The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I haven't seen many of these in oak. Is it rare to find an oak "L" Door?

http://dallas.craigslist.org/ndf/atq/1848160465.html

Not so common as ones in mahogany for sure-

Baumbach's Victor Data Book, Pg 54 says the sample of xvi's were 81% mahog, 5% circ. walnut, 1% vernis martin, 13% oak.

There was one online for a time w/ an asking price above 2000.
I came across one along with an VV-XVII a couple of yrs back at a New Yrs day auction in Tulsa and grabbed them both at good prices.

Steve

Not only is it oak which is not common, it appears to be a special finish which makes it even more so. I think it's either Early English oak or Weathered Oak, but it's hard to tell from the pics. I don't know how early Victor began offering the special finishes which became quite extensive in the " teens. I have a soft spot for L doors. One reason being that I think they sound better than the models that replaced them. I have never "got" what the point of the louvres were and upin which Victor expended so much patent defense. Only once have I read in an text about acoustics that slats in the mouth of a horn tend to reinforce the lower frequencies but there was no real theoretical justification of this statement.

Jim