Secret Restorations

[Sean Regan]

This is a show on the Blaze Channel, it's pitched, like a sort of a cross between, "The Repair Shop and Gladiators."
I saw a trailer today, which mentioned that tonight's episode would include the restoration of a jukebox like this one of mine. So I recorded it and found the section.

The subject didn't look too bad, the sides of the cabinet in its, "wood grain laminate," looked OK, although, it wasn't working and the graphics had faded, the chrome just needed some chrome cleaner.
The gripper arm mechanism needed freeing up and lubricating. The turntable bearing just needed a new circlip, (but they welded it), cleaned a few contacts and replaced the cartridge. So it was working as it should. The owner had had it since 1970.

This is what they did to the cabinet. They couldn't replace the faded record card insert, as since I managed to get my "new old stock" one, they are now made of "unobtainium."

They didn't bother to polish the chrome.

It still looked like it had a tube out, but the owners were happy, well they would be wouldn't they? It's telly innit?

 

[zigs]

Not too impressed then Sean?

 

[Sean Regan]

Not too impressed then Sean?

It's TV, isn't it?

Pitched at the level they think people will watch.


The only saving grace, is there's not the level of "the high emotional drama, of the reveal," as there is in, The Repair Shop. This has got "higher" with successive series. But I do appreciate the skill of the restorers. They've restored a few jukeboxes in the past, but have concentrated on the cosmetic side, rather than the complicated inner workings.

Sometimes when they introduce a new item, "they big up" the emotional introduction, so you know what will be in for restoration, will be a bit of tat, that most people would have put in the bin decades ago.

Anyway, with the "Secret Repairer," I thought they might have done something with the graphics. As with most, they start to go blue with age. You see it in prints of paintings in frames in public buildings. Here's a better photo off my TV.

It amused me that they had a problem with the cash box door, (bottom-right hand side), it was missing, there was just a big hole, so the just painted round it!

 

[zigs]

Yep, we don't watch tv anymore

I did a college course on ritual protection in ancient buildings some years ago, we looked at protection marks in lots of old timber framed buildings as part of the course. One of them was the barn that they now use for filming the repair shop.