The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I saw this nice looking Victrola 18 on ebay listed as all original condition but it looks to me like someone stripped it and stained it with minwax mahogany with poly satin clear coat. You can see the darker original finish on the carvings and other areas where they missed sanding or stripping. Also pretty obvious difference between the top underside and inside storage.and the outsides.
Does anyone else agree?

Yes, I agree. Too bad.
Bob

Looks refinished. I saw it at the original auction and it was even advertised as nicely restored finish.

https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/76 ... phonograph

Ebay will take the side of the buyer who complains that the item purchased was misrepresented so if you know who the seller is, you might let them know to correct the description.

There's another one on ebay, item 163805785829, that is also claimed to have original finish. It looks better, but I am suspicious that it may not be completely original either. I would guess that it has been possibly re-amalgamated, with additional coats of shellac and buffed. It looks too good to be true for 100 years old. What do you think?

Yes I agree also, definitely refinished. I'm surprised the seller would state otherwise.

AZ* wrote:There's another one on ebay, item 163805785829, that is also claimed to have original finish. It looks better, but I am suspicious that it may not be completely original either. I would guess that it has been possibly re-amalgamated, with additional coats of shellac and buffed. It looks too good to be true for 100 years old. What do you think?

This one on eBay looks much better. Although the seller doesn't state in his description the finish has been restored. In his video he does state the finish has been restored. So it's still misleading, you shouldn't have to dig for every bit of information.

Larry Crandell

AZ* wrote:There's another one on ebay, item 163805785829, that is also claimed to have original finish. It looks better, but I am suspicious that it may not be completely original either. I would guess that it has been possibly re-amalgamated, with additional coats of shellac and buffed. It looks too good to be true for 100 years old. What do you think?

I have seen that one before, definitely a poly clear coat, also wrong stain color (looks like minwax mahogany) and wrong sheen, most likely minwax satin poly. Too bad, a correct restore and that one would have been beautiful. You can tell a sloppy restore like this one by looking at the carvings and feet, they didn't bother to remove the original finish so they are much darker than the rest.
It take a lot of time and meticulous effort to get the details to come out right.

Will you be the one putting the time and details into it, or have they effectively ruined two old machines by charging too much for them? I don't know how much your kind of work costs but it can't be a cheap or casual job.

Just as a general observation it is not at all unusual to observe a difference is color between the inside of a machine and the outside as exteriors can get lightened by exposure to sun light.

Clau

FloridaClay wrote:Just as a general observation it is not at all unusual to observe a difference is color between the inside of a machine and the outside as exteriors can get lightened by exposure to sun light.

Clau

That's true, though machines that fall into this category usually have a washed-out looking appearance instead of sharply contrasting veneer colors on the exterior.

The machine in question in this thread is obviously a poor to mediocre refinish. If anything good can be said, it doesn't look like it was a recent act. It wouldn't surprise me if it was refinished 20-30 years ago.