Like others, I prefer an all original machine. I consider myself lucky if I can get one at an affordable price. Most of my machines were restored basket cases. I restore them as though they aged 100 years or more. I call it forensic restoration. I don't like a machine that has been over restored. However, I have a Victor E and M front mounts that look brand new, that I bought from a fellow collector. They just look overall nice. I'm a disabled Vet on a budget, so I go after the project machines. I enjoy working on them, and it's good therapy for me.
Harvey Kravitz ________________________________ From: Vinyl Visions <vinyl.visi...@live.com> To: phono-l@oldcrank.org Sent: Fri, November 12, 2010 4:33:43 AM Subject: Re: [Phono-L] Original or restored? I love original, but that being said, I really get a positive vibe from taking something that looks ready for the junkyard and "preserving" it for posterity... You never want to mess with a machine that appears original, working properly, etc. except maybe for some cosmetic issues. Two examples of necessary restoration: I bought an H19 Edison, which I hate the style of, just because it was sitting in an antiques shop for $60, with a grill broken into pieces like a puzzle and a huge oil stain on the top - but exceptional wood grain showing below. I spent hours on it and put the grill back together by first gluing the pieces to a heavy file folder, then cutting out the openings with an exacto and filling in the cracks with bondo. When I was through, I took it to a collector friend who told me it was the best H19 grill he had seen in 40 yrs. The point is, I got something out of fixing it and then got rid of it to a new owner who was very happy to have it. It wasn't about money, because I spent way more time than the machine was worth, but I learned some valuable restoration methods. I also replaced a leg on a sad Aberola 75 which had fallen off a truck and broke a front leg. Someone had nailed and Elmer glued it back together and it looked like s**t. It is very hard to remove a front leg on an Edison because of the way it was built with pegs into the frame. A thin kerfed hand saw did the trick for removing it and I made a copy from a leg off a derelict no name phonograph. When done, you couldn't tell that it was replaced. Two mediocre machines were restored for new owners, but the education was well worth it for me. > From: glast...@comcast.net > To: phono-l@oldcrank.org > Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2010 05:04:37 -0600 > Subject: Re: [Phono-L] Original or restored? > > I am a great believer in originality. I'd rather wait and find a nicely > preserved machine than one that has been restored to "brand new". Granted, > some machines are basket cases and have to be fully restored, but I've seen > too many perfectly decent machines given the twice over too many times. A > good friend of mine once said that he likes his machines to be in the > condition that the original owner would have been happy with if it were ten > years old. > > Best to all > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Tom Jordan" <tom...@msn.com> > To: "'Antique Phonograph List'" <phono-l@oldcrank.org> > Sent: Thursday, November 11, 2010 9:06 PM > Subject: [Phono-L] Original or restored? > > > >I have always believed in keeping my phonographs in as close to original > > condition as is possible. Fixing them, but not stripping and restoring > > them. > > > > I'm just curious... Is that the norm with most collectors on this group > > or > > do you like to restore them to look like new? > > Tom > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Phono-L mailing list > > http://phono-l.oldcrank.org > > > > _______________________________________________ > Phono-L mailing list > http://phono-l.oldcrank.org _______________________________________________ Phono-L mailing list http://phono-l.oldcrank.org _______________________________________________ Phono-L mailing list http://phono-l.oldcrank.org
