Another "Rare Bird" in my Backyard

[Retrograde]

That is the same machine being sold on Ebay. Part of the distortion is that 1940's Columbia disc he's playing- that's a stress on an Exhibition soundbox, especially an unrebuilt one.

No kidding.

The finish on the machine looks a little boogered with to me.

(my 2 cents)

[OrthoFan]

That is the same machine being sold on Ebay. Part of the distortion is that 1940's Columbia disc he's playing- that's a stress on an Exhibition soundbox, especially an unrebuilt one.

Thanks. I hadn't even looked at the ebay ad. Based on the photos, it looks like the sound box was rebuilt, but how great a job was done, I don't know. Seems that the gaskets are positioned incorrectly--the whole front gasket seems to run around the parameter, sitting on top of the mica, rather than being compressed between the mica and the rim of the outer shell.

Sound Box.JPG (23.05 KiB) Viewed 737 times

[Phonofolks]

This XII brought $475 last month plus buyers premium.

http://auctions.williambunchauctions.co ... o=++217535

[phonograph78]

I found a rather odd VV XII on Ebay. This was in 2009. It had a host of problems as stated by the seller. The crank was not able to be screwed in cause the crank shaft inside broke off in it. It was a little rough but I went for it. It went for very little. I had just recently found a base for a VV XII so I was excited to have the combination. It arrived and look pretty rough. But after a week or so I had done my magic on the case and cleaned everything (It was ever so dirty) Found a machine shop to get the short part of the crank shaft out of the crank and it still fit ok. (Lucky) I was working on the machine and I noticed a few things about it that seemed odd.

1st
The machine was really in great shape after cleaning and repairing. It had a turntable made of steel and shaped to deal with the yielding turntable set up. All of this was welded together. But it was a light turntable compared to what I have usually seen with the VV XII. I am wondering that throughout its production run it had an iron turntable. Is that so? I had thought so at least.

The second thing I saw was on the motor board it had stamped on it several times May 1914. What this made me think or wonder was that maybe this machine was not sold till 1914, and by that time there were no iron turntables and one was constructed. I found this all rather odd. has anyone else seen anything like this with a VV XII? I love the machine, it has a far better sound than I would have expected, however it is a very narrow sound. Lastly now it looks great on its base. But maybe this machine is a bit of a hybrid.

[phonogfp]

I have encountered dates stamped (in ink) on Victor motorboards once or twice. I believe these were markings of a repairman.

George P.