The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Some of you may remember me requesting some parts for a two-door Victor Credenza cabinet I rescued roughly two years ago.

It was at a thrift store, and you might remember that two years ago was precisely when painting anything and everything was at a fever pitch among those with talent deficiencies. That influenced my decision, because with the amount of missing parts, I almost passed on it. But the thought of yet another white cabinet with sanded edges--I parted with the cash and shoved it in the back of the car.

Anyway, here we are 1.5-2 years later. I had the tonearm and reproducer to start with and I slowly gathered the parts. It was actually pretty easy, considering I didn't try all that hard. The only thing that was difficult was the horn (due to size). I found a few donor horns, but most were 2,000 miles away. Huge shoutout to Victrola-Monkey for doing an unbelievable packing job and shipping this cross-country to me at a very good price. I was amazed at the packing and the horn is perfect.

I'm attaching some photos of it as I found it in the shop and how it looked a few weeks ago when I rolled it into the house. The sound is, as expected, spectacular. I did do the glycerin/alcohol mixture, mostly on the back curved areas, because it seemed dry.

I'm also attaching photos of me using a Milwaukee snake camera thing I got as a Christmas present ( I still don't know what to use it for, but I like it). I thought, hey, why not snake it down into the horn and pretend I'm exploring the Titanic? All I found was dust and debris. I have since cleaned and blown it out, but it was fun. I know a few people have dismantled these horns entirely, so there really wasn't anything to be learned. Still, the camera is a fun toy, and if you've never seen the inside, this gives you a hint. You can see the glue runs at the joints and that it has some sort of finish/sealer on the inside.

Anyway, I still don't have a grille, but I don't mind that. I'm really only interested in phonographs to listen to. My thought is: a grille would only get in the way If one comes along, maybe. For now, as far as I'm concerned: IT'S DONE! Thanks Victrola-Monkey!

You did a fantastic job of turning another empty Victrola cabinet into its former glory and entertainment value. The finish is awesome. I like how you have the extra shelf on each side at the top. That makes good use of what is otherwise wasted space. Thanks for your kind words and am happy to have helped.

You did another fantastic job! I wish I had your expertise on cabinet work! Marc.

It looks like a semi- gloss French polish on the cabinet. Really nice.

I use those "scopes" to look down in the combustion chambers of engines on problem cylinders. Very handy for diagnosis without an extensive tear down.

Many thanks. Since it was such a long term project I had plenty of time to get it looking the best I could. Victrola-Monkey, that's exactly what I thought: why waste the space? I always thought they should have made the two upper unused compartments into accessory drawers. I made those areas shelves on purpose to match the lower ones. I'm still thinking drawers would be a good future upgrade.

Are you saying that those shelves at the top are not factory? I don't think the later Credenzas are like that, are they?

I made all the shelves based on the grooves on the cabinet sides and the horn sides. Just routed an edge to the wood, finished, and then slid them in from the back. Luckily everything lined up great (one of the doors dragged until the horn was installed. That thing straightened and sturdied the whole cabinet!) Anyway, I'm not positive, but I think all the Credenzas had fixed panels above where my top shelves now are, making it pretty much wasted space. In fact, I think on two-door models, the whole grille kind of winged out at the top and covered the two areas at top left and right. It looks nice, but it's a waste of space. I plan on keeping needles and junk on the small shelves and keeping the playing area as clean as I can. I usually have the decks a mess with needle packets, etc. on any machine I play

Congrats, that Credenza looks absolutely fabulous!

Yep, all Credenza models enclosed that area. Also, there are two styles of grills for the 2-door model. One where there are just the 3 arches at the top of the grill in front of the horn and another that continues out with one more arch in each direction to overlap the enclosed areas’ front panel. I’ve own 2 of each. (I also had 2 of each of Mahogany and Walnut 2-door Credenzas.) Wish I kept record of the grill arch type so I could determine when the change occurred. My guess is that the 5 arch grills were the earliest.

Really nice work. Looks like you put a lot of effort into it and it paid off nicely. Congratulations.