The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I have this Victor that in a previous life was "restored" in this brown finish. So do I go after it and refinish it in the original red mahogany or leave it as is.
I'm not afraid of doing the box, but I've never done a spear tip before. So any help as far as do's and don'ts on the spear tip would be welcome. The last thing I want to do is harm. Cheers All

Nice bright cheery room!
But now its sun-faded from it.

I'd probably would leave it be and continue enjoying it.
I suggest looking into a uv-film to place on the glass.

James.

PS: Nice cabinet too!

James
I've only had this for about a week. Those windows are north facing. Deep woods outside. No direct sun at all. They are very tall windows, hence the very bright look.

Leave it as is would be my vote.

I would be tempted to go on ahead & do a full restoration--take it back to bare wood with chemical stripper and scrapers, getting it clean as possible--and then give it a full refinish with grain filler & the right stains & shellac, trying to make it look good instead of "oh look, restoration." Unfortunately I do not think I have the skills to get the inside of a wooden horn that good; someone else might. It's almost too nice to take apart, and if you have other older furniture around which isn't fully restored, it's going to be perfect as is.

And of course it's still a Victor IV no matter how you display it; those are nice to have.

I would leave it as is...

I guess the question should really be: "Does the refinish bother you enough to go through all that effort?" But you have a beautiful machine displayed in a beautiful room!

Cheers,

David

I just refinished a Victor 6 with mahogany spear tip horn a few weeks ago , it is quite a project, much more work on the horn than on the case , if the current finish doesn’t bother you too much I is would leave it as is. Good luck Larry

I'd leave it alone as well. It looks like an older refinish and it's starting to get a patina of its own.

Well folks so far looks like the consensus is to leave well enough alone. Anybody else want to offer up their 2 cents?

I agree with leaving it alone, but its always up to you. Personally I think it looks great, maybe the color isn't perfect to original but its pleasant and it has a nice sheen to it