What is this covering on my Sonora portable motor board?

[JerryVan]

I'm guessing that if you swung the tone arm over, towards that spot, you may find that the needle pretty much centers over it. If that's the case, then most likely, there was some sort of pad there, where you could rest the needle/tome arm while changing records or winding.

I further suspect that this below is the needle rest and arm lock thing, something requiring a needle to be left if the chuck for transport of the machine.

2024-12-01 07.15.21 forum.talkingmachine.info 862d2bc0c48b.jpg

But then I am often wrong.

Yup, that's the thing I was referring to.

[wrichard]

It would be my guess that the fabric is buckram. It is hard wearing and resistant to dirt and grease. It is most often used for heavyweight book binding and archival boxes. It could be used for a gramophone.