My First Juke Box

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58limited

58limited

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 27, 2006
Messages
2,209
Location
Port Arthur, Texas
I just bought a 1960 Rockola Tempo II, Model 1478. It came with most of the old records from the 60s and 70s. It does not work but is in good shape, so I hope it won't take too much to get it going again. I only saw two major blemishes: a cigarette burn going across three of the selection buttons and the plastic light shade (at top inside, filters the light that shines down on the music selection list) has two holes. Other than that, the chrome has uniform very small speckling. Not bad for spending its life in a town in the middle of a salt marsh. It came out of a local bar called Bailey's in Bridge City, Tx. Fortunately, this was moved 10 miles to Nederland before Hurricane Ike; Bridge City had eight feet of water from the storm surge.

I'm picking it up tonight, here is a web pic of what it looks like, I forgot my camera so I'll post actual pics of it tonight.

58limited++12-2-2009-16-12-34.jpg
 
My friend Rick Sapp has the same Jukebox

it is so awesome to listen too....you'll love yours when you get it working. Great music coming from a jukebox that has such great style...it can't get better than that....LONG LIVE THE 1950'S & EARLY 60'S...........PAT
 
Parts!!

E-bay seems to have lots of parts for so many Jukeboxes.Also Try Victory Glass,just google it.They sell amp rebuilding kits and just about anything you need for any box.Good luck,,Bobby
 
Last one for tonight. Looking into the top of the flip up front, you can see the plastic is in poor shape. There is a fluorescent bulb above it that might be the culprit.

58limited++12-2-2009-22-10-21.jpg
 
What a fantastic find David!

It is a beautiful Juke-Box!

A little work and it will be as new.

I have never seen this model!

Thanks for the pictures.
Brent
 
WOW

One of my favorite models!
Even with some of it's cosmetic issues, that is a beautiful machine with incredible space age styling.
Congrats!
 
What a fantastic box...WOW !
Love it ...The cigarette burns means that baby is session!
Get some good funky records in there.
Good luck hope to see what you do next.

Darren k.
 
"What person did you get your jukebox from? You might have got yours from the same person in Bridge City I got my Seeburg R for fifty dollars."

I got it from a person in Nederland who bought it a few years ago. Unfortunately, it cost a lot more then $50, but the sellers paid twice what they sold it to me for. They just never got around to fixing it up for their game room.
 
Tubes, Delicious Tubes! I'll bet this thing will rattle a few windows when it's up and running! Are you going to be rebuilding the amp yourself? Love that logo on the speaker, and that killer "Early Jetsons" styling. Congrats!
 
Well, I tinkered with the juke box today. I won't receive the repair manual for awhile, but I got the motor for the record arm unstuck and oiled. The record arm needs adjusting: the records do not quite land centered on the turntable. Also, when the record finishes playing (no sound - probably the tubes and/or capacitors) and the arm goes to lift the record, it sticks and the motor gear jumps (I only saw it do this once and I immediately cut power to prevent damage to the gears). It could be a lubrication issue, or there might be a timing adjustment. I'll have to wait for the manual.

I guess it will probably need a rewire too - I dread this because there are 40 song selector buttons, each with its own wires to keep track of. Not all of the selector buttons work (no audible click) so I'm assuming its the wiring.

Now I have to decide how far to go with the restoration: should I make it like new, or keep the old character such as the cigarette burns on the last three song selector buttons?

This is a fairly popular model, so parts are readily available, for a price. A set of repro song selector buttons is $175.00. The plastic light diffuser in the flip up top is $90.00. Most other plastic trim and decoration parts are also reproduced. Tube and capacitor kit runs $150+ depending on the supplier. I estimate rechroming the pitted parts will be under $500.00.
 
Be Careful

I would imagine the gears are potmetal and they will break easily.Contacs Im sure need cleaning and getting the machine warm.My Seeburg B,if it hasnt been played for awhile will stick.Once she is warmed up its OK.No sound could be many things.Listen to the speaker and see if you get any hum.Check all of your connections really good.Some models have a micro-switch that disengages the pickup when it changes records and if it sticks you wont have sound.Dont worry about the looks until the mechanics are straight.I got my Seeburg 25 years ago,it runs fine and isnt the best to look at,but it hasnt gone to seed either.They are fun!!!! Good Luck!!!! Bobby
 
OK, I fixed the gear problem by sliding the drive gear back on the drive shaft so that it was disengaged from the motor gear. I turned it by hand to determine at what point the mechanism hung up. By rocking it back and forth I could locate the problem (it made a tapping noise) and I oiled the area and a few other spots that looked dry. It now runs smoothly without any hang ups or pauses.

But, it will not pick up the record after play is complete, so there is a little timing adjustment that needs to be made. Also, the tone arm doesn't swing out of the way and gets hit by the record grabber. I'll have to wait for the service manual to see how to adjust these. The only other mechanical problem is that the jukebox will not automatically start, even when the "Free Play" button is pushed. I have been operating it with the override switch. The other problems (and possibly the lack of automatic play) are electrical: no sound, some selector buttons do not work, some lights are out, etc.

I think that it will be pretty easy to track all of this down once I get the manual and schematics. I looked closer and all vacuum tubes are glowing. I bought a mutual conductance tube tester on ebay so I'll check them when it arrives this week. The capacitors look like the original paper ones, so I have to recap the amplifier.
 

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