The Victor-Victrola Page   

VV 4-20 / VE 4-20

RARITY: ¤¤   VALUE:  ¤ 

The 4-20 was a low-priced, basic floor-model Orthophonic phonograph introduced in early 1928, replacing the discontinued VV 4-7. This machine featured a medium-size folded Orthophonic horn, a 2-spring motor, and a rather plain mahogany cabinet with cloth grille-cover. By the time the 4-20 entered the market, electrically-amplified phonographs had become commonplace, but were still relatively expensive; those buyers on a budget could choose this less-costly, but well-performing model. After just a few months following its introduction, production of the 4-20 was abruptly ended. This indicates that this model was not a particularly strong seller, and based on data from surviving examples, many were being shipped to Latin America by the end of the year.  4-20's remaining in factory stock continued to be sold by Victor dealers well into 1929. The original 1928 selling price of the 4-20 was $135.00, which equates to approximately $2,000.00 in today's money.
An estimated total of 34,000 Victrola 4-20's were produced.  Electric-motor versions (VE 4-20) were available for $35.00 extra. An estimated total of 2,350 electrically powered VE 4-20's were made.

 The current collector database shows the earliest existent VV 4-20 to be S/N 510 and the latest to be S/N 34231.

The earliest existent VE 4-20 (electric) is S/N 638 and the latest is S/N 1850

Do you own a Victrola 4-20? Please take a moment and enter some basic information about your machine into the collector's database by clicking here. No personal information is required.