The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

One of the L-door XVI / VTLAs I picked up over the summer had the turntable literally touching those bumpers and the motor board as well because the motor was so loose. Honestly, if it wasn't for the turntable being screwed on, the entire motor would have fallen off the board and down into the cabinet for certain. In this case, I was glad it had that feature! Imagine what a mess that could have been.

Sean

Since a bunch of people hadn't seen these before, I thought I'd post some pictures to supplement the ones already posted.

Is that a "B" or "C" XVI ?

George

It's a "C". Clean, but not perfect. The camera flash makes it look a touch better than it is.

There appears to be very little alligatoring on yours. My XVII has a light layer all around it, and while I could fairly easily sand it off, I don't have the balls to do it on such a nice machine

SignatureSeriesOwner wrote:There appears to be very little alligatoring on yours. My XVII has a light layer all around it, and while I could fairly easily sand it off, I don't have the balls to do it on such a nice machine

Hey, they're almost 100 years old, alligatoring of the finish is expected! You can reduce it a bit with ultra fine (0000) steel wool and gojo or Kotton Kleanser (whichever you prefer) when you initially clean the machine, but I usually leave it there, as I said, it's a sign of living it's life. I'll be sharing a new find with you all in a few weeks with before and after shots. Stay tuned.

Sean