The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Hello All,

Thanks for accepting my account request. This forum was suggested to me by a friend who would browse around but never really participate.

I've was recently given a Sonora Phonograph and started reading up on this whole world of phonographs and was captivated instantly. The craftsmanship behind these pieces is incredible.

I'm not quite sure the particular model of what was given to me and hopefully this forum could shed some light on the topic.

Also - Sadly this new adventure started off on the wrong note - the movers who I hired had to remove the lid during transit and then misplaced it. After going back and forth with them for a few weeks they finally found it but it was in 10 pieces - I'm currently on the hunt with really no direction on where to look.

Thanks to all who read/reply to this post - I'm looking forward to learning as much as I can from all of you.

Hello, and welcome to the forum!

Hopefully those movers don't touch another stick of furniture any better than IKEA quality. They murdered your lid.

However, it's restorable. I could probably fix the lid if I were close by and had time on my hands but I am unemployed & fixing to start college so there's no way I can travel round doing house calls as the phonograph doctor.

Not sure what model you have, but if you want a fresh non-broken lid those are out there too. Make sure they didn't hurt the tonearm, motor, or horn while they were at it. George Vollema of Great Lakes Antique Phonograph has a couple warehouses full of junker machines that he sells parts from, but you need the model name before you ask as he's not fond of wasting time when he could be fixing and selling parts.

Is there a data tag anywhere on the machine to tell what kind it is, other than the Sonora decal? (We all know it's a Sonora--those lines are so distinctive that there is no mistaking it.)

If your model has a drawer in the bottom of the record storage area, remove the drawer and look for a tag on the bottom
of it. Often that’s where the ID info is on Sonora machines. Good luck!

Yes, welcome to the forum. I own a Sonora and the craftsmanship is of a very high standard. There is a lot of information on the forum about the company and it's models. Copy and paste this into your browser for a search. https://duckduckgo.com/?q=site%3Aforum. ... =hi&ia=web
The most enjoyable part of the hobby is discovering great old 78 rpm records and playing them on your phonograph. You will have to change the steel needle after you finish playing each record in order to avoid damaging the grooves. That is the way they were engineered in the day.

Hello New Member, There are dealers with parts---George Vollema in Michigan for one, if you don't want to attempt repairing the original AND there are members on The Forum that have done repairs where it looks like there was never anything wrong with the piece they worked on. Christmas is one time of year that a phonograph adds a memorable persona to the Holiday. Silent Night and so many of the other Christmas songs played becomes a yearly tradition adding The feel of a real old fashioned Christmas. ENJOY

Welcome to the forum! Sonora's are very well regarded, I wish you all the best in restoring yours to its previous glory.

Best,
Fran

Welcome and know that you made a good choice in getting a Sonora...

This machine is able to play any disc record that was made, by rotating the reproducer and using the proper stylus - steel needles for "normal" 78s, a sapphire stylus for Pathé and other similar records and a diamond stylus to play Edison Diamond Discs. This is an "all-in-one" machine that is very practical and well built (however that doesn't prevent you from going down the slippery slope of collecting various different machines).

Welcome to the hobby and one of the most interesting parts is discovering music and records that you never knew existed... Good luck finding your lid and don't trust those guys to move anything else - I can't imagine any reason they thought it was a good idea to remove the lid.... unless they broke it BEFORE they removed it....

Be sure to look at any "used" needles to see if you might have a sapphire needle (strange looking turned brass needle with small round glass tip) or a diamond one (same as the sapphire stylus, but with a pointed diamond tip). I have found these from time to time in loose groups of needles... If not, you can still find them for sale.

... or in the innards of the machine, if you disassemble it for a thorough cleaning. Many needles used to fall by the motorboard and ended in the depths of old machines. When i acquired my Aeolian Vocalion, I disassembled it entirely, for the old hide glue was very dried and all the wooden parts were loose. Besides that, years of dirt, smoke and dust, and lots of old wax have made the wood look almost black. I decided to wash and scrub all the wooden parts with soap and water, and a thick brush. This removed the dirt and brought out a completely clear wood, which I refinished again in brown wax, and it's a beauty. It was madness, for I removed the patina of machine. I was young, and it was my first upright gramophone...
To the thread; when disassembling it, I find not one, but two sapphire needles to play my Pathé records. They were loosely inserted between the wood boards at the machine case bottom!
So remove the motor board and examine deeply the interior of your machine, and keep eyes wide open, you can find many things inside!

Congratulations on the Sonora. As others have mentioned, they tend to be nicely made and finished. I have 4 machines of similar vintage to yours along with another two later ‘Tonalic” machines designed to compete against Orthophonics. I always enjoy using and listening to the Sonoras—good luck with yours and with locating an appropriate replacement lid. There will be one around if you do some searching.

Bill