Help identifying this Sonora

[uncah91]

I grew up with this phonograph in my house. My dad was going to send it to the dump a few years ago and I rescued it.

Not sure what kind it is and whether it would be worth anyone's time to get it working again. Any thoughts are welcome.

Thanks, Ben

[VanEpsFan1914]

I'm still searching but your Sonora is definitely worth restoring. I'd guess it's from about 1915 to 1920? Beautiful find, though it needs a grill and since the finish has been stripped, why not take the chance to give it a period-correct refinish inside & out if you're into any kind of fixer-upper projects.

They still make the grill & probably any other parts you are going to need, just so you know.

Did you find any old records with it, and do you ever remember hearing it play?

[tictalk]

If it has sentimental value to you it might be worth restoring ,otherwise your dad was on the right track wanting to take it to the dump, even in pristine original condition it would only be worth a few hundred dollars

[VanEpsFan1914]

Oh, I forgot to mention. They're not at all hard to work on.

[audiophile102]

Restoring a phonograph and hearing it play great old music again is what this hobby is all about. If you are concerned about the amount of time and money you will be investing, then you might want to sell the individual parts out on Ebay. Sonora made very high end phonographs, but yours is from the low end of the inventory so if you expect to sell it for a profit after restoration, you might be disappointed. The good news is that you can use the money from parting out the machine to invest in a much better phonograph that you will be proud to hand down to your children. This web site has a wealth of information about all the manufacturers and the many models they produced. Facebook marketplace has lots of phonographs for sale.

On the other had if you are going to keep your Sonora and make it beautiful again, the resale value has little meaning. I own a Sonora and I intend to keep it indefinitely. The same goes for my Edison. I have two Victrola's I might want to sell one day. It's an addictive hobby and that goes for restoring them too. Good luck.

[hbick2]

If you are in doubt about what to do with it, I would say keep it. Very few collectors are blessed with actually having a "family piece." You might not be particularly interested in restoring it right now, but at some point, you might be. You don't want to look back someday and say "darn, I wished I had kept that!" Once it's gone, it's gone. Besides, some of the good things about old phonographs are they don't eat much, you don't have to pay taxes on them and they don't require licensing every year.

[OrthoFan]

At first I thought it might be the "Etude," but that has two doors and the legs are slightly curved.

Then I spotted this ad from 1920:

Almost an exact match, save for the fact that the door's hinges are on the right side, and the knob, positioned higher than on the one you have, is on the left. (This could be a mistake on the part of the illustrator...)

Do you, by any chance, live in Canada?

In any event, what you decide to do with it is up to you, but if it's part of your family's history, it may be worth restoring. The cabinet could probably be refinished. Following a good sanding/stripping, you could apply a few coats of a mahogany stain, topped with a few coats of shellac, and sanded or buffed to a glossy finish using very fine sandpaper or steel wool. There are a number of members on this site who would offer advice.

As for the motor, it will need a full cleaning and lubrication, and the mainspring/mainsprings will probably have to be replaced if they don't work. If they do, the spring(s) will need to be removed, cleaned, and repacked with grease. In addition, the reproducer or "sound box" will likely need an overhaul with fresh gaskets. Again, you could probably be walked through some of the steps by the helpful members of this site. (Questions about restoration can be posted in this forum's "Tips, Tricks, & Tutorials" section.)

HTH,
OrthoFan

[Curt A]

As OrthoFan mentioned, use "shellac" to finish the cabinet - don't even be tempted to use polyurethane or any other clear plastic finish... The good news, is that the tonearm, reproducer and upper works look to be complete and in good condition... hopefully, you have a crank.

[drh]

At first I thought it might be the "Etude," but that has two doors and the legs are slightly curved.

Then I spotted this ad from 1920:
...
Almost an exact match, save for the fact that the door's hinges are on the right side, and the knob, positioned higher than on the one you have, is on the left. (This could be a mistake on the part of the illustrator...)...

It's hard to tell from the photo, given the high perspective, but I think the knob's height in the original posting's photograph may be roughly in line with that in the advertisement. Moreover, I think the drawing in the advertisement may be mirror imaged, which would explain the direction of the door opening; it doesn't seem to have a crank on the right, where one certainly would be in real life, and as shown the door would open "backwards" to what one would expect in a world of predominantly right-handed consumers (and contrary to the direction for both single-doored machines in my collection). Might make sense if Sonora was touting "no tubes to change" as a selling point; a crank would just emphasize that we're talking old tech here, not that shiny, new, exciting radio stuff.

[uncah91]

Many thanks to everyone for the input.

I'm not interested in any profit, but I don't know that I am up to restoring it. I'm guessing that the interest of anyone in collecting for themselves is probably very low?

Is anyone here in NC?