The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

antique1973 wrote:Thanks AZ, I agree the picture sucks. I am waiting for the telltale photos of the inside of
the lid and motor board areas to get a better idea. I had the same thought about the grain, it does appear to be mahogany-like. Odds are some joker stripped the original finish and put a gloss coat on.
As soon as the seller gets back with me I will post more pics.

I agree with you!

antique1973 wrote:
I got some pictures of the stripped VV-XI. Its odd that the lid was not touched but perhaps it
was a replacement. Again the pics are not too good, my guess is the seller is using a very old
digital camera or cell phone.

That XI is "only" 82698 serial numbers earlier than my G, and I gotta say (heresy!) that its stripped lower cabinet looks pretty darn good in the photo. The rest of the machine is in far worse shape than mine, which is in totally untouched condition as to cabinet and brightware. I've decided that if you want to have a machine of this vintage, you have to resist the temptation to "improve" its appearance beyond a certain point, but OTOH if it's really ratty one might decide otherwise. Judging from the photos of what's left of the original XI in this case, I would probably go for the "otherwise" of my above options.