- Joined
- Jan 31, 2018
- Messages
- 3,377
- Reaction score
- 3,793
- Location
- The Tropic of Trafford
- Hardiness Zone
- Keir Hardy
- Country
I've always been interested in music, I can appreciate a good tune, sung or played well of any era.
I've played an electric piano for a few decades and a tenor sax (badly) for nearly ten years.
I've a varied collection of music on LPs, CDs and mp3 files.
I got into vinyl jukeboxes over ten years ago. I've two.
A 1976 Rock-Ola 468, all this needed was twenty years of tar removed from it and a "new old stock" graphic which cost me five pounds.
and a 1969 Rock-Ola 443, (my favourite) which I cosmetically restored
It looked "dog rough" in the e-Bay listing photo, but I could see the chrome was un-pitted.
But after a bit of attention.
Both have to live in our tea house as they weigh 300lb each, would be difficult to move and would take up too much room in our small house.
I've had this jukebox wall box for about the same length of time, it was a non-runner, so I put bigger speakers in it and I use it to play mp3s on my laptop. Jukebox wall boxes were originally connected to a jukebox, or what is called a "hideaway" the mechanics, electrics and record carousel in three-foot cube box in the back room of cellar or a bar. You can see these wall boxes at the end of bar booth tables in some classic films. More opportunities for bars to make money.
It also serves as a telephone directory, the previous most common use for them when they no longer work. It lives in my "office" ... alright, the box bedroom.
But ten years ago wall boxes were unloved as there was little else you could do with them.
About eight years ago, new technology came in. I was in early on this as the information was posted on a USA message board dedicated to jukeboxes. So I was able to purchase two of these boxes, cheaply on e-Bay. Being unused for decades, they needed a bit of "fettling," but just lubrication of the mechanics and cleaning of the switches and contacts. The chrome on both is pretty good, enthusiasts often have them re-chromed but it's a hell of a job to dismantle them and they often won't work when put back together. It's also horrendously expensive to have them done.
The title cards you can print off in a number of designs and colours from a pdf on a jukebox enthusiasts web site. Though I now have a programme for it on my lap top in case it disappears or they want to charge you for the facility.
The three foot cube "hideaway" has been replaced with this, the size of a matchbox and an "unloved" third generation iPod.
I've some quick release connectors so I can swop the wall box connections over.
The iPod holds the 160 selections that the wall box is designed to play. So I can enjoy the nostalgia, by putting coins in the box, pressing the necessary buttons for my choice, hear the whir of the pulse sender, then hear the track play though my vintage Leak tune/amp and big Goodmans speakers. I had to make a special hardwood shelf to support the boxes and hide all the wires in trunking, to keep my wife happy. Note the other vintage audio technology, all working perfectly.
The wall boxes have become an investment, because as the technology became more well known the prices of these wall boxes have risen by more than five times the price I paid for them.
I've also a spare title card magazine, so with a third second-hand i-Pod the selections available are now 3 X 160.
I do have a stick in the side of the TV with over 3,000 mp3s on it and a DVD/CD player under the TV, but "it isn't the same."
Jukebox trivia.
For those of "a certain age,"
Remember when you went into a bar or a cafe in your youth and put a coin in the jukebox and made a selection, then how happy you were when it played "your record?"
It didn't matter how many people chose and paid for that record, if it hadn't yet been played, it would only play it once.
I've played an electric piano for a few decades and a tenor sax (badly) for nearly ten years.
I've a varied collection of music on LPs, CDs and mp3 files.
I got into vinyl jukeboxes over ten years ago. I've two.
A 1976 Rock-Ola 468, all this needed was twenty years of tar removed from it and a "new old stock" graphic which cost me five pounds.
and a 1969 Rock-Ola 443, (my favourite) which I cosmetically restored
It looked "dog rough" in the e-Bay listing photo, but I could see the chrome was un-pitted.
But after a bit of attention.
Both have to live in our tea house as they weigh 300lb each, would be difficult to move and would take up too much room in our small house.
I've had this jukebox wall box for about the same length of time, it was a non-runner, so I put bigger speakers in it and I use it to play mp3s on my laptop. Jukebox wall boxes were originally connected to a jukebox, or what is called a "hideaway" the mechanics, electrics and record carousel in three-foot cube box in the back room of cellar or a bar. You can see these wall boxes at the end of bar booth tables in some classic films. More opportunities for bars to make money.
It also serves as a telephone directory, the previous most common use for them when they no longer work. It lives in my "office" ... alright, the box bedroom.
But ten years ago wall boxes were unloved as there was little else you could do with them.
About eight years ago, new technology came in. I was in early on this as the information was posted on a USA message board dedicated to jukeboxes. So I was able to purchase two of these boxes, cheaply on e-Bay. Being unused for decades, they needed a bit of "fettling," but just lubrication of the mechanics and cleaning of the switches and contacts. The chrome on both is pretty good, enthusiasts often have them re-chromed but it's a hell of a job to dismantle them and they often won't work when put back together. It's also horrendously expensive to have them done.
The title cards you can print off in a number of designs and colours from a pdf on a jukebox enthusiasts web site. Though I now have a programme for it on my lap top in case it disappears or they want to charge you for the facility.
The three foot cube "hideaway" has been replaced with this, the size of a matchbox and an "unloved" third generation iPod.
I've some quick release connectors so I can swop the wall box connections over.
The iPod holds the 160 selections that the wall box is designed to play. So I can enjoy the nostalgia, by putting coins in the box, pressing the necessary buttons for my choice, hear the whir of the pulse sender, then hear the track play though my vintage Leak tune/amp and big Goodmans speakers. I had to make a special hardwood shelf to support the boxes and hide all the wires in trunking, to keep my wife happy. Note the other vintage audio technology, all working perfectly.
The wall boxes have become an investment, because as the technology became more well known the prices of these wall boxes have risen by more than five times the price I paid for them.
I've also a spare title card magazine, so with a third second-hand i-Pod the selections available are now 3 X 160.
I do have a stick in the side of the TV with over 3,000 mp3s on it and a DVD/CD player under the TV, but "it isn't the same."
Jukebox trivia.
For those of "a certain age,"
Remember when you went into a bar or a cafe in your youth and put a coin in the jukebox and made a selection, then how happy you were when it played "your record?"
It didn't matter how many people chose and paid for that record, if it hadn't yet been played, it would only play it once.
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