Which Sonora have I just bought?

[epigramophone]

I have never owned a Sonora machine before, but this morning I bought this one in my local auction room for £60 (about $77) including auction fees. It came with a nice HMV record duster, six assorted needle tins and a few nondescript records. The motor winds smoothly, runs almost silently and maintains speed throughout a record. The sound quality is good, but could be improved with new diaphragm gaskets.

Please could the Sonora experts tell me :

1. What model I have.
2. The approximate date of manufacture.
3. The purpose of the small socket to the left of the volume control.

The pictures show the machine sitting in my workshop as purchased. It retains it's original finish and I think it should clean up nicely.

P.S. I don't know why the first two pictures are sideways. I have never had this problem before.

[phonogfp]

Congratulations on your Sonora! The table model Sonoras don't pop up very often.

I believe you're an APS member, and as such you have access to R.J. Wakeman's book on Sonora Phonographs posted on the APS web site. Just look in the "Book Features" drop-down when you click on "Articles."

http://www.antiquephono.org

I don't think the Bakelite volume knob is original to the machine. It has the look of an electrical knob which would have been attached to a potentiometer. I'd be interested in knowing what it does. The socket to the left of the volume knob is the location of the original volume control, so it's possible that someone modified the way in which the sound output is altered. Please remove the motor board and let's have a look!

George P.

[nostalgia]

Congratulations on a very nice and interesting purchase:)

[travisgreyfox]

That is one pretty sonora you got! I always under valued these machines until I got my own and had mica monster rebuild the reproducer. I love mine.

Travis

[epigramophone]

Congratulations on your Sonora! The table model Sonoras don't pop up very often.

I believe you're an APS member, and as such you have access to R.J. Wakeman's book on Sonora Phonographs posted on the APS web site. Just look in the "Book Features" drop-down when you click on "Articles."

http://www.antiquephono.org

I don't think the Bakelite volume knob is original to the machine. It has the look of an electrical knob which would have been attached to a potentiometer. I'd be interested in knowing what it does. The socket to the left of the volume knob is the location of the original volume control, so it's possible that someone modified the way in which the sound output is altered. Please remove the motor board and let's have a look!

George P.

Thank you for alerting me to the Wakeman book in the APS Member's section of the website. What a great resource it is.

Removing the turntable revealed the ID plate, showing that the machine is a "Melodie". The Wakeman book dates it to c1920 when it cost $60. The automatic brake, which my machine has, was an optional extra. Unfortunately the only period advertisement I could find in the book shows it sitting on top of a record cabinet with the lid closed.

Removing the motor board revealed that the non-original volume control is indeed electrical, but it is not connected to anything and there are no tell tale holes to suggest that an electrical pick-up arm had ever been fitted. There is no trace of the original mechanical volume control. Removing the non-original control would leave a large hole in the case side which would be difficult to fill or disguise, so I will leave it alone for the time being.

Now the clean up begins.

[phonogfp]

Well, that electrical volume control is a mystery...

I don't blame you for leaving it - - I would too.

George P.

[jboger]

Did you use a cellphone to take the pictures? And, if you did, did you change the orientation of the cellphone between the second and third pictures? The reason I ask is due to my own experience. I have a digital camera. Regardless of how I hold the camera, when I upload my photos to my laptop, then post them here on this Forum, well, no problem. Not so with my cellphone (or iPad or whatever one calls it). I obtain results similar to yours. I believe there is a coordinate rotation (x-->y, for example) that must be taken into account. I have found that once I have my cellphone pictures on my laptop, that if I completely rotate the pictures, then upload them to this Forum--no problem.

[estott]

Well, that electrical volume control is a mystery...

I don't blame you for leaving it - - I would too.

George P.

I think someone was using this machine with an electric pick-up wired to a radio set. Some of them just sat on the motorboard, and some had their own volume controls.

[epigramophone]

Did you use a cellphone to take the pictures? And, if you did, did you change the orientation of the cellphone between the second and third pictures? The reason I ask is due to my own experience. I have a digital camera. Regardless of how I hold the camera, when I upload my photos to my laptop, then post them here on this Forum, well, no problem. Not so with my cellphone (or iPad or whatever one calls it). I obtain results similar to yours. I believe there is a coordinate rotation (x-->y, for example) that must be taken into account. I have found that once I have my cellphone pictures on my laptop, that if I completely rotate the pictures, then upload them to this Forum--no problem.

All my pictures are taken with a digital camera and are uploaded to my Windows photo gallery, from where they are selected to post here when required.
As only the pictures in portrait format appeared the wrong way up, I will stick to landscape format in future and crop the images as necessary.

[epigramophone]

Well, that electrical volume control is a mystery...

I don't blame you for leaving it - - I would too.

George P.

Today I started dismantling the Sonora for cleaning, and decided to remove the large electrical volume control after all. I was pleasantly surprised to find a hole of only 9mm in the case side, so even my very limited woodworking skills should be able to deal with that.
I then removed the grub screw which secures the soundbox to the tonearm, but the soundbox will not pull off and I don't want to risk damaging it with excessive force. As it appears that the diaphragm gaskets can only be accessed from the front, they can be replaced with the soundbox in situ.