Who owns a 45 jukebox .... wanna show it off?

Way cool!

 

Any suggestions on a budget (not fancy), but reliable jukebox these days?

 

Btw, for those looking for a jukebox, an automatic record changer is a lower cost alternative.

DIY 45 Carousel/Jukebox without Speakers? Exists? »

 

Sweet, that ugly brick brings back memories of wood paneling in the smoky bowling alley where they had a machine like this between the ball-polishing machine and the 5c scale.

 

Here is our main jukebox (Rowe-ami jal 200, 1963). My OH used to work on jukeboxes and arcade machines when he left school, following in his fathers footsteps so we always have a selection of cool coin op machines. This one actually sounds really good too (much to the surprise of one of his hardcore audiophile friends who was really dismissive of jukes until he heard it!).

We also have this nsm (nsm hit130d, 1967) but it is in the shed now.
It is very rare as nsm didn't get permission to use the likeness in the graphic and was ordered to destroy them all. A few managed to survive. It sounds horrible though.

This was my favourite but we ran out of space so it had to go (seeburg discotheque u100d, 1965)

It had a really cool feature. As well as the usual bulb, it has a uv light so the graphic shows either the street at night or in the day. The night light version looks like it is lit up by neons. It was the tits and also sounded great. (Just noticed the other one next to it! That one sounded horrible, think it was a rockola but I've tried to erase it from my mind. Looked great but the looks couldn't make up for the sound!)

 

Good jukeboxes are like vintage cars! Lots of maintenance and have a habit of breaking down when you least expect it! Totally worth the aggro but having an engineer as a partner helps! All the service manuals are out there and there are plenty of specialists out there. They are things of beauty so I'd just go for one you fall in love with and worry about reliability later.

 

I prefer the Rowe/AMI mechanism myself. Easier parts availability and easier maintained. Sounds good, uses the Shure M44-C cartridge. In good order, reasonably gentle on records. A nice choice for a juke. I would love to eventually own a AMI/Rowe JAL at home.

 

Not sure if videos links work from photo bucket but I'll give it a try. This should be the Jal in action.....hopefully

(Seems to work if you click the picture, takes you to the link )

 

Bump.

Anyone else have photos of jukeboxes to share?

 

Here is an inside view of a Rock-ola.

 

I've got a '65 ('66?) Seeburg Electra which works pretty well, but could use a tune up - I purchased it from Jukebox City in Seattle but they went out of business several years ago. (apologies for the grainy photos.)

 

Good looking Seeburg! I imagine it looks particularly nice lit up in a darkened room.

 

Yeah, it's awesome - I'll try to get a photo when it's dark. I remember this exact same jukebox from this restaurant my family used to go to when I was little, so of course I had to have it. The graphics look similar to the Seeburg Discotheque Purplefowler posted upthread.

 

None are super cheap. AMI Rowe late models very good sounding, reliable as a rule, and can be had for $500 or less. R92 a good one.

 

I bought a partially restored 1959 Seeburg Q100 a few years back for $1,000. Have not had any major problems with it yet -- but I play records in it at least a few times every week, which ensures that the gears don't get gummed up. Nice machine from the silver age of jukeboxes...

 

Seeburgs are very excellent machines, but more complex to repair. Especially the selection system. And they take their own proprietary Pickering cartridge. I love their sound quality on the whole.

 

Here are a few more promotional photos of the beautiful Wurlitzer 2300 and 2304 jukeboxes from 1959 with the clear vertical turntable positioned at the top of the display window.
Really a work of art. There were only about 500 of these produced.

 

Thanks for sharing some recent Juke pictures and also sharing literature on the Wurlitzer!

 

Here are a few Rock-Ola jukeboxes.


First, the Comet Fireball 120, also known as the Model 1438, from 1953. This machine was a trailblazer, as it played 45 rpm discs and offered 120 selections, in a fairly compact size. It really helped put Rock-Ola on the map. About 5,500 Comet Fireballs were produced.



Here's the Rock-Ola 1448, also known as "The Hi-Fi 120," produced in 1955. Rock-Ola was on fire at this point. More than 18,000 of these machines were manufactured. Note the horizontal turntable, on full display, and the "waterfall" speaker grille design that looked particularly nice illuminated.






And here's Rock-Ola's Tempo 2, a 200-selection machine from 1959 that offered stereo sound. (Yes, there were some stereo 45s being produced back then.)

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And just a few more photos of jukeboxes from the silver era... These are all from AMI, which originated as a player-piano company formed under the name National Automatic Music Co.

First up, the AMI G-200, from 1956:



Next, the AMI I-200, from 1958:



And finally the AMI J-200, from 1959.

 

And here's a brochure for the stunning, space-age AMI Continental II jukebox...

 

Whoa! You've got some great singles on there... "Buy For Me The Rain," "I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better," plus the Walker Bothers, Bee Gees, etc.

 

Thanks! I've tried to make it period authentic, at least within a couple of years. Lots of folk rock (maybe too much?).

 

Any machine I have will have "Gimpy's Pub" for the location information if there is a slot for it.

 

In terms of period authenticity, I've sort of done the same thing.

I'm a big Springsteen fan, and back in the 1980s I bought multiple copies of every single he put out because they all had picture sleeves and non-album B-sides and I knew that one day I'd have a jukebox and I'd need them. But once I got my late-50s/early-60s Seeburg, I realized Springsteen records just wouldn't go well with that. So I loaded up the Seeburg with songs mostly from 1955 through 1965, with just a couple of essential 1970s discs. Songs like The Diamonds' "Little Darling," Bill Haley's "Rock Around The Clock," and Jackie Brenston's "Rocket 88" just sound better on a jukebox.

I only have a few folk-rock discs, such as "Master Jack" by Four Jacks And A Jill and "Joanne"/"Silver Moon" by Mike Nesmith. I could definitely use more.