Found - Phonograph in a Pawn Shop - What do you think?

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7309
Victor O
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Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2016 7:22 pm
Location: Millsboro, Delaware, USA

Found - Phonograph in a Pawn Shop - What do you think?

Post by 7309 »

I thought I would relate a little story about a phonograph I found yesterday. First of all, yesterday was my birthday and amid the things we had planned, we had a couple of hours before dinner and decided to go into a new pawn shop that had opened in a nearby town in lower Delaware. I wasn't expecting to find anything really interesting so was looking around at the tools, and guns, and jewelry and looked at a shelf high up on a back wall and saw a phonograph with a big black horn on it. At first I thought I was looking at a "crap-a-phone" but taking a closer look, I saw a Victor plate on the front of it, so I asked the clerk if it was for sale or just a prop for display. He said, yes it was for sale so I asked if he could get it off the shelf and let me look at it. He had several other customers and didn't seem too happy about getting it down as I thought he didn't think I would an old thing like that at the high price he had on it, but he got it down without damaging it. It was very dusty and dirty and had obviously been setting in the store and the one that they had moved from for quite some time. He told me they had to contact the owner when they got it to make sure he would accept it because it was old and dingy, but the owner agreed and there it went, onto the shelf. I looked at the phonograph, inside and out and checked the horn, motor, reproducer, crank, etc., and found nothing missing, but with some damage on the horn and reproducer. I figured the price would be a bit high for me but I asked anyway and was told they wanted $250.00. My best friend, and my love, piped up and said, "is that the best you can do", before I could say "I'll take it", and they agreed to sell it for $150.00. I was a bit amazed but managed to give them my credit card and we carried it to my car before I started shouting. I am including some pictures of my new machine. What do you think?
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fran604g
Victor VI
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Personal Text: I'm Feeling Cranky
Location: Hemlock, NY

Re: Found - Phonograph in a Pawn Shop - What do you think?

Post by fran604g »

Wow! A Victor 6 with what looks to me like a Mega Phono Horn? That's quite a deal, to say the least!
Last edited by fran604g on Tue Jun 19, 2018 4:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Francis; "i" for him, "e" for her
"Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while" - the unappreciative supervisor.

HisMastersVoice
Auxetophone
Posts: 2587
Joined: Wed Jan 14, 2009 5:01 am

Re: Found - Phonograph in a Pawn Shop - What do you think?

Post by HisMastersVoice »

Deal of the century!!

Pete Stratford
Victor II
Posts: 206
Joined: Wed Sep 20, 2017 4:12 pm

Re: Found - Phonograph in a Pawn Shop - What do you think?

Post by Pete Stratford »

Holly Cow!! What a super find. A Vic VI for $150!! I would like to see some clearer pictures taken with better lighting but it appears you have a machine that could be worth at least $4000. It should clean up well. It looks like you may need a better gold plated Victor reproducer. Those early black paper Mache horns can be nicely restored.

Pete

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gramophone-georg
Victor VI
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Location: Eugene/ Springfield Oregon USA

Re: Found - Phonograph in a Pawn Shop - What do you think?

Post by gramophone-georg »

Damn. :shock: :mrgreen:
"He who dies with the most shellac wins"- some nutty record geek

I got PTSD from Peter F's avatar

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

Re: Found - Phonograph in a Pawn Shop - What do you think?

Post by Phono-Phan »

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! :o :o :o
Congrats on getting a great machine!!
I may have the correct gold plated round hole exhibition reproducer. I'll do some digging here for it.
Ken Brekke

7309
Victor O
Posts: 84
Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2016 7:22 pm
Location: Millsboro, Delaware, USA

Re: Found - Phonograph in a Pawn Shop - What do you think?

Post by 7309 »

I will try to get some better pictures when I get some time. I took these right after I got it home. I will need to either get another reproducer or rebuild the one on it. I would like to keep everything original if possible but the guts of the reproducer is damaged as is the edges of the horn. The motor is nickel plated and looks as new. I'm not sure the crank is the original but is what came with it. The motor runs fine. The label on the bottom of the case says it originally sold for $100.00 and is dated March 1, 1902.

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Steve Levi
Victor II
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Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2016 3:49 am
Location: Indiana

Re: Found - Phonograph in a Pawn Shop - What do you think?

Post by Steve Levi »

MAGNIFICENT FIND!!! What a birthday present. That horn is incredible. Thanks for sharing. Steve L.

Viva-voce
Victor III
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Location: British Columbia, Canada

Re: Found - Phonograph in a Pawn Shop - What do you think?

Post by Viva-voce »

Oh how wonderful! Thank you for sharing your amazing birthday experience with us--what a great present!
And my favourite part--the haggle on the $250 asking price: "Is that the best you can do?"
well if that isn't the icing on the (birthday) cake ---I love it :)

Best wishes on your happy birthday!

Steven

schweg
Victor III
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Location: okc ok

Re: Found - Phonograph in a Pawn Shop - What do you think?

Post by schweg »

Fantastic buy!!

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