Victrola XVI Moorish Marquetry found
Posted: Sat May 22, 2021 3:21 pm
Hi all,
I've been asked to help on the restoration of one of the 12 ever made Victrola XVI in Moorish marquetry finish. It was found in Algeria and now is in Spain been restored and will be auctioned soon.
I ask your help to try to decipher some unsolved mysteries of this fascinating machine.
First, some general pictures of how it is now after a deep cleaning and some very small repairs of the marquetry:
Now comes the mysteries. If you compare it with one of the 2 other (AFAIK) machines that exist nowadays, it has some differences:
See for reference the other machine on this link: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4459
As you can see, the newly found machines has no needle cups nor identifying plate and there's no signals of screws or nails holes. Another very very obvious difference is that this one has an electric motor. I have inspected inside and out the machine and it has not any trace of hole for a crank, nor holes for the spring motor so I can confirm that this machine never had a spring motor.
On the other hand, I have very little knowledge about identifying electric motor brands and, so far, I've never seen this electric motor on a Victrola.
The speed regulator is on top of the motor and there are no other holes that could indicate that it had a different electric motor before. The only thing that I don't find normal is that this board has been sawn and removed in a not very professional way (but maybe it was the only possible way to do it without breaking apart all the cabinet): Do you recognize this motor?
It also strikes me that there's no holes in the back of the cabinet to dissipate the heat as other Electrolas but this might be normal because this motor does not have the usual resistors to adapt it to different voltages.
And last, there is a hole for a screw that can be seen in all models of Victrola XVI but, in this case, I cannot figure out what it can be used for. It is a screw that is between the tonearm and spindle: What does that screw is used for?
Thank you vey much in advance for your help!
Pedro Martínez
www.pedrofono.es
I've been asked to help on the restoration of one of the 12 ever made Victrola XVI in Moorish marquetry finish. It was found in Algeria and now is in Spain been restored and will be auctioned soon.
I ask your help to try to decipher some unsolved mysteries of this fascinating machine.
First, some general pictures of how it is now after a deep cleaning and some very small repairs of the marquetry:
Now comes the mysteries. If you compare it with one of the 2 other (AFAIK) machines that exist nowadays, it has some differences:
See for reference the other machine on this link: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4459
As you can see, the newly found machines has no needle cups nor identifying plate and there's no signals of screws or nails holes. Another very very obvious difference is that this one has an electric motor. I have inspected inside and out the machine and it has not any trace of hole for a crank, nor holes for the spring motor so I can confirm that this machine never had a spring motor.
On the other hand, I have very little knowledge about identifying electric motor brands and, so far, I've never seen this electric motor on a Victrola.
The speed regulator is on top of the motor and there are no other holes that could indicate that it had a different electric motor before. The only thing that I don't find normal is that this board has been sawn and removed in a not very professional way (but maybe it was the only possible way to do it without breaking apart all the cabinet): Do you recognize this motor?
It also strikes me that there's no holes in the back of the cabinet to dissipate the heat as other Electrolas but this might be normal because this motor does not have the usual resistors to adapt it to different voltages.
And last, there is a hole for a screw that can be seen in all models of Victrola XVI but, in this case, I cannot figure out what it can be used for. It is a screw that is between the tonearm and spindle: What does that screw is used for?
Thank you vey much in advance for your help!
Pedro Martínez
www.pedrofono.es