The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

My first reaction is the normal, "why do you feel the need to glop white paint on a machine to make it 'shabby shiek'?" Just doesn't make sense to put white paint on an antique, to make it look antique, when that particular type of antique was never made with cheap white paint. But then on closer inspection it hit me.....they actually took the guts of a VV-50 and crammed it into a VV-XI...this can only be the work of a mad scientist or serial killer.

So gross. The whole "shabby chic" thing makes me want to throw up.

Fran

Yikes! Now I'll have nightmares.

Clay

Amazing how they always seem to salvage the label.

I agree with all the reply's so far I wish the person or
person's who started this Shabby Chic crap were all painted
white and see how they like it,geesh!! What a way to ruin a
nice old machine.
Gene

Also amazing how they always seem to replace the reproducer.

Sad sad sad life for this victrola

First , I want to make it clear that I agree with the previous posts that have condemned the "Martha Stewart" treatment done to this unfortunate Victor .... but ...let me be the devil's advocate for a moment ...I'm also in the classic car hobby ... There are two schools of thought in restoring a vintage car or truck ....One group {of which I subscribe} believes that a vintage vehicle should be restored to it's original condition ...leave it stock ...the other group wants to install a big V8 ,disc brakes , lowered suspension , fat tires......make it a hot rod ....Each group has a loyal following , What every car person seems to agree on is that what a person does with his own car is his business , and if it's a junk yard wreck heading for the crusher it's better to be saved than scrapped.... no matter what it's turned into .....So , how does this relate to this molested VV-XI .....How many VV-XI's were built , and ended up in land fills , or burn piles ? We may not agree with the way it was saved from destruction , but , it was saved , and that's a good thing ......

".....the other group wants to install a big V8 ,disc brakes , lowered suspension , fat tires......make it a hot rod....."

First of all, this (big block v8 etc.) is by no stretch of any definition, "restoration". It is the permanent destruction of a surviving historic artifact.

Second of all, this rumor that only cars headed for the scrap yard are hot rodded is fully a pile of crap. The economics of hot rodding are the same as those for restoring....the best examples are selected. We in the Dodge Brothers Club have the tragic example of a First Hershey Senior 1929 coupe that was subsequently hot rodded. Lost.

That poor Victrola looks in no way that it was headed for the junk pile. It would have been just as easy to locate missing parts and put it together properly as to "hot rod" it as we now have it.

In any endeavor of historic preservation there is NO excuse for "hot rodding" except to satisfy the ego of the perpetrator.

Fortunately, in the antique car hobby, prewar at least (WW-II), values for resale of hot rods have dropped considerably, at last putting an end to that craze (except for the TV shows of auctions and hot rod shops, which are promoted and in some cases financed by suppliers of hot rod aftermarket equipment in the hopes of supporting a dropping market. Also excluding some examples from the 1940s-1950s)). The Talking Machine hobby has been spared any significant hot rod craze, with the present example being a reasonably small minority. For that we should all be glad.

John

"Second of all, this rumor that only cars headed for the scrap yard are hot rodded is fully a pile of crap. The economics of hot rodding are the same as those for restoring....the best examples are selected. We in the Dodge Brothers Club have the tragic example of a First Hershey Senior 1929 coupe that was subsequently hot rodded. Lost."

So true... I was at a car show last year and saw a completely restored original frame, engine, wheels, suspension from a mint '34 Ford. I inquired about what happened to the body and was told that it was such a good example, that the previous owner decided to butcher it and rod it...

This might be the equivalent of taking a nice Victor VI or an Edison Opera and installing a modern electric motor because it would be easier to operate... and while we are at it, lets install modern stereo components.

At least the cabinet on the above machine can be stripped and possibly restored... the VV-50 is probably just useful for parts...