New and Hello

Discussions on Talking Machines & Accessories
JerryVan
Victor Monarch Special
Posts: 5279
Joined: Mon Aug 24, 2009 3:08 pm
Location: Southeast MI

Re: New and Hello

Post by JerryVan »

audiophile102 wrote:You have done a fine job in saving a family heirloom. I have a suggestion you might consider. Every so often someone sells a credenza motor board. You might find one a a reasonable price. Also the rest of the missing parts can be found with patience and ebay searches. You have already done so much to save your Victrola so you might think it's too much effort to continue and you would probably be right. I would do it if it was mine just for the fun of the hunt and the satisfaction of reaching the goal of a complete restoration. The Yankee Trader section of the forum is always a great resource, but remember you must be patient in order to find all you need. I own two machines and I'm always looking for missing parts or accessories to add to my interest in the hobby. The Victor record company recorded some great music for the credenza. Look for the scroll and VE on the record label. I don't have an orthophonic machine, but my favorite records are VE's because they sound great even when played on my non-orthophonic machine. :)

JFM19,

If you do decide to look for an authentic motor board, as suggested above, be aware that there were many variations of what all appear to be "the same cabinet". Taking very careful dimensions is key! Last year I made a similar rescue. It feels good to put something "right", doesn't it? Anyway, I learned through my project, about some of the cabinet variations. Even now, the motor board I'm using is not 100% correct, but the minor difference can't be seen and would never be noticed. (Don't tell anyone!) I have a motor board, but it's for an electric motor style, otherwise you could have it for shipping costs.

Got any pics of it with the speaker doors open? These are awesome sounding machines, enjoy yours and play it often!

JFM19
Victor Jr
Posts: 8
Joined: Sun Mar 18, 2018 5:01 pm

Re: New and Hello

Post by JFM19 »

I tried and though I had posted one with the speaker doors open but found that the top was on twice when I posted. Hopefully this time.
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JFM19
Victor Jr
Posts: 8
Joined: Sun Mar 18, 2018 5:01 pm

Re: New and Hello

Post by JFM19 »

I can trace this machine back to point of sale to my grandparents as some years back I had seen the Bill of sale (unfortunately lost) indicating that it was bought at the Erion Piano Company for a price of $300 with delivery. The inner lid photo shows the Erion decal (which my daughter always notes is off center.) But even more unusual...the Erion Piano Company building still stands. But it seems clear that there isn't much retail traffic these days.
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Crank_it_up
Victor III
Posts: 586
Joined: Thu May 01, 2014 8:34 pm
Location: South Florida

Re: New and Hello

Post by Crank_it_up »

Check this auction and others by the same seller. Good luck and happy to welcome a new member to the hobby.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Victor-Victrol ... Sw5E5assEr
Joe

tomb
Victor IV
Posts: 1381
Joined: Sat Oct 24, 2015 10:46 pm
Location: riverside calif

Re: New and Hello

Post by tomb »

Welcome.. Great job of restoring your machine that now plays. It is sad to see machines stripped to make liquor cabinets, or repainted and repurposed to something modern. All machines have a history,y but few know what it is, or where it came from, or owned it. You are fortunate to know where it has been all its life. History really adds to the phonograph knowing who enjoyed the music. Tom

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Victrola-Monkey
Victor III
Posts: 704
Joined: Mon Oct 21, 2013 9:58 am
Location: Florida

Re: New and Hello

Post by Victrola-Monkey »

Welcome, congratulations, great back story, thanks for sharing, your amongst friends here, and I hate to say it, but you don’t have a Credenza.

It’s a VV 8-30. If you have a Credenza ID plate on there, you might want to keep an eye open for one to show up on Ebay or if anyone has a spare, they might want to offer it to you for a fair price. It may not be important to you now, but may be in the future (now that you know). That is however the nicer and more robust style tone arm that came from a Credenza. The 8-30 type has a support bracket that tends to crumble.

Enjoy!

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Phono-Phan
Victor V
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Joined: Fri Apr 06, 2012 9:38 pm
Location: Plover, WI

Re: New and Hello

Post by Phono-Phan »

Welcome Home!!! This Forum is a family of like minded Phono-holics. I am pretty sure you could post in the Yankee Trader section for an original motor board and someone would have one. But, your efforts in making one give your machine a special history note. It is great that you were able to locate the original dealer building. It would be great if you could find the sales slip. The Credenza is a great sounding machine and hopefully your next project :D will bring you as much joy.

JFM19
Victor Jr
Posts: 8
Joined: Sun Mar 18, 2018 5:01 pm

Re: New and Hello

Post by JFM19 »

What is a little painful is knowing that the original Bill of Sale was tossed just a few years before I got the cabinet when an aunt did a cleanout of a lot of old paperwork. I could certainly go further with this machine than I have already, but as always with this kind of project it comes down to what you are going for and the money factor. When I began this I could have purchased one of these machines that had the leather veneer on the doors that I believe if much more difficult to locate that was just 15 minutes from here for a fairly good price. But that was "a Victrola" and not my grandparents' Victrola. The job is not a perfect restoration which is why I call it a replication. The grille is a later model grille, but I was overjoyed that George could provide one at all to replace the one I initially made that looked ok, but with no scroll work(I have no experience with a lathe.) It has a semi-automatic brake because I found that automatic brake to be too touchy if a record was not perfectly pressed. And I know the needle box is over from where it should be, which was a deliberate placement as it makes it easier to grab the needles for changing. Will I go further with it? Perhaps up the road if the spirit moves me. But right now I am pleased and satisfied that the thought that I had when I first heard one of these machines playing decades ago has come to reality.

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Victrola-Monkey
Victor III
Posts: 704
Joined: Mon Oct 21, 2013 9:58 am
Location: Florida

Re: New and Hello

Post by Victrola-Monkey »

Again, it’s wonderful what you have done and you should be very proud... I just once again would like to help you understand what you got. Your grill is correct for your cabinet which is a VV 8-30. The type of grill you mentioned would not be as correct for your cabinet as the one you got.

Since you have a Credenza tone arm you may have a Credenza horn and if that is the case, you may have found that was about 3” short of reaching the tone arm board’s underside. (The 8-30 Horn is 37” tall and the Credenza Horn is 34” tall. The 8-30 has a deeper base because it was designed to also be a VE 8-60 which would accommodate an amplifier. ) So I imagine you had to raise it somehow to reach. Also, If you installed a Credenza horn in your 8-30, you may have found the shelf slots in the horn to be thicker than those slots on the inner sides of the cabinet’s sides. That’s simply because the 8-30 used thinner shelves. I can feel for you the challenges you went thru to make your dream happen.

To quickly Identify an 8-30, you look for what I have circled in the picture below:
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JFM19
Victor Jr
Posts: 8
Joined: Sun Mar 18, 2018 5:01 pm

Re: New and Hello

Post by JFM19 »

Thanks for pointing that out. Always something to learn as we go along the road. As the photo below (hopefully...maybe above) shows, the horn slid into the cabinet perfectly. Oddly enough though, I had to router the sides of it for the shelves as they did not line up with the ones that were in the cabinet and the sides of what was the original horn that were removed. But from some of what I have read and heard from George that is not necessarily surprising as he says there were slight variations all along the years of production. The badge I have in is not right anyway as it is for an electric motor Credenza...but I do have a proper VV8-30 so it's an easy change out to remedy that. That 2 spring motor you see in the photo was initially in this one but since then a proper 4 spring has been put in. Step by step.
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