The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

This Credenza has been in my collection for about 15 years and has been a really great machine. The only reason I am selling it is I need the room for a Leather Front Credenza I recently purchased. The machine is not cosmetically perfect but very presentable and mechanically it is great. The motor is quiet and reliable.

The reproducer has a very clean sound with no distortion as you will hear on the video posted below. The sound this machine produces cannot really be captured well on a recording made by my phone, but you can tell how clear the sound is. It fills the room with sound and once you hear a Credenza you will want to hear it over and over.

$375 with free delivery to Union next June.

[youtubehd]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjuKnxJAL0A[/youtubehd]
https://youtu.be/hjuKnxJAL0A

Lovely machine, and at a very good price!

Very curious - are the record rests that we normally find on the motorboard in the blank space to the left of the platter missing? Do you see four filled holes where they were, or do they seem to have never been there?

Also if you can please check, does a mounted needle point exactly at the center of the spindle if you swing the arm all the way in? I think the cantilever style (base mounted) tonearm was only fitted to credenzas with the platter centered, and they went to the backmount (with upper pin) arrangement - and thus a different style and length of tonearm - when they moved the platter to the right side.

And finally, when did they stop stamping the tags "credenza" and put "8-30" instead? Does that correspond to any of the above changes?

See http://www.victor-victrola.com/8-1.htm. This serial no. (40596) falls well beyond the changeover serial no. (33800) for the record support, yet this one hasn't it. Any thoughts?

Peter, very interesting comments. The Credenza tagged machines without overhang support were made from the fourth quarter of 1925 through the fourth quarter of 1926. Victor made about 44,517 of the 8-1 Credenzas (hand crank). They made 13,522 of the 8-2 Credenza X's. The newer 8-30's with overhang support came out in late 1926 and were mostly made in 1927 with a few hundred more made in 1928. Victor only made 13,455 of the hand crank versions, and 14,388 of the electric VE 8-30X machines (Baumbach, Victor Data Book c.2003). Interesting that more electric models were made of the 8-30 versions than hand crank. I guess people were tired of cranking! I'm not a good enough Credenza expert to know if the centered turntable changed with the 8-30 model or before. Oh I just saw Henry's post putting the offset turntable at serial number 33800, which would put it at about the second quarter of 1926 during the run of the 8-1's.

Ah! Paul's site straightens out almost everything, here:

The "Credenza" name was changed to a "8-30" designation on the dataplate in mid-1926. Also, in the middle of 1926, the motorboard was changed by shifting the turntable to an off-center position toward the right. A padded record holder was later added on the left side of the motorboard.

and:

All models use 4-door design after S/N 15000. Record support added at S/N33800. 8-30 name change implemented around S/N 45000

So I'm guessing this one, 40596, could serve to disprove the s/n for the start of the record support - but hopefully the seller can take a closer look and see if they might have been removed, to verify that.

Still want to get the answers on tonearm length, too, please.

Everything is original and it never had the record supports. And yes the alignment of the tone arm lines up correctly.

It's just lovely, Dan!

Steven

Perfect! Thanks!!