The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Hello everyone..my name is john..im in southern AZ...im a big 60's-70's Audio collector (enough for a museum..lol)....i've always loved the older phonographs..but never seem to find them in my hunting trips for SS audio (solid state), untill now!!..2 doors down from my house,a lady was cleaning out her garage and setting everything at the curb for trash collections..i asked if i could take a look, she says..take all you find and want...well under the boxes of books i find a Victrola VV-240...my first find!!!...it needs work, as it has the front legs broken off..i managed to find one of them..i think its worth restoring?..it runs and plays!...going to ask a woodshop here if they can cut/make 2 new legs for it, and i'll replace the broken ones....it was covered in years of dust and bird droppings...took plenty of pic's before i started cleaning it up...i only lightly washed it down and wood-oiled the cabinet for now....your opinions on it..worth restoring?

Sure is a pretty machine, if you like it enough id say restore it... It's fun watching these things come back to life. I restored an Edison Home edition once, it was fun...

So far, the machine is looking good. I'd love to see it when it is completed.
Harvey Kravitz

Its worth restoring if you can keep your costs low. Being that you got it for free is a
great start. Not sure what the interior looks like but if all the parts are there its
worthwhile. Getting appropriate matching legs will be a challenge but its not impossible.
Good luck with the restoration!

Hello and welcome. I'm glad you found a phonograph "in the wild" ...and for free! And the fact thet it runs should keep your costs down. The legs look like they will be your greatest challenge... the reproducer also may need a rebuild after a long period of neglect? Thanks for sharing your photos, I love seeing the restoration process! As the others said, keep us updated.

Hello....I would like to add to the others in welcoming you to this forum. You have a great project and the progress photos look good. There are reference books available to help in the restoration of your Victrola.

You have quite a find there!

Congrats! It cleaned up real nice; amazing what turned up under all that crud! From the serial no. you have one of the last 240s, made in 1925.
See http://www.victor-victrola.com/240.htm. I agree that cleaning up the works would be a worthwhile project, and there are plenty of knowledgeable folks on this board who can help. Go for it!

Thanks for the encouraging words everyone....like i said,..im new to this era !... so far i think its great!...went to a thrift store today, bought about 30, 78's for $2...i kinda know this is not a rare unit and not on the collectors "want" list...but it gives me something to start on and get into the hobby....i got it up and running...here's a little vid

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6Bpyt6y4xc

Hi John,
I also live in Arizona-though in Mesa. From your name utube name you must be a car guy. So was I, just sold a 57 corvette and have a 64 to sell. I started out to just get 1 cylinder player to finish off a vintage room that my wife and I created in our home-that was 31 machines,850 cylinders and 3000 records ago-all in the span of 3 years. It can get ya.
There are not a lot of collectors here in AZ. If you get to the point of getting into this a bit-you should get the book The Complete Talking Machine by Eric Reiss and that book is published right here in AZ. A good club to join is CAPS just plug it into your computer. They have a show once a year and I am always looking for someone to go to it with me-it is in Buena Park Ca.
As far as the legs are concerned there is a couple of ways to do them. Call me at 480-839-5320 and I can tell you how to make them much faster than typing it out.

Abe

Hi Abe...yes im a car guy too....i was into Mopars..now Mercury's...i have a 1964 Parklane Marauder 2dr fastback,..it needs restoring but its not a rust bucket like most are...i live in southeastern AZ in Sierra Vista 85635...i started out that way too..i went to an estate sale..bought a reel to reel player, 18 months later i have about 30 record players, 60 recievers , lost count on speakers (speaker mountain in the garage), 8 8tracks , 6 reel2reel's..and about 600 vinyl...i have had to thin down the herd..run out of room...my stepson is loving the vintage audio too...so i donated ⅓ to him...

Youtube vid of some of my stuff http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wP8mAT8BJQ