The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I’ve got a pair of oak XIVs right now and thought a side by side comparison of the finishes would help with a correct identification of the darker one... fumed, weathered, Flemish? I have the books, have reviewed the victor special order finish chart, but never have much luck differentiating these (also have color issues with my eyesight). Any guidance would be very much appreciated. Thanks.

Is it Look For The Dog or the Victor Data Book that has photos of the various Victrola finishes? They are both books I'd suggest owning.

Happy Thanksgiving, Jerry Blais

Jerry B. wrote:Is it Look For The Dog or the Victor Data Book that has photos of the various Victrola finishes? They are both books I'd suggest owning.

Happy Thanksgiving, Jerry Blais

Thanks for the guidance? I have both of those books, among several of the others, and like I mentioned, I consulted that chart. Like I also mentioned though, I have color blindness issues. But thanks anyway for the help.

I should have read your post more carefully.

Happy Thanksgiving, Jerry

brianu, I hear where you are coming from. Then there are what I call the "red oak" finishes.

I often wonder if a lot of the finish variation is how the machine has aged, exposure to nicotine, etc.

Brian, looking at the color table in Look for the Dog I would say that the darker one should be Gunmetal Oak, the lighter one looks like Golden Oak (waxed or polished cannot be seen on the picture). No guaranty, but to me these are the closest matches to the chart in the book. Hope that helps.

Andreas

Victor had a confusing array of oak finishes. To me, the closest match to yours is the Gunmetal or GM oak finish. I am also trying to figure out if my Edison Amberola 1A is Mission oak or Fumed oak. Edison didn't have a finish chart, so it's hard to say. Your two Victrolas are a good demonstration of how different two oak finishes can look! Both are beautiful Vics!

Thank you everyone for the responses... so, likely gunmetal? Attached is a shot of that color chart from the data book. It’s so hard to distinguish between some of the oaks there...

Confusing to be sure !

The machine on the left looks like a twin to my 1918 XI, same color, which I have always assumed is "golden oak".

I don't think it is light enough to be "antique oak" ?


Did Victor ever indicate finish type on the license label or anywhere else on the machines ?

I wonder if the darker machine being an earlier version of the XIV would offer any clues ?

The lighter one looks like a "fat-arm", shallow-lid machine, circa 1917-18 ?