bought a jukebox :)

[cfz2882]

bought a 1976 era R-80 Rowe Ami 200 selection jukebox today-it's in decent condition and loaded with mostly C/W 45s,i have about 40 rock 45s I can load into it.More details to come after I pick it up Monday and play with it a bit.

 

[twintubdexter]

Congrats to you...they are such fun things. Years ago trying to find that elusive 45 meant scouring flea markets and garage sales (still fun) or going to a pricey vintage record store. Now it's so much easier to find things online. Enjoy!

 

[countryford]

Congratulations. I have four jukeboxes. Two 45 units and two 33 1/3 units.

 

[cfz2882]

Years ago,a local shop had a 1938 Wurlitzer for sale-seemed to work good except for a badly worn needle that was turning the 78 rpm records to black dust as it played them.Naturally they wanted quite a bit for that jukebox.In 1987,at a retro-50s flavored restaurant,they bought a brand new CD playing replica of the classic 1946 style Wurlitzer-they told me it was made in Germany.

 

[brucelucenta]

Jukeboxes

My fascination with jukeboxes goes back as far as my fascination with washing machines. That collection I have actually kept. I have about 30 or so, mostly out in my garage. I have three in the house, two of which are cd jukeboxes. Most of my collection play 45's. I have about 4 that play 78's also. I also have hundreds of thousands of 45's & several hundred 78's along with 33's. Since the demise of 45's and now pretty much even cd's, traditional jukeboxes are obsolete with the exception of people like myself who like them. I have quite a collection and now it seems kind of pointless. Jukeboxes are pretty interesting to watch as they play a record. Some of them had very unusual mechanisms that played the record in various ways. All of that is a thing of the past now, with internet jukeboxes. No moving parts & nothing to watch.

 

[vacbear58]

A bit older than the ones being taked about here

but Wurlitzer 1950



I love the mechanism in these older machines

 

[twintubdexter]

The record and CD changers in jukeboxes are often fascinating things to watch, especially the somewhat complicated early Wurlitzers. I have a Wurlitzer 1100 that people love to watch go through it's "huge" 24 selections. That's a model 1100 highlighted in the very nice video preceeding this post. My mock Wurlitzer 1040 made by Antique Apparatus (now Rockola) is fun to watch change CD's too. Unlike many other collectibles, jukeboxes always seem to generate interest and tend to be easy to sell.

 

As far as those new things that connect to the Internet...I'll quote the wonderful Joanne Worley..."BORING!"

 

Click on the link to check out the funky record changing mechanism on Wurlitzer's Model 61 table top juke from 1938.

http://https//www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygOeVm9Ly8k

 

[tolivac]

Jukeboxes-fascinating machines-wished I had one-but ones I have seen sell for like $1500 here unrestored-and as a pile of parts.NO THANKS!!The tabletop Wurlitzer unit is pretty nice and clever-don't see engineering that clever anymore.Is the amp in the TT cabinet or separate-couldn't see how there would be room for an amp in that cabinet.Guess the speaker would be remote,too?Never seen this model.Have worked on a few jukeboxes-mostly repairs and partial restoration.AMI amd A Wurlitzer.A jukebox would be handy for me to store and play the 45's I got from a radio station.They have Q burn but otherwise play OK.A jukebox can be a better DJ than a human one-least with the jukebox it PLAYS the record without all of the blabbing that goes with human DJ.And the jukebox is more fun to watch!Radio stations used to have 33 and 45 jukebox changers as part of program automation systems-these can be rare.Have seen only one set.Made by Seeburg.It is just the changer configured to rackmount and no amps or speakers.The controller for the changer is operated by the automation system "brain".Schaffer Automation systems used them back in the 60's and 70's.Many of these systems got junked when computer systems came about.

 

[twintubdexter]

Again, I'm no expert on anything including jukeboxes...

The little Wurlitzer 61 is completely self-contained. The speaker and amp are squeezed it there. They are difficult to find for sale. The link is for one currently on ebay for $4,500, not a bad price considering it includes the Wurlitzer metal base. It appears to have been rebuilt since the speaker looks new (original was field coil) and some of the metal parts like the very heavy tone arm have been chromed.

 

Jukeboxes are like many collectibles. Some are very pricey but if you keep looking you can find a deal on a nice one. It depends what you want and what your budget is. Although not a "1947 1015 original," the unit I have that plays CD's was very cheap. I just spotted it on the San Diego Craigslist one day and managed to snag it. I have hundreds of CD's and because it has quality electronics it sounds great. It already had 100 CD's in it.

 

The model 1100 was slightly more expensive but still a bargain. It had been rebuilt and everything worked including the "coin grinder." The lady was selling her late husband's collection of slot machines and the one jukebox. In addition to many 78's, she gave me 2 unopened boxes of re-recorded 60's hits on 78 rpm records. These sets are no longer available and sell for several hundred dollars each on ebay. I have no use for them since I think Elvis or the Beach Boys coming out of a 1948 jukebox is weird.

 

The moral to the story is just keep lookin..it can be fun!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/261975468678?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK

 

[tolivac]

Now I know the rest of the jukebox story-the amp and speaker is in the small case.Would think the TT-changer part would have to be lubed frequently becuase the grease or other lubes would harden from the heat generated by the amp.Neat unit!!!Jukeboxes aren't real common around here anymore-and if you find them they are expensive.the swap shop that has a few boxes and other coin operated devices got them from a man that used to use them on his route then died from suicide.The shop operator is trying to get premium bucks for the units-they did play when removed from service.They were used in some businesses on the coastal areas.Surprizingly--no corrosion in them.the swap operator also removed the orig equipment and put in a Sony CD player in the cabinet instead.I want the orig stuff of course.when he sells the box you would get the orig equipment and the Sony player.I just want the box origianlly--its "guts" not removed so I could go from there.It would be easier to fix or restore it that way.The most desirable ones have been sold.Only a few 60's and 70's ones remain.The later ones the TT mechansm isn't visible.Of course part of the fun of the jukebox is having the TT mechanism visible so you can watch it work.

 

[countryford]

Here are my jukeboxes. The first three pictures are of the Seeburg 33 1/3rpm jukebox. It is from 1967. It appears to be a console radio. On the top, it slides open to reveal an AM/FM tuner. It also has a dial like a rotary phone. Open up the front doors and that is where the records fit. Each side is designated a two digit number from 00 to 99. Just dial the numbers on the rotary dial and it will select that side of the record and play the whole side. I have two of these units. Both look identical. The one in the picture we just acquired several months ago. It played when I bought it, but it does need some cleaning on the inside. The first unit we have, works great. Steve completely went through it to ensure of that. We bought both of these locally for $250 each.

 

The fourth and fifth pictures are of our two 45 units. They are both 1956 AMi and both have a 200 selection each. We bought these in Minnesota for $1,500 for the pair. Then we hauled them home to Arizona. We had gone to Minnesota to visit my dad and these weren't far from where he lived. They both played and worked when we picked them up, although the green one had some issues. Steve went through the black one already. He will be working on the green one soon.

 

Eventually I'd like to get a 78 unit and possibly a cd unit.

 

 

 

[brucelucenta]

nice

I have had one of the Seeburg album players like yours too. I could never get the one I had to work and could find no one who knew enough to fix it. Therefore, when I moved 6 years ago I got rid of it. I do have an AMI just like the two you have though in a salmon color. I have a couple of that same model in a 120 selection machine too. That has a different mechanism than the squirrel cage type one. I do still have a "library" type Seeburg album player that can be hooked up like any component to a stereo system. It has the phone dial selector on the front.

 

[twintubdexter]

Gee that Seeburg console is nice. It would be beautiful even if was just a regular console stereo.

 

Although not a jukebox, check out the record changing mechanism on this 1927 Victrola. After the record played it was deposited in a drawer. Note the very cool spindle removal tool. I saw one of these changers operate on a Victor Radiola, a combination Victrola and radio. These had an electric motor, not a spring-wound crank. It may or not be true, but when home radio started to be developed Victor forbid any discussion of radios in their factories. Rumor has it employees were subject to termination.

 

Sometimes people think the "Wurlitzer" plaque on these mean it was made by Wurlitzer. This is not true. It indicates the unit was sold by a Wurtilizer music store.

http://https//www.youtube.com/watch?v=krsijE7TCZM

 

[kb0nes]

Victrola Changer

Joe,

They have a nearly identical model to that changer on display here in MN at the Pavek Museum of Broadcasting.

Its pretty amazing to see that old all mechanical marvel function, especially after 90 years have passed!

 

[cfz2882]

got it home

thanks for all the interesting links and pics everyone got the jukebox home and played it(1st song:almost Saturday night-John Fogarty)it could use a good cleanup and some other cosmetic repairs,but amazingly for a nearly 40 year old complex electro-mechanical machine works fine Many of the components inside have a little round "june,1976"stickers on them.Don't know how many watts the amp is,but the amp power transformer is quite large.looks like it has a pair of 10"woofers and a couple 6"speakers in the top.The turntable motor is a 4 pole "general instrument"brand like that seen on better VM turntables.A LED selection display,IC logic circuit boards,and diagnostic LEDs were up to date for 1976.

 

[midcentnurse]

This was our 'entertainment center' growing up. A '59 Wurlitzer. Thanks internet for helping me pin point it! I lost the keys to it at some point and my dad never let me forget it! My uncle had a 1961 or so Seeburg. Hard to think they would change models so massively every year or so, same with cars. I just think of the metal fabrication that is involved which is the reason things like that aren't made today. How they managed to manufacture things like all metal jukeboxes and other complicated gear is amazing. And sad that the skills for that are not being passed on today. It's all invisible electronics..

 

[cfz2882]

59 wurlitzer

that is one pretty jukebox!never seen that model before.

 

[twintubdexter]

That 1959  jukebox (or similar) has been "reissued" as a model 2000 that plays CD's. I've seen another model that plays 45's. They look great and I'm sure sound very nice. The ones I've seen advertised go for about $10,000. Mad money. 

 

[artcurus]

@twintubdexter,

Beach Boys, most definitely, but Elvis, not so much. . These jukeboxes were around 10-15 years old when Elvis hit the scene, so many were still in daily use.

I've seem them play Jerry Lee Lewis on youtube.