion. Gold parts are hard to work with due to the thinness of the plating and the usual wear marks found. The Cylinder machine service includes the motor and top works gears and a "light" cleaning of the bedplate. The bedplate restoration/full cleaning or repainting/decaling is an additional charge. For information on Edison bedplate restoration, please see our Edison restoration page.

Dealer Motor Cleaning: For those looking to sell a phonograph or on a budget, we offer the dealer motor cleaning service. While this is not as extensive or as involved as the full Motor Cleaning, it is far better than nothing and will help the phonograph to operate much better. We clean the governor, wash out the worst of the oil/grease build up on the functioning parts of the motor. Finally we will lube and test the motor.
Price: 60.00 - 90.00 depending on how dirty/rusty the motor is. We will give an exact quote during the free estimate.

Mainspring Cleanings:Springs come two ways: broken or very dirty. If the springs do wind up or they make a loud thumping noise when unwinding, then this means they are covered with petrified grease and sliding in your canisters. We can remove the springs from your canisters and clean the springs. During this process, we also clean the inside of the canister and re-install the springs with fresh grease. Most motors have 2 springs but may have 1, 3, 4, or 6. We'll let you know what's needed and how many springs you have when we do the free estimate on your motor. NOTE: If you elect to only send the spring canisters, we may not be able to test to assure that the center arbors are connected properly without your motor to test and wind them with. We cannot possibly have all of the 1000's of possible motor styles complete and ready to test springs with. Should there be a spring that needs to be returned due to this problem, the shipping costs would be the responsibility of the customer and will need to send the motor on the board anyway for proper testing. The difference in shipping cost is minimal between sending the entire motor and just the springs as the bulk of the weight is in the springs anyway. Also, we can look the motor over to be sure that all is well.
Price: $34 per spring (The cleaning of the spring barrel is included in this price)

New Mainsprings:If your motor doesn't wind up, more than likely your mainspring(s) are broken. Usually one spring breaks at a time but it is possible that all springs are broke. When servicing a broken spring, the spring is removed from barrel and the barrel is cleaned. We install the new spring(s) with fresh grease and test the springs to make sure everything is hooked properly. It's not recommended to try removing the spring barrels on your own. If you're uncopfortable with handling the motor or have no experience, it's highly recommended to send the entire motor to us. While we have the motor, we can also clean it for you at the cost quoted in the Motor Cleaning section above. We can also test everything to make sure your machine is playing at it's potential. If you have any questions about this service or any of our services, please feel free to call us (800-239-4188) or email us at victrola@victrolarepairservice.com.
Pricing: New Springs- $40 to $65 each plus an installation fee
The cost of the spring depends on the size you need and the "cut" of the spring
*** Installation fee of new/used springs- $30 per spring above the cost of the spring.

Reproducer Rebuild:After 80-100 years, your reproducer has lost it's original sounds and tone. There are rubber gaskets inside that have hardened producing a harsh, tinny sound. If you are going to restore your phonograph, this service is a must! Send your reproducer to us, we will dismantle, thoroughly clean, inspect it for damage and replace the hard gaskets with soft new ones. Then it will be re-assembled, adjusted and tested. If the diaphragm is damaged or missing, it can be replaced or repaired (extra). You won't believe the difference. Give us a call if you are unsure how to remove the reproducer from the tone arm.
Price: $45.00 plus parts
Additional parts (if needed) other than the gaskets are extra and will be quoted during estimate.
** NOTE: Brunswick reproducers with "double sides" (Ultonas) are subject to 2 reproducer rebuild fees.

Governor Repair: The governor controls the speed of the phonograph. It is the part in the motor that has round weights on it (2, 3 or 4). If your phonograph plays too fast or uneven, chances are the governor needs new springs. Remove the entire governor by taking out the screws on each side of it, releasing the bearings that hold it (We don't encourage taking the governor out without consulting with us first. It could be dangerous to take the governor out with wind still in the spring barrels unless you know what you are doing. You should leave it to a professional to do it). Take it out as one unit and ship it to us. We will replace all the springs, clean and adjust it. All of the springs must be replaced at the same time or uneven speed of the turntable will result.
Price: $25 for labor & $3 per spring needed (2 to 4) & $7 to $12 per weight needed (prices vary with size)

White Metal Repairs: White metal was used for many parts (tonearms, tonearm bases, reproducers, brackets, etc.) It was inexpensive to use but of poor quality. Now many of these parts have swollen, cracked and split. Sometimes the only answer is to replace the part entirely. We have a technique that works well on white metal unless it is too far gone. We use a metal bonding agent in combination with steel reinforcement strips. White metal is tricky to work with, not all parts are repairable and some cracks may still be visible after the repair, but it will be functional again. Send parts in question to us and we will determine if repair or replacement is the best option.
DISCLAIMER: Due to the nature of pot metal parts, we cannot be responsible for replacement of the parts sent in if breaking occurs during the repair work.
Price: Labor fees per hour plus materials.

Turntable Felt: Nothing brightens up an antique phonograph more than replacing a worn out, torn or dirty old turntable felt with a clean new one. If your original felt is still good, it may be a good idea to purchase some felt to lay over the original one. It'll still look good and at the same time, it'll preserve your original felt longer.
Colors: green or mustard brown (other colors can be ordered if needed)
Prices: $4.00 per square OR $8.00 cut to fit your turntable OR $20.00 cut and installed on your turntable ($8 for the circle felt and $12 for installation)