Re: At what point should you clean it before trying to sell it?
Posted: Thu Apr 16, 2009 12:46 am
According to available information, about 38,000 were produced; SEE: http://www.victor-victrola.com/1-70.htmscooter wrote:Good Lord, these things are everywhere now. Here's another.
http://cgi.ebay.com/vintage-rca-victor- ... 240%3A1318
Pardon me if this is a common machine, but I wasn't familiar with it and see three this week...
Scott
These actually do turn up quite often. I've seen about a dozen in person over the past three decades, along with about 50 or more since eBay started up--all in various states of disrepair. As noted, the the major problems involve the pot metal components-- the sound box and the tonearm's back bracket--and for some reason, the finish, which seemed to have a propensity for getting scratched and dinged. (Along that line, I've never seen one with a grille-cloth that wasn't torn, or at least, stained.)
If I were given the choice for a Victor tabletop model from the "Orthophonic era," I'd opt for a VV-1-90 tabletop model -- http://www.victor-victrola.com/1-90.htm -- which was a true Orthophonic Victrola equipped with a folded horn:
Unfortunately, I've only spotted about a dozen on eBay and one in the flesh that was for sale in the Washington DC area where I lived some 25 years ago. (I've never seen one in the San Francisco area.)
Still, while the 1-70 can't compete with the sound quality of the smaller Orthophonic Victrolas, it does have a nice, mellow tone, with even a hint of bass, providing a properly restored #4 sound box is used.
