The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Just bought this machine (very cheaply). The motor is very good and the springs are sound, but as you can see the cabinet is in bad shape - and the legs are gone. I do have the turntable, reproducer (cracked unfortunately), tone arm and mount, grille and cloth. The tone arm mount is of course broken but easy to get. Some veneer is lifting, but there's very little missing. A good portion of the original finish is gone, especially on the lid.

So, I guess my question is - would you bother fixing this up, or would you part it out? I don't have another Orthophonic machine at this time. Thank in advance for all opinions and advice.

One other small note - this thing has a more than slight tobacco smell to it. Any good way to get rid of that, or would the ususal cleaning go a long way?

(Any body have 8-4 legs or a cabinet they don't need?)

Boy, does that bring back memories! Back in '68 or '69 I bought one of these for $15. The veneer on the lid was lousy, but the rest of it was nice - - except for the missing legs! It played nicely, but it sure wasn't much to look at. Over the years, it found its way into our various basements, until a flood in 1986 put it out of its misery.

Your decision must be based on how much you want to save that particular machine. It's not rare nor highly sought after. But it is an antique phonograph. If you want it saved, you'll probably have to be the one to do it. You'll never get your time/money back from it, but you'll have the satisfaction of knowing the machine exists because of your labor of love. The machine's lucky it's not in my basement - I'd part it out and junk the cabinet. I'm not proud of that, but that's just my perspective.

Good luck whichever way you choose to go - -

George P.

I tend to agree with George, as much as I like saving machines, this one is pretty far gone and I'd likely part it out and junk it. Had to do just that recently with a VV-400 someone amputated and the cabinet was a wreck like this 8-4.

Sean

Thanks for the feedback. I was leaning towards parting it out anyway, but I may play with it a bit and use it for "experiments" before using it for firewood. If I wind up doing anything useful, I'll post pictures.

Just for curiosity I wonder what this would sound like if you fitted it with a gooseneck tone arm and a No 2 soundbox.

Well, I have the proper tonearm and reproducer , but without the tonearm support, I'm hesitant to play anything on it, and if I'm going to part it out, there's no point in buying the tonearm support! I'll see if anyone at Wayne might have a decent, inexpensive replacement this weekend.