General Collecting Question

Hello, all. Just wondering why anyone would want to collect a jukebox
that doesn't play 45 and/or 78 rpm records and has the record selecting
and playing mechanism clearly visible to the customer. I came of age in
the mid-1950s to mid-1960s era and half the fun of a jukebox was
watching the record being picked and, of course, the music on it being
played. AMI/Rowe and Wurlitzer boxes were particularly fun to watch
IMHO. The machines that came out in the 1970s didn't have the mechanics
on display (which probably didn't bother most folks). Thanks for your
time and any comment. Sincerely,
--
J. B. Wood e-mail:

On 03/13/2015 5:18 AM, J.B. Wood wrote:
Hello, all. Just wondering why anyone would want to collect a jukebox
that doesn't play 45 and/or 78 rpm records and has the record selecting
and playing mechanism clearly visible to the customer. I came of age in
the mid-1950s to mid-1960s era and half the fun of a jukebox was
watching the record being picked and, of course, the music on it being
played. AMI/Rowe and Wurlitzer boxes were particularly fun to watch
IMHO. The machines that came out in the 1970s didn't have the mechanics
on display (which probably didn't bother most folks). Thanks for your
time and any comment. Sincerely,

The 70s and 80s machines appeal to folks who have a large 45 collection
and want a good sounding machine to play them on that protects the
records from careless handling! A Seeburg Bandshell sounds fabulous
IMHO. As does the 1954 HF100R for that matter.

So, it can be appearance or sound quality or both - depends on the person!

I've been selling and fixing jukeboxes since the 70s, and anyone can be
a collector (or owner). I've had teenagers talk their parents into
getting a machine or adults talking their kids into putting a machine in
the rec room for parties...

John :-#)#
--
(Please post followups or tech inquiries to the newsgroup)
John's Jukes Ltd. 2343 Main St., Vancouver, BC, Canada V5T 3C9
(604)872-5757 or Fax 872-2010 (Pinballs, Jukes, Video Games)
www.flippers.com
"Old pinballers never die, they just flip out."

It's a matter of whether you prefer
the visual approach along with the audible
one.
If the visual approach is not a
factor, the '70's and '80's boxes are great
for breaking out your old collection of
45's, not only to maintain your pocketbook
sanity, but to iliminate the turntable duty
every 3-4 minutes, (with a home system).

On Wednesday, March 18, 2015 at 11:47:30 AM UTC-5, wrote:
It's a matter of whether you prefer
the visual approach along with the audible
one.
If the visual approach is not a
factor, the '70's and '80's boxes are great
for breaking out your old collection of
45's, not only to maintain your pocketbook
sanity, but to iliminate the turntable duty
every 3-4 minutes, (with a home system).

People have different needs for a jukebox. When I get a call on a juke box my 1st question to them is what records do they want to play. 45s or 78s records. Then my next question is do you want the old look where you can see the records or do you want just a good looking and great sounding jukebox. Price for the older jukeboxes I usually tell them to find an older ami. They sound just as good as the seeburgs, wurlitzers, rockola if there tuned up properly. If they just want a jukebox to play I recommend the Ami R-86----88 series. Great sound and low cost. I also tell them to make sure you by what ever jukebox you want for a person who works on them ( which is hard to find ) and if they get a solid state machine have the battery remotely installed. I have found that the batteries can leak and will destroy the boards. So in regards to your question it depends if you just want the looks or a great sound. Just my 2 cents worth. Norm

Originally Posted by

On Wednesday, March 18, 2015 at 11:47:30 AM UTC-5, wrote:
It's a matter of whether you prefer
the visual approach along with the audible
one.
If the visual approach is not a
factor, the '70's and '80's boxes are great
for breaking out your old collection of
45's, not only to maintain your pocketbook
sanity, but to iliminate the turntable duty
every 3-4 minutes, (with a home system).

People have different needs for a jukebox. When I get a call on a juke box my 1st question to them is what records do they want to play. 45s or 78s records. Then my next question is do you want the old look where you can see the records or do you want just a good looking and great sounding jukebox. Price for the older jukeboxes I usually tell them to find an older ami. They sound just as good as the seeburgs, wurlitzers, rockola if there tuned up properly. If they just want a jukebox to play I recommend the Ami R-86----88 series. Great sound and low cost. I also tell them to make sure you by what ever jukebox you want for a person who works on them ( which is hard to find ) and if they get a solid state machine have the battery remotely installed. I have found that the batteries can leak and will destroy the boards. So in regards to your question it depends if you just want the looks or a great sound. Just my 2 cents worth. Norm

Hi Norm,

Like you I recommend Rowe Ami jukeboxes, assuming the boards are good or you have them checked over they are vertually maintenance free.
I recomend from the R-84 upwards especially the RI-3, RI-4 & RI-5 for those people who want a a small footprint and lower jukebox, although these were a 160 selection jukebox they fitted them with a standard 200 selection mechanism, a diode in the pricing board stops the selection of 8 & 9 as a third digit because there is not space to display 200 selections.
All of my customers ask us to remove the diode and just have a sheet to show these extra selections or just put their favourite selections in these slots.

Regards
Alan

Alan Hood
ami-man
UK

On 03/31/2015 12:33 AM, wrote:
On Wednesday, March 18, 2015 at 11:47:30 AM UTC-5,
wrote:
It's a matter of whether you prefer the visual approach along with
the audible one. If the visual approach is not a factor, the '70's
and '80's boxes are great for breaking out your old collection of
45's, not only to maintain your pocketbook sanity, but to iliminate
the turntable duty every 3-4 minutes, (with a home system).
So in regards to your question it depends if you
just want the looks or a great sound. Just my 2 cents worth. Norm

Hello, and I was the original poster. You seem to be implying that the
later (let's say those that hide the mechanics) models sound better than
the prior-decade(s) models. I certainly can understand that the
state-of-the-art in audio components would've improved over the years
but how much better sound quality are we talking about? (Assume that a
jukebox regardless of its date of manufacture is operating close to
original factory specs with records in good condition). Thanks for your
time and comment. Sincerely,


--
J. B. Wood e-mail:

On 03/31/2015 3:16 AM, J.B. Wood wrote:
On 03/31/2015 12:33 AM, wrote:
On Wednesday, March 18, 2015 at 11:47:30 AM UTC-5,
wrote:
It's a matter of whether you prefer the visual approach along with
the audible one. If the visual approach is not a factor, the '70's
and '80's boxes are great for breaking out your old collection of
45's, not only to maintain your pocketbook sanity, but to iliminate
the turntable duty every 3-4 minutes, (with a home system).
So in regards to your question it depends if you
just want the looks or a great sound. Just my 2 cents worth. Norm

Hello, and I was the original poster. You seem to be implying that the
later (let's say those that hide the mechanics) models sound better than
the prior-decade(s) models. I certainly can understand that the
state-of-the-art in audio components would've improved over the years
but how much better sound quality are we talking about? (Assume that a
jukebox regardless of its date of manufacture is operating close to
original factory specs with records in good condition). Thanks for your
time and comment. Sincerely,



Well, for monaural jukeboxes I think the Seeburg HF100R beats all the
competition - always my favourite sounding 50s box. The DS160 with the
wing speakers was the best sounding of the early stereo machines (and it
was tubes, which helps!).

As for stereo, again Seeburg were amongst the best sounding during the
late 70s and on, with Rowe catching up with the R series.

We aren't talking Seeburg PFEAU/LPCs here though, those didn't sound any
better than Wurlitzers or Rowes of the same period.

Not to mention that Seeburg treated the records the best - low tracking
force, and well balanced tone arm, not to mention vertical playing and
storage.

John :-#)#

--
(Please post followups or tech inquiries to the newsgroup)
John's Jukes Ltd. 2343 Main St., Vancouver, BC, Canada V5T 3C9
(604)872-5757 or Fax 872-2010 (Pinballs, Jukes, Video Games)
www.flippers.com
"Old pinballers never die, they just flip out."

On 03/31/2015 09:45 AM, John Robertson wrote:

Well, for monaural jukeboxes I think the Seeburg HF100R beats all the
competition - always my favourite sounding 50s box. The DS160 with the
wing speakers was the best sounding of the early stereo machines (and it
was tubes, which helps!).

As for stereo, again Seeburg were amongst the best sounding during the
late 70s and on, with Rowe catching up with the R series.

We aren't talking Seeburg PFEAU/LPCs here though, those didn't sound any
better than Wurlitzers or Rowes of the same period.

Not to mention that Seeburg treated the records the best - low tracking
force, and well balanced tone arm, not to mention vertical playing and
storage.

John :-#)#

Hello, and from an engineering standpoint I always thought Seeburg's
"Select-O-Matic" mechanism was the most elegant. In contrast, AMI
engineers apparently took the approach of starting with a conventional
(horizontal) record player and then designing a record picking mechanism
around it. The AMI box kinetics provided the most visual experience to
the customer, IMHO (unless you factor in appreciation of the Seeburg
design approach). The old 78-playing Wurlitzers in which the platter
was elevated to where the record was stored was also an interesting
approach. Sincerely,

--
J. B. Wood e-mail:

On Wednesday, April 1, 2015 at 5:39:54 AM UTC-5, J.B. Wood wrote:
On 03/31/2015 09:45 AM, John Robertson wrote:

Well, for monaural jukeboxes I think the Seeburg HF100R beats all the
competition - always my favourite sounding 50s box. The DS160 with the
wing speakers was the best sounding of the early stereo machines (and it
was tubes, which helps!).

As for stereo, again Seeburg were amongst the best sounding during the
late 70s and on, with Rowe catching up with the R series.

We aren't talking Seeburg PFEAU/LPCs here though, those didn't sound any
better than Wurlitzers or Rowes of the same period.

Not to mention that Seeburg treated the records the best - low tracking
force, and well balanced tone arm, not to mention vertical playing and
storage.

John :-#)#

Hello, and from an engineering standpoint I always thought Seeburg's
"Select-O-Matic" mechanism was the most elegant. In contrast, AMI
engineers apparently took the approach of starting with a conventional
(horizontal) record player and then designing a record picking mechanism
around it. The AMI box kinetics provided the most visual experience to
the customer, IMHO (unless you factor in appreciation of the Seeburg
design approach). The old 78-playing Wurlitzers in which the platter
was elevated to where the record was stored was also an interesting
approach. Sincerely,

--
J. B. Wood e-mail:


I think as far as looks on the older juke boxes I would say the wurlitzers 1250-1550 is really hard to beat. The stack platters are reslly nice to look at and with the lighted pilasters and lighting on top it is a nice looking box. As far as a smaller jukebox look I like the Ami D-80. With there color wheels and large glass to see the records change . The ami jukes from e-80 to g-120 weren't very pretty and the wiring over the long run would crumble so I wouldn't recommend any of those. The g-200 was a big improvement with the new carousel 200 select box. I restored one four years ago. Had to rep[lace almost al the wiring. I had a seeburg 160 once. Really was a nice sounding box. For me I just stay with the AMIs due to the cost and there fairly simple to work on. The AMI r-3-4-5 is interesting in it actually contains a 200 mechanism. Learned something new again . Course if you listen to alan and john you will learn some thing. They both have been very helpful to people on hear. From all on here we thank both of you. Happy Easter to you all. Norm in missouri