The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Mike, it's worth it to wait!

After lots of looking and following leads, I found a really nice C-19 about an hour away from me that I won on eBay for $140. It needed a little help, but it turned out to be a really nice, albeit mahogany, example that I really enjoy!

Good luck!
Sean

I don't have an Edison Diamond Disc machine, even though I've got about 40 Diamond Disc records which I play electrically on a Numark TT-100 turntable & Stanton 500 cart(yes,reversed leads). By the look of this H19, I'd say it seems a nice clean machine. But my surmise is that it's in the same league as the Victrola VV-X right behind it. A decent, entry level machine. Am I anywhere close on this. It still looks good to me, but if it's an Edison equivalent to a VV-X I'd rather pay the $200

And just what should a clean VV-X go for nowadays? I recently saw a mahogany VV-XI in an antique mall here in Indy they wanted $250 for, but it had springs issues as it wouldn't finish play of a 10" record. The No.2 soundbox needed a rebuild, too. Condition was fairly good, except for the watermark on the lid from a plant. They turned down an offer of $175(they checked with the stall owner on the phone while I was there).

Earlier this month I saw a VV-90 in what looked like dark oak(were these ever done in walnut?)in the same mall. Really good shape, nice nickel on the tonearm, etc-for $399. I thought that was pretty steep for a low-end successor to the VV-XI-unless a walnut finish on one is worth it. I met a childhood friend of some friends of mine who has a gorgeous VV-130 in mahogany & all hardware gold-plated. The No.2 soundbox on it had cotton wadding stuffed into the needlebar(rebuild time!), but it held true speed & got to the other side of the grooves on a Paul Whiteman Victor. So I presume that VV-130 would be a pretty penny in any case.

Finally, a friend of my parents is helping settle her mother's estate(the lady died at 96 in May). In the attic is a VV-XVI with the L-doors, been there for years & looks reasonable(I've seen pictures of it). The lady I know says they'll probably want to get $300 for it once all the keep-stuff gets from Potsdam, NY to Greenwood, IN, & she's offered me first crack at it if it gets here in one piece. Have no idea on the working condition of it, & neither does the friend. What would a VV-XVI realistically go for? I may get rid of all the endtables & replace them with Victrolas throughout the house!

Dennis "L-door" Forkel

Dennis....

Unfortunately what some of the machines you listed go for is a function of where you live in the country. I have noticed that the prices in New York City and California are generally higher than they are were I live in central Ohio. With that said, I would not expect to pay more than $250.00 for a Victor X or XI. For that price, I would expect the motor and reproducer to be in reasonable condition. I still would plan on adding some extra money into it to get both of those parts serviced unless they were in exceptional condition.

Now for the Victor XVI, that is a different story. The 'L' door models go for a higher price in this area than the later ones. For a 'L' door, they seem to be going for right around $750 the later models go for about $100 less. There is a great amount of variation in the prices of Victrola XVI's. Condition of course plays a factor but I have noticed that people sometimes put a outlandish premium on that model due to it being a deluxe product. If you can get a 'L' door for $300, I would say go for it. That is a really good price for that model and anything that is wrong with it can be fixed as long as it has all of the original parts.

I hope this helps

Watching eBay and Craigslist here in the East it seems that in this economy smaller more affordable machines like portables and table tops (VV-50, VV-VI, VV-VIII, VV-IX) still get decent prices, close to what's listed in The Compleat Talking Machine, while uprights hardly get any offers.
Andreas

alang wrote:Watching eBay and Craigslist here in the East it seems that in this economy smaller more affordable machines like portables and table tops (VV-50, VV-VI, VV-VIII, VV-IX) still get decent prices, close to what's listed in The Compleat Talking Machine, while uprights hardly get any offers.
Andreas

Here on the west coast its very similar. I think it comes down to space considerations
mainly. I passed on that Brunswick upright for $175. I know I could have made some money on it if I cleaned it up and sold it later, but I just don't have
space for it. The consoles are really stagnant since they take up even more space.

Consoles are also stagnant because they aren't identifiable at sight as phonographs. When non=collectors want a machine for decoration they'll but an upright because it looks like a Victrola. Consoles are likely to sit in the background supporting bric-a-brac.

estott wrote:Consoles are also stagnant because they aren't identifiable at sight as phonographs. When non=collectors want a machine for decoration they'll but an upright because it looks like a Victrola. Consoles are likely to sit in the background supporting bric-a-brac.

Very true. I have noticed most of those who buy my machines fit into the non-collector category. These people tend to just want one machine as part of an antique decor, and may only play it on occasion. I had one machine for quite some time on CL and there was a video of it playing a rather boring and obscure record. It was just one that I arbitrarily picked out at random to show the machine working. I then decided to change
the record to one that sounds more like what the mainstream public perceives as antique music. The machine sold shortly thereafter and the buyer mentioned my video was part of the motivating factor. I am now more cognizant of the music I use to demo my machines.