The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I was curious about this Sonora that just sold on eBay for $800. It looks like it has some sort of gold wash on it. Is that original?

Clay

Hi Clay;

The finish doesn't look factory to me because the inside lid is still mahogany. I don't believe the factory would send out machines this way. Also, it seems a bit of the mahogany finish is peeking through on the top-right scrollwork as well as on the left where the side bows out.

Scott

The odd colour caught my eye as well but if you look at the other photos it is obvious that the gold colour is from poor photography than the actual colour of the finish.

Bruce wrote:The odd colour caught my eye as well but if you look at the other photos it is obvious that the gold colour is from poor photography than the actual colour of the finish.

I thought about that too, but the semi-transparent gold tone seems a bit too uniform and pronounced on the exterior to be from a reflection. It almost seems to be one of those things that color shifts depending on the angel of view.

Clay

This is another 'OH, the humanity!!" moment... A friend of mine had one of these beautiful machines back in the 1980's and it's supposed to be walnut, mahogany, or whatever natural wood finish. Someone got happy with the spray paint and... well... (is there a vomiting emoticon?)

And to think somebody shelled out $800 for it!

Clay

Bruce wrote:The odd colour caught my eye as well but if you look at the other photos it is obvious that the gold colour is from poor photography than the actual colour of the finish.

I vote for crappy image processing. Look, the shadow underneath is washed out. exif data says the camera was set to auto everything but the the flash did not fire, so they probably used incandescent lighting and just fixed the brightness afterward.

besides, all the other shots of the machine in the original listing look like a plain old mahogany machine to me.

The fact that the finish is plain leads me to agree that it is not original.

Every other machine I have seen with this finish has had ornate artwork over the gold background.

I also think it is the lighting in the photo and the fact that the finish is heavily alligatored and darkened. I bought one like this one and the finish was so dark it looked like an ebony model but it was just black from age and storage in an environment without protection from temperature variations over the years.

Steve

Retrograde wrote:

Bruce wrote:The odd colour caught my eye as well but if you look at the other photos it is obvious that the gold colour is from poor photography than the actual colour of the finish.

I vote for crappy image processing. Look, the shadow underneath is washed out. exif data says the camera was set to auto everything but the the flash did not fire, so they probably used incandescent lighting and just fixed the brightness afterward.

besides, all the other shots of the machine in the original listing look like a plain old mahogany machine to me.

Humm, well maybe, but in decades of taking photographs I have never had any standard incandescent or fluorescent lighting or flash produce anything remotely like that kind of color.

Clay