The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Hey there! I'm from Houston, Texas! I currently am an undergrad at the University of Houston (GO COOGS!) I LOVE EVERYTHING VINTAGE! ESPECIALLY THINGS FROM THE 1880s TO THE 1920s! I just acquired the shell of an old Victrola and was wondering if it is worth buying parts for it to restore. If anything I would like to repurpose it to hold all my albums (I have a big Beatles collection) and my xbox 360 and playstation 3 games. I at least want to buy the missing knobs, needle holder and modle number plate. If there is any way to find another phonograph to put back in there that would be awesome! Any info helps! (Sorry if this is the wrong place to introduce myself, I didn't find an introduction thread) Here are some pictures! BTW the last pic is my tattoo, I really like phonographs and gramophones!

Looks like what you have there is the cabinet for an Orthophonic Victrola, model VV-8-4:

SEE: http://www.victor-victrola.com/8-4.htm


Unless you can find a junker model with an intact folded horn, tonearm, sound box, motor, etc., it's probably best to just re-purpose it as a record cabinet.

Kind of a shame, since this was one of the larger, and relatively short-lived models. Restored, they are almost as powerful as a Credenza.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKluyg4g4do[/youtube]

You might find the paper label still affixed to the bottom of the cabinet with the production date information.

DS

David Spanovich wrote:Looks like what you have there is the cabinet for an Orthophonic Victrola, model VV-8-4:

SEE: http://www.victor-victrola.com/8-4.htm


Unless you can find a junker model with an intact folded horn, tonearm, sound box, motor, etc., it's probably best to just re-purpose it as a record cabinet.

Kind of a shame, since this was one of the larger, and relatively short-lived models. Restored, they are almost as powerful as a Credenza.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKluyg4g4do[/youtube]

You might find the paper label still affixed to the bottom of the cabinet with the production date information.

DS

Thanks! That was a lot of help! I bought this from some guy in north Houston. It was completely gutted, everything from the record player to the model label was removed. It is such a shame too.. Other than some scratches the shell is in wonderful shape. Any idea where I can find knobs? Thanks!

Welcome to the Forum!

Agree that replacing all the works would probably run you a lot more that it would be worth, unless you just happen to come across another example of this model with a wrecked cabinet but good works that you can pick up cheap.

Hard to tell for sure, but it looks like 2 of the 4 small door knobs are missing, so am guessing that is what you are concerned about? These do come up on eBay, but not very often and when you do find originals they tend to be pretty expensive. Most of the knobs on eBay are fairly plain ones for more common machines.

Not long ago I restored a Victor Credenza that has the same type and found a very close reproduction at knobs4less.com. The Credenza has bonze finish and it looks like your model had gold plate or polished brass. This one is the right diameter and looks to me to be fairly close.

http://www.knobs4less.com/Alno-Creation ... 734pb.html

If you get these and they are like the set I got, the provided screws will likely be too long, but they are scored and if you cut them off at the score with a hack saw they should fit fine.

Clay

FloridaClay wrote:Welcome to the Forum!

Agree that replacing all the works would probably run you a lot more that it would be worth, unless you just happen to come across another example of this model with a wrecked cabinet but good works that you can pick up cheap.

Hard to tell for sure, but it looks like 2 of the 4 small door knobs are missing, so am guessing that is what you are concerned about? These do come up on eBay, but not very often and when you do find originals they tend to be pretty expensive. Most of the knobs on eBay are fairly plain ones for more common machines.

Not long ago I restored a Victor Credenza that has the same type and found a very close reproduction at knobs4less.com. The Credenza has bonze finish and it looks like your model had gold plate or polished brass. This one is the right diameter and looks to me to be fairly close.

http://www.knobs4less.com/Alno-Creation ... 734pb.html

If you get these and they are like the set I got, the provided screws will likely be too long, but they are scored and if you cut them off at the score with a hack saw they should fit fine.

Clay

Yeah I might just make it into a storage cabinet for my records and ps3/xbox games. A member offered me the ID plate so that would be nice! I found some vintage knobs that went really well with it this morning at an antique architectural store that sells vintage fixtures. I might go back to see if I can find vintage shelves that will go well with it. I don't really have a big budget for it but I just want to give her life again. The cabinet was in an abandoned house for about 30 years then the guys I got it from striped it for no reason.

Yeah I might just make it into a storage cabinet for my records and ps3/xbox games. A member offered me the ID plate so that would be nice! I found some vintage knobs that went really well with it this morning at an antique architectural store that sells vintage fixtures. I might go back to see if I can find vintage shelves that will go well with it. I don't really have a big budget for it but I just want to give her life again. The cabinet was in an abandoned house for about 30 years then the guys I got it from striped it for no reason.

FloridaClay wrote:Welcome to the Forum!

Agree that replacing all the works would probably run you a lot more that it would be worth, unless you just happen to come across another example of this model with a wrecked cabinet but good works that you can pick up cheap.

Hard to tell for sure, but it looks like 2 of the 4 small door knobs are missing, so am guessing that is what you are concerned about? These do come up on eBay, but not very often and when you do find originals they tend to be pretty expensive. Most of the knobs on eBay are fairly plain ones for more common machines.

Not long ago I restored a Victor Credenza that has the same type and found a very close reproduction at knobs4less.com. The Credenza has bonze finish and it looks like your model had gold plate or polished brass. This one is the right diameter and looks to me to be fairly close.

http://www.knobs4less.com/Alno-Creation ... 734pb.html

If you get these and they are like the set I got, the provided screws will likely be too long, but they are scored and if you cut them off at the score with a hack saw they should fit fine.

Clay

Yeah I might just make it into a storage cabinet for my records and ps3/xbox games. A member offered me the ID plate so that would be nice! I found some vintage knobs that went really well with it this morning at an antique architectural store that sells vintage fixtures. I might go back to see if I can find vintage shelves that will go well with it. I don't really have a big budget for it but I just want to give her life again. The cabinet was in an abandoned house for about 30 years then the guys I got it from striped it for no reason.