NEW FIND IN THE WILD

[tictalk]

My Dear Wife Found This Machine, We Went and picked it up yesterday, we are the third owner in the last 100 years, it was passed down once from the original owners family , to the folks we bought it from ,which was there next door neighbor, they had been its custodian for the last 30 years, now it is our responsibility to care of this piece of history until the next custodian. The pictures are exactly as we found it , I have not even took a dust rag to it, It is a Sonora Invincible, the unusual detail of this machine is that it must have been a special order with a metal tonearm, the catalogues suggest that the wood tonearm was standard on the Invincible and Supreme optional on the Grand. At first glance I thought that it had the wood tonearm removed, but if you notice in the pictures the drawer that would normally house the wood tonearm accessories is outfitted as a auxiliary record storage compartment. The machine is untouched totally original condition. It is very imposing standing 50" tall and 24" wide at the swell. I am very lucky to have such a wife!

[dzavracky]

wow that sure is a handsome machine! Nice find!

you sure do have some nice machines in the background

[Jerry B.]

That's a very impressive machine. It's big and with just the right amount of embellishments. It seems to take command of the space around it although I see other great things in the background.

Jerry B.

[Pathe Logical]

Nice find Larry ('s wife)!

the unusual detail of this machine is that it must have been a special order with a metal tonearm, the catalogues suggest that the wood tonearm was standard

Concerning the metal tonearm in this machine, see my post in this previous thread viewtopic.php?f=2&t=21123&start=0. When the Invincible was first introduced, only the metal tonearm was offered. At one point (about 1920) in the run of Invincibles, either metal (designated as Invincible I --- $375) or wooden tonearms (Invincible II --- $500) were offered concurrently. Later, only a single wooden tonearm was supplied.

Also, the lower record storage located behind the flip-down door was a feature on some of the early Invincibles. From what I can determine, I suspect this is found on the very earliest Invincibles and predates the storage drawer variation. TMF member audiophile102 made a post about his Invincible a few years ago viewtopic.php?f=2&t=21672, and has the same variation you have. The Invincible featured in the link provided in the above paragraph also appears to be like your machine --- flip-down record storage door, and metal tonearm.

Hope this helps,
Bob

[tictalk]

Nice find Larry ('s wife)!

the unusual detail of this machine is that it must have been a special order with a metal tonearm, the catalogues suggest that the wood tonearm was standard

Concerning the metal tonearm in this machine, see my post in this previous thread viewtopic.php?f=2&t=21123&start=0. When the Invincible was first introduced, only the metal tonearm was offered. At one point (about 1920) in the run of Invincibles, either metal (designated as Invincible I --- $375) or wooden tonearms (Invincible II --- $500) were offered concurrently. Later, only a single wooden tonearm was supplied.

Also, the lower record storage located behind the flip-down door was a feature on some of the early Invincibles. From what I can determine, I suspect this is found on the very earliest Invincibles and predates the storage drawer variation. TMF member audiophile102 made a post about his Invincible a few years ago viewtopic.php?f=2&t=21672, and has the same variation you have. The Invincible featured in the link provided in the above paragraph also appears to be like your machine --- flip-down record storage door, and metal tonearm.

Hope this helps,
Bob

Thankyou Bob! That answer's a lot of our questions, That is why this forum is such a wonderful resource, We are huge Sonora Fans! We currently have a Grand ,Invincible and a Supreme. Larry

[Pathe Logical]

You're most welcome Larry! As you can probably tell, I'm a bit of a Sonora nerd .

[Curt A]

WOW... that IS a nice find... Sonoras are great machines.

[VanEpsFan1914]

Your wife has impeccable taste and both of you are very lucky! That's a gorgeous machine--and in mahogany, too! It is certainly in good hands, too.

And in the background--Ok, I saw a Victrola 17 or 18, one of those big lion's-head Columbias I think? and for sure an Edison Opera--but that looked like a Keen-O-Phone in the other side of the dining room, with the lid having that round hole for a horn. Is that what that was? Anyway, the new Sonora matches the high-end "Edwardian luxe" theme of the collection.

[Benjamin_L]

I saw this machine listed on Facebook market-place, I'm so glad a member of the forum got it.

[AZ*]

Nice find. Good for you. Nice machines are still waiting to be acquired by folks who appreciate them.