The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I just picked this up, and I cannot figure out which model it is. I thought it might be a Grand, but the grille is different, and it only has one row of record folders, not two. It's a handsome set (despite the fact that someone painted it brown -- I have my work cut out for me), about 52" high, and it even has the meter that tells you how many records you can play before you have to crank it up again. I put it in storage until I can get started on the restoration, so I can't get any more pictures of it for now, but that thing at the bottom that looks like a drawer doesn't pull out; I'm wondering if maybe it's hinged and pulls down to open a compartment? Does anyone know?

While I'm asking:

1. Does anyone make replacement record folders for these?

2. Is there a guide to different Sonora bombe models online anywhere?

3. Any tips for removing the paint job with minimal damage to the original finish? Is that even possible?

4. What can I put in that gold cup (picture #4) to make it a suitable needle rest?

FWIW, I have another Sonora, an Elite, with wooden tone arm and two reproducers. It's a real joy. The grille is nice, but if anyone has a spare Elite grille to sell, please let me know.

Thank you all!

It’s a 1916-1917 model “Invincible”

I’d recommend the R. J Wakeman book for a more complete history of Sonora.

My invincible is identical to yours without the brown paint. Never had a needle rest. No one making replacement tip out record sleeves. I have some, but the paper is fragile. The invincible was an expensive Sonora. Only the Supreme cost more. Well worth the effort to restore. Mine is exhibited in my living room and I will never sell it.

Question #4: A thick disc of felt.

Thanks, everyone. I have a few more questions:

1. I know now that it's a model Invincible, because a) you all told me so, and b) the grille matches other Invincibles pictured online; however, it does NOT match the grille pictured for the Invincible in the Wakeman book. Did they change the design at some point? If so, which one came first?

2. My machine has a motor meter in it, shaped like a wide arc (or a smile, if you prefer), that indicates how many records you can play before you will need to be rewound. (According to the Sonora literature, this triple-spring motor will play 15 ten-inch records on a single winding; can anyone vouch for that?) I have never seen such a meter before, and don't know what it should look like when it is properly assembled. Right now, the motor board and the motor are separate. The motor (it's huge, and VERY heavy) is bolted into the cabinet, and the motor meter escutcheon is attached to the motor board, which just lifts out of the top of the cabinet. Before I re-assemble it, I need to know what the meter should look like when it's indicating how many records it will play on the current winding. If someone can post a picture or three, I would really appreciate it. And if you can explain how it works, I will be both appreciative AND impressed.

3. My Invincible has a gold-plated tone arm, not a wooden one. My Sonora Elite has a wooden tone arm (and so, for that matter, does every other Elite I have ever seen), but I believe every Sonora Grand (which was more expensive than the Elite, and less expensive than the Invincible) I have ever seen has the gold-plated arm. Did the buyer have the option to choose one or the other? If so, was the wooden arm much more expensive? Did the wooden tone arm option always come with a wooden lid support (which my Elite also has)? Just curious. (FWIW, I like both options equally.)

Yes, it changes. Yours is the earlier style between 1915-1919, the one in the Wakeman book is from a 1920 brochure.

(https://www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/I ... incible%22)

(https://www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/I ... incible%22)