The Story of "Big Vic"
Who is Big Vic?
Well he isn't really a he or she but a what. "Big Vic" as it has come to be known is our personal RCA Victor SHF-5 new orthophonic Hi-Fidelity record player. Whew! What a mouthful, but that is its official identity.
Built in 1958 as Radio Corporation of America (RCA) Victor's response to the newest, albeit slightly late to the party, Hi-Fidelity, (not stereo) record "Hobby". It was meant as a mass produced unit to capitalize on this "hobby" and bring Hi-Fi, as it was known, into every living room. Although RCA wasn't the only manufacturer to make Hi-Fidelity units, they certainly were one of the most popular.
It is interesting to note, that 1958 was the first year for stereo vinyl records. Stereo recording existed on tape in 1954 but not for records. They didn't have traction in the market yet when "Big Vic" was built, hence the reason for the monaural reproduction for these beautiful giants of sound. In the mid to late 50's, Hi-Fi and stereo sound in the home was for the hobbyist or DIY'ers who would purchase Hi-Fi kits and build themselves a system. That is if you weren't rich enough to buy a McIntosh and Klipsch system, which most people weren't at that time. Therefore, a new market was created and companies like RCA Victor made it possible for the ordinary Joe to have such a device.
In those days these devices didn't sit on a shelf, they were very much part of the decor of the room, much like a TV is today. They were large cabinets made out of woods like maple, mahogany or oak with lovely finishes. Like fine pieces of furniture, they were dressed to impress. But what about the sound?
The sound of these units when properly restored is nothing short of amazing. With the original record changer, a good working cartridge and stylus they sound warm, musical and very enjoyable. With a CD or even a streaming signal from your iPad or cellphone (when run off a headphone jack) can be incredibly lifelike and blows the doors off listening to your "Alexa" type devices.
This particular unit uses a 12 watt tube mono amplifier with inputs for a tuner and ceramic (high output) phono cartridge. Amp is easily setup to accept CD or streaming devices for modern music sources so it is still not obsolete. The amp drives two 12" woofers and two 3 1/2" tweeters. The speakers are very efficient, therefore the 12 watts are enough for a house rockin' party. This thing fills the room with clean dynamic sound. "Big Vic" in particularly is made from natural maple.
He came to us a few years ago from a work acquaintance who said it was his fathers and had been on the back porch for some time and covered with a tarp but weathered nonetheless. It had some superficial water damage on the bottom side of the maple veneer and the finish was rough and cloudy. The amp had original tubes and transformers and the internal parts were deteriorated and cracked and not worthy of operation. The 12" speakers were still in good operational shape but the original tweeters and tweeter mounts were missing. Speaker grill cloth and badging were perfect. It sat on the back burner for a few years until I decided to restore it.
First course of action was the amp.
It was electrically restored with new modern capacitors, resisters and wiring. It also received a 3 prong plug for safety. Power and output transformer were tested for proper operation and were found to be intact and functional.
The original tube set was tested on Tektronix curve tracer and found to test as new. Awesome! The original RCA tube set saved a lot of money. We bridged the tuner inputs so we could plug in a CD player or a streaming player. The phono input was left stock.
"It's alive!"
After restoration the amp power was brought up on a variac and tested for proper static and dynamic operation and left to burn in for a few hours then tested again. It tested 50 HZ to 12 KHZ flat at 10 watts output which was before clipping. Not bad for a simple little 6V6 amplifier. Ready for installation.
Up next was the record changer/player.
These things are controlled by a series of gears, cams, levers and springs, to automatically drop a record from a stack one by one and automatically adjust for record diameter but not record speed. This is so you could listen record after record without having to change them yourself. A great feature for 1958 but not very kind to the records themselves. Of course, that is when a record was $1.50 so not a big deal.
A lot of moving parts needed cleaning and lubed with the proper oil and then we had to get the motor running to speed. This entailed disassembling, cleaning and lubing motor armature and bearings with turbine oil. Since this player is a 4 speed (16, 33, 45, 78 rpm's) the drive and idler wheels needed to be cleaned and the drive idler needed to be replaced. We sourced the parts from a company in the Midwest and and reassembled to get the proper playing speed. Then we found a new old stock cartridge and stylus assembly to complete the player.
Up next was the cabinet
For the most part it was in decent shape minus the water damage at the bottom of the sides which we didn't deem bad enough to worry about. We decided the only way to fix this was to replace the maple veneers on both sides which would have resulted in a few hundred dollars in parts and labor extra so we decided not to do this. Besides it was superficial and simply cleaning and refinishing the cabinet kept it original and we didn't have to match the color of the aging hardwood frame.
The original finish was chemically stripped, then cabinet was sanded with 220 to 1000 grit sand paper. Then it was sprayed with Platina shellac to seal the wood, then sprayed with Nitro celullose gloss instrument lacquer and hand compounded and buffed to a high luster then waxed.
Final Assembly
Since "Big Vic" was missing his tweeters and tweeter mounts we had to find replacements. Fortunately we found two 4" replacement full range speakers, which were new production from Dayton, when used with original crossover, they worked wonderful as tweeters.
Unfortunately, we were unable to locate the 45 degree angle tweeter mounts which were originally made from light blue ABS plastic. We could have mounted the speakers flush like the woofers but that would have undermined the designers intentions of sound dispersion. This is one of the reasons for its room filling sound. So we decided to fabricate our own mounts using 1/8" acrylic sheet, cut and heat bent to replicate the originals as close as possible. And judging by the way he sounds, I would say we did it pretty well.
"Big Vic" was reassembled and tested with CD's, streaming devices and records. It sounds impressive and musical and enjoys a special spot in our recreation room.
Well he isn't really a he or she but a what. "Big Vic" as it has come to be known is our personal RCA Victor SHF-5 new orthophonic Hi-Fidelity record player. Whew! What a mouthful, but that is its official identity.
Built in 1958 as Radio Corporation of America (RCA) Victor's response to the newest, albeit slightly late to the party, Hi-Fidelity, (not stereo) record "Hobby". It was meant as a mass produced unit to capitalize on this "hobby" and bring Hi-Fi, as it was known, into every living room. Although RCA wasn't the only manufacturer to make Hi-Fidelity units, they certainly were one of the most popular.
It is interesting to note, that 1958 was the first year for stereo vinyl records. Stereo recording existed on tape in 1954 but not for records. They didn't have traction in the market yet when "Big Vic" was built, hence the reason for the monaural reproduction for these beautiful giants of sound. In the mid to late 50's, Hi-Fi and stereo sound in the home was for the hobbyist or DIY'ers who would purchase Hi-Fi kits and build themselves a system. That is if you weren't rich enough to buy a McIntosh and Klipsch system, which most people weren't at that time. Therefore, a new market was created and companies like RCA Victor made it possible for the ordinary Joe to have such a device.
In those days these devices didn't sit on a shelf, they were very much part of the decor of the room, much like a TV is today. They were large cabinets made out of woods like maple, mahogany or oak with lovely finishes. Like fine pieces of furniture, they were dressed to impress. But what about the sound?
The sound of these units when properly restored is nothing short of amazing. With the original record changer, a good working cartridge and stylus they sound warm, musical and very enjoyable. With a CD or even a streaming signal from your iPad or cellphone (when run off a headphone jack) can be incredibly lifelike and blows the doors off listening to your "Alexa" type devices.
This particular unit uses a 12 watt tube mono amplifier with inputs for a tuner and ceramic (high output) phono cartridge. Amp is easily setup to accept CD or streaming devices for modern music sources so it is still not obsolete. The amp drives two 12" woofers and two 3 1/2" tweeters. The speakers are very efficient, therefore the 12 watts are enough for a house rockin' party. This thing fills the room with clean dynamic sound. "Big Vic" in particularly is made from natural maple.
He came to us a few years ago from a work acquaintance who said it was his fathers and had been on the back porch for some time and covered with a tarp but weathered nonetheless. It had some superficial water damage on the bottom side of the maple veneer and the finish was rough and cloudy. The amp had original tubes and transformers and the internal parts were deteriorated and cracked and not worthy of operation. The 12" speakers were still in good operational shape but the original tweeters and tweeter mounts were missing. Speaker grill cloth and badging were perfect. It sat on the back burner for a few years until I decided to restore it.
First course of action was the amp.
It was electrically restored with new modern capacitors, resisters and wiring. It also received a 3 prong plug for safety. Power and output transformer were tested for proper operation and were found to be intact and functional.
The original tube set was tested on Tektronix curve tracer and found to test as new. Awesome! The original RCA tube set saved a lot of money. We bridged the tuner inputs so we could plug in a CD player or a streaming player. The phono input was left stock.
"It's alive!"
After restoration the amp power was brought up on a variac and tested for proper static and dynamic operation and left to burn in for a few hours then tested again. It tested 50 HZ to 12 KHZ flat at 10 watts output which was before clipping. Not bad for a simple little 6V6 amplifier. Ready for installation.
Up next was the record changer/player.
These things are controlled by a series of gears, cams, levers and springs, to automatically drop a record from a stack one by one and automatically adjust for record diameter but not record speed. This is so you could listen record after record without having to change them yourself. A great feature for 1958 but not very kind to the records themselves. Of course, that is when a record was $1.50 so not a big deal.
A lot of moving parts needed cleaning and lubed with the proper oil and then we had to get the motor running to speed. This entailed disassembling, cleaning and lubing motor armature and bearings with turbine oil. Since this player is a 4 speed (16, 33, 45, 78 rpm's) the drive and idler wheels needed to be cleaned and the drive idler needed to be replaced. We sourced the parts from a company in the Midwest and and reassembled to get the proper playing speed. Then we found a new old stock cartridge and stylus assembly to complete the player.
Up next was the cabinet
For the most part it was in decent shape minus the water damage at the bottom of the sides which we didn't deem bad enough to worry about. We decided the only way to fix this was to replace the maple veneers on both sides which would have resulted in a few hundred dollars in parts and labor extra so we decided not to do this. Besides it was superficial and simply cleaning and refinishing the cabinet kept it original and we didn't have to match the color of the aging hardwood frame.
The original finish was chemically stripped, then cabinet was sanded with 220 to 1000 grit sand paper. Then it was sprayed with Platina shellac to seal the wood, then sprayed with Nitro celullose gloss instrument lacquer and hand compounded and buffed to a high luster then waxed.
Final Assembly
Since "Big Vic" was missing his tweeters and tweeter mounts we had to find replacements. Fortunately we found two 4" replacement full range speakers, which were new production from Dayton, when used with original crossover, they worked wonderful as tweeters.
Unfortunately, we were unable to locate the 45 degree angle tweeter mounts which were originally made from light blue ABS plastic. We could have mounted the speakers flush like the woofers but that would have undermined the designers intentions of sound dispersion. This is one of the reasons for its room filling sound. So we decided to fabricate our own mounts using 1/8" acrylic sheet, cut and heat bent to replicate the originals as close as possible. And judging by the way he sounds, I would say we did it pretty well.
"Big Vic" was reassembled and tested with CD's, streaming devices and records. It sounds impressive and musical and enjoys a special spot in our recreation room.