VV-XI, Columbia, Brunswick-my friend Rick's phonos

[dennman6]

I referenced my co-worker friend Rick in a earlier posting about him finding me a 1909 VTLA, which you can look at in the forum. Last year when I got my 1926 Credenza he was so impressed by the pictures I showed him of it that he decided to get a machine of his own. He collects vintage bicycles, refurbishes them, then resells them locally here in Indianapolis. He's kept a few nice ones for himself. Now he has the following three machines, which he says is his limit as they're in a third bedroom, & things are getting crowded with the bed there(I told him how to solve that problem:) He uses a disposable Fuji camera, & these are the prints from it. His first machine was the Columbia Grafonola, then the Brunswick, then the gorgeous VV-XI. The VV-XI is my favorite, & I've never seen this type of finish in person. I think it's really beautiful. He paid under $125 each on these things, & he's got a way of finding flea markets & garage sales where the goodies are priced cheap. So now I've got him "trained" to keep an eye out for me as well. I think we dated the VV-I as a 1917 model, the others I don't know & would welcome any info from the glee club.

[alang]

Not bad for someone who doesn't collect phonographs. The VV-XI finish, is that what aged fumed oak looks like? Or is it more the weathered oak finish? I'd probably try to darken that one small door a bit to match the rest, but I know that could be risky. Very nice machines.
Thanks for sharing.
Andreas

[dennman6]

Thanks to Andreas & Gramophoneshane(whose posts in this forum & YouTube videos I've enjoyed immensely). I appreciate the comments & info. I was half kidding with Rick about buying his "new" Victor, but he declined, saying, "Naw, it's too purty. My wife'd get mad at me". So he's got the bug! I didn't know about the Brunswick's grillecloth-I don't get to see many of them in person. But I do like the different Brunswicks I've seen online. The large Panatropes(1925+) seem to be pretty scarce around here. All Rick needs now is an Edison DD & maybe a Gem or Standard to round things out. Come to think of it, I need them, too!

[Lenoirstreetguy]

Wait! Shane! The Canadian Brunswicks , at least, had that very grille. Here's the Canadian Brunswick catalogue from ..I suspect..about 1920. It's not dated. The Style 12 had the pseudo Cheney grille .

Jim T.

[estott]

I've seen a lot of Brunswicks with that Edison-type grille. Brunswick was a supplier of Edison cabinets for a time and there might have been some overlap of designs.

The oak case makes that Grafonola nicer than the usual sort.

[gramophoneshane]

Thank you both for the correction. Looking at the Brunny lid, I guess it should have clicked, but sometimes it's nice to be wrong
I want one now to put next to my C19
If this ebay listing is correct, the Canadian Style 10 must have been sold as the Model 207 in USA-

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ANTIQUE-BRUNSWI ... 1c1d4f4d3c

[Henry]

That oak XI is definitely the same vintage as my mahogany XI. I can't quite make out the serial no. on yours, but if it ends in "G" then it is the same model as mine, manuf. 1917. Once the Exhibition sound box is restored, and all moving parts properly CLA'd, it should sound great. I'm no expert, but it looks to me as though that right-hand horn door may be a replacement, since Victor generally tried to bookend match the grain (i.e., symmetrical around the vertical axis), and what I see in the photo is definitely not a match. If I were you, I'd give your case a thorough cleaning with GoJo or Goop on fine steel wool and paper towels, then a coat of "lemon" oil. It should clean up nicely!

[gramophoneshane]

it looks to me as though that right-hand horn door may be a replacement,

I thought the same thing at first, but there does seem to be matched areas of grain on both upper doors. The bottom doors also differ in a similar fashion, almost as if a slice of veneer from between the 2 had purposely not been used for a not quite bookmatched effect. I seem to recall seeing other Victors with these fumed oak type special finishes having this sort of mismatched veneer posted online before, so perhaps the colour difference is due to a past owners restoration or over zealous cleaning attempt?

[Henry]

Or it was owned by a heavy cigar smoker

[De Soto Frank]

Lovely machines... I don't think I've ever seen a Victrola in "fumed oak"... this has especially dramatic grain / "ray-flake"...

Is the one door really that much lighter, or is this glare from camera flash ?