Sonora Art Model on Ebay !!

[solophoneman]

http://cgi.ebay.com/Victrola-1920s-Sono ... 230d797b76

Anyone in the Austin, Texas area ?? This is the first one of this extremely rare Adam DeLuxe Art Model Sonoras I have ever seen. According to the Catalog it has the huge double spring Gold Plated Motor, Electric Light, Patented Sonora Motor Meter, and the Carved Ornate Wooden Tone arm. These certainly do not show up very often, so anyone in the Texas area that is into collecting rare and unusual, ornate, huge period Phonographs certainly may be interested.

[schweg]

I went over and picked this up shortly after it was posted here. Thanks for letting me know about it, and not too far to drive. It had been coated over with something really dark that totally obliterated the woodgrain so I had to take that off and restain it. I don't like refinishing mahogany as much as oak but it came out all right. The sound is not really what you'd expect from a luxury model, or maybe it was designed for looks and not so much functionality. The tonearm leaks sound out as much as the speaker, but it looks cool so I guess it's OK..

Steve

[SonnyPhono]

That's a great looking Sonora. Congrats on a nice addition!

[Victrolaman]

So glad you went and got this great work of art. I would have bought it in 2 seconds and put it right next to my other Art Case Sonora, but it was way to far away to drive.. But im so happy someone bought this machine.
To be honest i think that loss of sound quality is a norm with these mine is somewhat like that to, i rebuilt my reproducer and that helped alot.
Good Luck with it and display it with pleasure. I have my Artcase Model on Youtube listed, only one on there currently. I had my light Restored a few weeks back and now that works, check it out.
How does your work and play? does the light work in yours?

[schweg]

Thanks for the kind comments. It does play great, the tonearm is really what sets it apart. I'm missing the electric cord for the light although I think it would work- the wiring looks good. I haven't asked around to see if anyone has an extra.

Here's the page from the catalog (thanks again Bruce) that shows the advertising info on it so that when the listing disappears from Ebay, it'll be here.

Steve

[Victrolaman]

Steve,
Thats Great, Yes i know Bruce he is a Great Guy and one of the best people i know in this hobby or knowledge and info. He sent me the original ad for mine as well, he has the original catalog for these art models..
What i did steve was i had a guy redo the light for me, he ended up giving me a rpeoduction Rayon cloth covered cord, so its new but looks old i think the whole job cost me 23 dollars with the cord, i ended up getting a 10' cord because 3 of it will be in the machine to go out through the botton Ect..
Small price to pay but add more value to the machine with that light working. Go check mine out on youtube. I just listed a video last friday of it with the light working. Just search Sonora art case model and it comes up.
But im glad someone got this machine, if i was closer to TX i would have got it in a moment. Does yours have the record sleeves in the doors still or were they tore out? there were 12 and 10" sleeves in there i think 88 of them total.
Whats the serial number of your machine Steve, if you lift the turn table off its right there on a tag, do you have the motor meter in yours as well and does it work?
My machine has a triple spring motor huge thing, goes 45 mins on a single winding, and the meter tells you how many plays you have left. Mine came with the original set of needles and case to, did you gt the same thing ?

[schweg]

1-Does yours have the record sleeves in the doors still or were they tore out? there were 12 and 10" sleeves in there i think 88 of them total.
2-Whats the serial number of your machine Steve, if you lift the turn table off its right there on a tag,
3-do you have the motor meter in yours as well and does it work?
4-Mine came with the original set of needles and case to, did you gt the same thing?

Victrolaman, I did see your great video a while ago. That is also a really beautiful Sonora.

To answer your ques. 1- Looks like there were never any record sleeves but books (which I don't have). There are letters across the bottom to designate where each book should go. (excuse the dust, didn't clean that out yet)

2- The tag says Adam-HS No. D.L. 1587

3- There is no motor meter, I was surprised. The hole is there but it is plugged with a mahog plug that looks orig to me??

4- no other extras came with it.

I did however find a picture of a young lady named Carrie Story in the back of the record slots. She is 16 in the picture. I looked her name up online and found info that seems like it puts the Sonora in the right place and time to have been owned by the Story family.

Steve

[Victrolaman]

Very nice I'm so glad you have this great machine, let's see it running on YouTube.

[bbphonoguy]

Very nice looking machine. I like the way furniture was designed in the 20's; decorative enough to look classy, and simple enough to still be usable in a modern home.

[gramophoneshane]

I'd still like to know why a couple of our members keep calling these "art" models when it appears they were never called anything but deluxe "period" models??