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I have a friend who has a couple of machines to sell and has asked me to help determine their value. I'm hoping that you board members can give me some help as to how to advise him.

The first machine is a Victor Credenza, a center turntable four door. The machine runs well and sounds good. It has the second style tonearm: self supporting with a one-piece taper tube. The horn has been sealed and the reproducer was rebuilt by Bob Waltrip, however it is not the correct type for this machine. It is a later potmetal one with a screened front cover.
Now for the cabinet: I think it is mahogany but I'm not sure; the light was not very good in the basement. The veneer is all there and the finish generally looks good. There are scratches on the top but no gouges that I noticed. There are other finish defects here and there, especially near the bottom. The grillecloth is badly torn and all four of the bun feet have issues: two of them are completely missing and the other two are half gone, so all four would need to be replaced.
The second machine is an Edison BC 34. It is complete with the original grille and runs well and sounds good. The finish is good with some scratches on the top and a few other minor issues. It, too, has a Bob Waltrip rebuilt reproducer; a standard DD reproducer in which he installed his special diaphragm and rotated the reproducer body in relation to the tube for better tracking. I think it sounds very good. I had never heard one of his modified reproducers before and tried it on several different records from my collection. I was quite surprised at the sound quality compared to a stock Edison, even on electrics. However, I don't know what, if any, effect the reproducer may have on the value of the machine.
So please help me out here. I know what I would be willing to pay, but I would like some other opinions. I do have some pictures I will try to post in the next day or so.

Thanks,
Jim

Credenza, Probably Mahogany. off the top of my head 500-1000 dollars accordingly, (Condition etc. working condition to mint) If he's looking to sell maybe less. Depends how fast he wants to sell, who's out there. Definitely a buyer's market. I paid 650 for mine: 2 door (Slightly rarer) Canadian made. Very good condition.

BC 34's are tough to sell, from what I've seen on Ebay recently. A nice one couldn't get a hundred dollars.
A rebuilt reproducer such as the one described would sell easily, though I'd never want to separate it from an otherwise good machine.
Bob

Anybody else out there? I need some help with this.

Jim

phonojim wrote:Anybody else out there? I need some help with this.

Jim

have you checked on ebay, craigslist and other posts on the forum? what help do you need? these are pretty common machines... what would you pay for them? the BC-34 doesn't usually sell for much, at most a couple hundred, if that, usually less. the credenza sounds like it needs some work - in the condition you described, it probably wouldn't sell for more than 300 to 400. then again, any reliable valuation would also require actually seeing the machines - photos might help. but regardless, neither is worth all that much.

phonojim wrote:Anybody else out there? I need some help with this.

Jim

A credenza with veneer issues, missing/broken feet, the wrong reproducer (the screen covered ones were used on portables), and in need of grill cloth would be about 100-200 bucks at the most.

(just my opinion, I don't know anything about the other machines you mentioned)

Sounds to me like the best parts of these machines are the reproducers - but then I am very partial to the late Bob Waltrip's "Wondertone" rebuilt reproducers. A Credenza (or almost any floor model machine) with the problems that this one has would certainly reduce the price substantially. My personal opinion on the Credenza value with the issues you describe would be 250 - 350. The BC-34 is a pretty yawn-yawn machine. Sorry, but the demand for these is pretty low for the most part. As with all console (more wide than tall) machines this one is a floor-space-taker-upper and is lower than I prefer for crank winding. I'm 6'3" so I'm obviously going to be a little more biased on machine height. But, again, that Waltrip rebuilt Edison DD reproducer is a worthy prize. If it were me regarding the BC-34 I would pay up to a couple of hundred mostly for the reproducer. You didn't mention DD records but being a somewhat later machine there might be some snappy later dance band selections to sweeten the deal on it. Good luck, Doug

Thanks to all of you for your input. I went into this with a pretty good idea of what the machines are worth but I wanted to confirm it with others before I gave out any numbers. I do watch Ebay prices and I was at Stanton's auction a couple of weeks ago where they had 5 or 6 Credenzas and none of them sold for all that much.

Jim

I believe the best venue for selling floor models is a phono show where
those good sounding reproducers are a sales aid. It may be the only way to move the Edison

Unfortunately I would have to agree that a Credenza in that condition is not going to bring more than a couple hundred dollars and may be hard to move at all if you are in less than a densely populated area. They are terrific machines, but there are a lot of them around. No opinion on the Edison.

Clay