VV-XVIII

Discussions on Talking Machines & Accessories
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Django
Victor IV
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Location: New Hampshire’s West Coast

Re: VV-XVIII

Post by Django »

audiophile102 wrote:Your machine is a real treasure. I would carefully clean the outside of the cabinet with Gojo hand cleaner (o/w pumice) and lots of rags. It will remove the dirt and leave the finish alone. Next, spend the money for Howards Feed n Wax. The finish will come to life. Next, rebuild the reproducer. Getting the parts is easy. Here is one I use. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Two-Victor-Vic ... SwXYtYuyZ4
If you want to learn how to rebuild the reproducer, watch this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFRsmGBbuXI If you don't want to rebuild it yourself, check out this page on the forum. http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewto ... ?f=8&t=195
Buy new needles and use them only once per record. Handing down family treasures is a wonderful tradition. Learn to appreciate owning such a rare and expensive machine. Welcome to the forum. :)
He means W/O pumice. No pumice!!! Very important.

phonojim
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Location: Mid - Michigan

Re: VV-XVIII

Post by phonojim »

That is one beautiful Victrola. Personally, I prefer the American walnut as you have there. You are very fortunate to have one in walnut because they are most often found in mahogany. American and Circassian walnut were expensive upgrades at the time and still command a premium price today.
My advice to you is to rebuild the reproducer, lubricate the motor and play some records. The cabinet cleaning methods described here are sound and time tested in the collecting community but if you haven't done it before, try it first on something expendable. As far as lubrication, you should find a sticker on the underside of the motorboard which shows the points to be oiled or greased. That sticker probably says to use vaseline as a grease, but don't. There are many threads on this forum regarding preferred lubricants; you can use the search function to find them.
Enjoy your treasure!

Jim

BTW: Eric Reiss book "The Compleat Talking Machine" is an excellent resource about the care and repair of talking machines. It contains excellent advice on reproducer rebuilding among other things. The internet is also a great source of Information.

emerson
Victor III
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Re: VV-XVIII

Post by emerson »

Any chance of seeing a picture of the cabinet key and the record albums. Thanks and as it has been said by everyone else---Nice Victrola

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Phonolair
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Location: Michigan

Re: VV-XVIII

Post by Phonolair »

phonojim wrote: The cabinet cleaning methods described here are sound and time tested in the collecting community but if you haven't done it before, try it first on something expendable.
Jim
I agree with Jim 100%. This machine is to collectable and nice to try cleaning it if its your first time.
We've all read on this forum how the original finish was accidentlly removed from cleaning to aggressively. Not knowing what is old wax and dirt and what is finish and stain during the cleaning process.

Congratulations on being the family caretaker for your family heirloom.

Larry Crandell

rfuller63
Victor Jr
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Joined: Sun Aug 11, 2019 2:43 pm

Re: VV-XVIII

Post by rfuller63 »

Thanks again, everyone, for all the advice. I'm not a good enough DIY-er to tackle the refinishing. Given how collectible this machine seems to be, can anyone suggest what I should insure it for (my home insurance covers anything like this under $5000). You can PM me if you'd rather not mention an estimate in public. I'm sure I will need to get an estimate from an expert, anyway.

Forgot to mention--the few times I played this before receiving your advice, the music sounded wonderful: mellow, warm, and vibrant. My great grandparents had a fair number of opera (Caruso, etc), John Philips Sousa, and foxtrot records. These originally came in the alphabetical books, but my mother transferred them to plastic when the book disintegrated. The whole package is like a wonderful time capsule.

Thanks again!

JerryVan
Victor Monarch Special
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Re: VV-XVIII

Post by JerryVan »

You should be good at $5000 or less.

You state that you're "...not a good enough DIY-er to tackle the refinishing." That's okay, but if you take it to someone else, DO NOT tell them you want it refinished!!! What you want is to have it professionally cleaned, as a museum conservator would do.

zenith82
Victor II
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Location: Baltimore, MD

Re: VV-XVIII

Post by zenith82 »

JerryVan wrote:You should be good at $5000 or less.

You state that you're "...not a good enough DIY-er to tackle the refinishing." That's okay, but if you take it to someone else, DO NOT tell them you want it refinished!!! What you want is to have it professionally cleaned, as a museum conservator would do.
Agree with this 110%. Do not even mention the word "refinish" to anyone. The finish on this one is way too nice and looks exactly as a well-preserved century old finish should. It only needs a light cleaning and maybe some very minor touch-up if there are any scratches anywhere, followed up with a coat of good quality wax and some hand buffing.

You shouldn't need to insure it separately. Although the VV-XVIII is not a very common phono, they turn up often enough that a replacement could be found. Replacement value for one is probably in the $2k-$3k range, though it wouldn't be your grandmother's.

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