The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Hi all, I have a VV-80 that I picked up on craigslist last month. It's in pretty good shape but I need some hinges for the doors. I need both bottom hinges for the storage doors (with the little straps that limit how far they open) and the bottom right hinge for the horn doors (with same limit strap). The holes on the hinges are ⅞ inch apart.

Funny story about this, the seller said it was his great-great grandmother's, it worked when he was a kid, now it didn't but nobody had ever touched it. The crank just spun freely in both directions. When I got there he was in a big hurry to get me out of there because he had to go to bed (it was 8:30 pm) as he needed to get up early. Well, at $40.00 I went ahead and bought it. Got it home and had to unbolt the motor from the board to get it open because the crank wouldn't unscrew. When I got to the motor, it was missing the spring barrel, shaft, & gears. All that was left was the base plate, spindle and governor!

Luckily I had a spare motor which I put in and it works great!

I will post some pics tomorrow

What's up with people taking out the springs, barrels and all? I bought a Brunswick Panatrope from a nice couple. I gave the crank a few turns, and detecting no tension behind it, I was about to pass on it. "Oh, you're not doing it right! I thought you said you're a collector". Seems they would turn the crank enough to engage the drive mechanism and make the turntable spin, thus being able to "play" the record! Something like a tinfoil Panatrope, maybe? They were certain that's how it was meant to be played, you had to keep on turning the crank. It had such a pretty walnut case, and I'm a fool for gold plating and nice cabinetry, so I got it anyway. In this case, I didn't have the right parts and George Vollema did---thanks to him, it's one now of the best running motors I have, dead silent and runs a long time on one full winding.

When I was a MUCH younger collector, a friend of my Dad's gave me a beautiful VV-80, with records, etc. It was in great shape---I had the option of getting the original packing crate for it, and I DIDN'T get it! You know that I kicked myself for that decision for years afterward. A friend of my Mom's bought the VV-80 from me some years later on, and she positioned it as a decorative conversation piece in her beauty salon. It made sense in that place at that time, but I doubt you'd see anybody doing that today....