VTLA question?
Posted: Sat Feb 14, 2015 7:38 am
I know someone who has an oak L door. I don't see them much. How common are they?
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VTLA question?
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Re: VTLA question?
Posted: Sat Feb 14, 2015 7:56 am
Is it the early one with the frieze under the lid? Those are pretty scarce and I got a fair amount of money out of the one I had 10-12 years ago. Have no idea what one like that would bring now though, probably much less.
Re: VTLA question?
Posted: Sat Feb 14, 2015 8:14 am
The Oak seem to be quite a bit less common. There were also several different colors of "Oak", "Golden Oak" probably being most common, and the dark "fumed" or "Flemish Oak" being least common.
Don't know what that does for value, comparatively.
Oak finishes seem to age better ?
In the seven or so years I've been a member of this forum, I think I've seen one Oak L-door come around.
As with any machine, condition is a huge factor, as is the presence of the correct record folders.
Now this begs a really arcane question: the red mahogany L-doors had crimson-maroon folders / boxes.
Did the brown-ish cabinets, such as Walnut or the dark Oaks still get the red folders, or were there brown boxes... ?
Don't know what that does for value, comparatively.
Oak finishes seem to age better ?
In the seven or so years I've been a member of this forum, I think I've seen one Oak L-door come around.
As with any machine, condition is a huge factor, as is the presence of the correct record folders.
Now this begs a really arcane question: the red mahogany L-doors had crimson-maroon folders / boxes.
Did the brown-ish cabinets, such as Walnut or the dark Oaks still get the red folders, or were there brown boxes... ?
Re: VTLA question?
Posted: Sat Feb 14, 2015 8:32 am
The oak one I had came with the same boxes as I've seen with all the others. But I don't remember now if it had letters on the ends, but it must have because Victor didn't start offering oak until just before the style without the carving under the lid came out.
And the oak finishes generally do stand the test of time better because they usually had less finish on them. Mahogany nearly always got a piano finish and most of the time oak didn't. It just got shellac and wax or some other finish that wasn't 'built up' into a piano finish. But the oak Victrolas that did get a piano finish, like this Early English Oak XVI I have, has crazed and faded like the Mahogany one's tend to do. It's a very dark piano finished cabinet.
And the oak finishes generally do stand the test of time better because they usually had less finish on them. Mahogany nearly always got a piano finish and most of the time oak didn't. It just got shellac and wax or some other finish that wasn't 'built up' into a piano finish. But the oak Victrolas that did get a piano finish, like this Early English Oak XVI I have, has crazed and faded like the Mahogany one's tend to do. It's a very dark piano finished cabinet.
Re: VTLA question?
Posted: Sat Feb 14, 2015 9:59 am
I believe the first style (flat top) VTLA came in mahogany only. The later style VTLA and early XVI came in mahogany, oak, and Circassian with mahogany being the most common. I'd love to hear from someone that's seen an oak flat top. Jerry