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Spotted this in an upcoming auction. I have no idea what it is, but I'm sure someone does.

I believe it's a Sonora Elite.

Rich Gordon

I think it is a Sonora Baby Grand.


Larry

Seems to be in nice shape. Color is original and veneering is intact. Sears, yes?

It's a Sonora Baby Grand. Worth persuing.

Wes

This is my first phonograph .....I know it's a Sonora but I'm not sure if it's an Elite or a Baby. Either way, it was my first. I originally thought it was an Elite, but I'm starting to lean towards a baby. Half the fun is doing the research. Either way she looks great in my living room with her wooden tone arm.

DGPros wrote:This is my first phonograph .....I know it's a Sonora but I'm not sure if it's an Elite or a Baby. Either way, it was my first. I originally thought it was an Elite, but I'm starting to lean towards a baby. Half the fun is doing the research. Either way she looks great in my living room with her wooden tone arm.

The Sonora Baby Grand was their smallest and cheapest Bombé (pronounced Bombay and often misspelled like that) cabinet phonograph made in Saginaw, Michigan and is the machine in the first pic of this thread. Your cabinet is a higher end machine with carving and a wooden tonearm. Baby Grands came with a metal tonearm and I believe that wooden tonearms were available on some models as an upgrade.

There are several models of these machines: Baby Grand, Grand, Elite, Invincible and Surpreme. Yours appears to be an elite, although Elite models typically have scalloped door bottoms and yours look straight from your pic. A front pic with the doors closed would clear that up and show whether the doors ended like that or are enclosed in a bottom casing. Also, your grill seems to be a design variation, but I don't know how many different designs were made.

No matter what, you have a great first phonograph... Sonora's are my favorite and are extremely well made (and "Clear As A Bell").

jboger wrote:Seems to be in nice shape. Color is original and veneering is intact. Sears, yes?

Sears... NO. These were expensive, high end machines, not mass marketed.

IMO, these were possibly the best made phonographs in the US, with nickel plated motors and wooden tonearms, multiple reproducers, etc.

Identifying these Sonoras can sometimes be simplified by removing the lower drawer and examining it's bottom side, the model designation is often stenciled there.

Raphael

Indeed these are beautiful machines - the plated motor is a thing of beauty. Mine has a serial number plate upper right hand side corner. I'm not sure what model my Sonora is but it is sure big and heavy. Sounds great. Hope you snatch it up.. cheers

Bill K