need help for vv-50

hggultek · by **hggultek** » Fri Mar 23, 2007 11:51 pm

here is the condition of my victrola vv-50 after turkish customs' officers' check. no damage inside except governor springs. now i need help for how to restore the broken wooden parts, filling and polishing. if you want to see the photos click http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/gokhangul ... /my_photos

sentjourn · by **sentjourn** » Sat Mar 24, 2007 2:43 am

What a shame. It does look rather hopeless. I wish you lots of luck.

Record-changer · by **Record-changer** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 5:55 pm

Governments have too much power!

Obviously, they didn't see the value in an antique almost 100 years old. They may not have had the experience to even know what it was. Maybe they were looking for contraband or a bomb (indicated by the clockworks).

Are you sure this isn't just shipping damage? I can't see any reason why they would break the record, unless its contents violated Islamic law.

hggultek · by **hggultek** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 6:09 pm

possibly accidentally but there are two reasons why i think the officers broke it. the first is, let's imagine. you are the officer. you got the cardboard and turned it upside down. you opened the cardboard and pulled the machine out. what will happen? the lid will open through the ground immediatey and maybe the hinge will be broken. second reason is: let's imagine again. you are the seller. is it possible to place the victrola with both the wooden body and the lid in opposite ways? sorry about my english. maybe i can't explain. i mean when i opened the cardboard the bottom wooden part and the lid were placed in opposite directions. is this logical? these proofs are sufficient for me.

sentjourn · by **sentjourn** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 4:30 am

Maybe you can save the mechanism and find a decent cabinet to transfer it to.

STEVE · by **STEVE** » Thu Mar 29, 2007 1:55 pm

This is a very interesting scenario and I would like to know how it all ends up. Are you submitting a claim against your Customs people? Was it insured and if so, does the postage insurance cover Customs damage? Let us know who is held responsible ultimately and what compensation (if any) you eventually receive.

I'm sure an expert furniture restorer could repair that case but it is still a great shame that this has happened and probably totally unnecessarily.

hggultek · by **hggultek** » Sun Apr 01, 2007 2:20 pm

i claimed that the phonograph was broken by the officers but nothing has happened yet. i am hopeless about the response. but there is a good news. i found an expert antique restorer here, where i live. next week i'll have an appointment with him. i hope he is going to repair it.

shane · by **shane** » Fri Apr 27, 2007 5:30 pm

OMG! I'm shocked. It looks like they played football with it.
It's definately restorable, but it was in such nice condition before customs got a hold of it. I'm sorry to say this,but I think if they would do this to your gramophone, they probably won't want to pay for their damage. They will blame anyone but themselves. Pity you cant make them pay for the restoration. I suppose you can be glad it wasn't a rare and expensive machine. It's still heart breaking though.

hggultek · by **hggultek** » Fri Apr 27, 2007 7:34 pm

shane, you are absolutely right what you wrote. i'm still waiting for an appointment from the antique restorer man. he is very busy now. i hope he will give good news to me.

hggultek · by **hggultek** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 4:06 pm

at the end,the restoration has been completed after four months.the machine seems good now,plays well.i'm going to send a link to compare the old and the current condition of the machine. the restoration of only the outer case costed me $85.i love my machines.

shane · by **shane** » Fri Nov 09, 2007 7:51 pm

Glad to hear it all worked out in the end. $85 ain't bad either Most restorers would charge that much just to look at something.
I'm looking forward to seeing the finished product!