I have no idea how I got into the joke box scene but it happened a couple of decades ago. I became fascinated with the fact that a modern stereo or iphone lasts about 2 years and craps out but these things were built 50, 60, 70 years ago and with a liitle mainanance and patience, they will endure much longer. In my current hoard are my 1940 model 500 Wurlitzer, a 1950's Wurlitzer model 1450 pictured above that is a completed restoration looking for a home and a Seeburg Select-o-matic 100 that will be the subject of the next repair thread if you are interested. The Seeburg sounds good after some tube replacement but it likes to play the same song over and over. The cause is the pin bank needs cleaning. The pin bank is comprised of 100 pins, springs, magnets and levers that are triggered when the selection is made. Over the years they become corroded and dirty and require disassembly and rebuilt. I am just finishing my wiring project on my roadster and as I deliver the car to the upholsterer I will begin the tedious restoration of the Seeburg. I traded the Seeburg to the painter for the work on my roadster this winter and I promised to make it work properly so I need to make good on my end. This is a new area for the HAMB, if it is not welcome here that is cool. Please advise. Otherwise, give me a week and ill tear into the pin bank.
Nice Work! Love a good ole Juke Box! Glad your keeping them alive. Sent from my SM-J327V using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I have a Wurlitzer Juke Box For Sale if any body is interested, Send me a PM and I will get all the numbers,also have some 45s. Thanks Ron.
This one hangs out in our basement. I just love the sound scratches and all Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Here's mine: 1959 Wurlitzer 2300S with wallbox and wall speakers. I restored it about 15 years ago and since then it has never given me any troubles, apart from a blown fuse now and then. Pics were made after I had finished restoration, so no title cards yet. I kept the original grille with the small dings and dents where people kicked on it back in the day, maybe because it was not always working properly.
That 1959 Wurlitzer stereophonic has blond wood work like my dining room cabinets! Sent from my LG-H830 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
In case you didn't know, this is a selector mechanism or in Seeburg speak...a pinbank. 100 pins, 100 springs, 100 tiny contact plates. There is also 100 little magnets in there to push and pull the levers when you make a song selection. Add about 70 years of dirt and smoke and the contact between the ground bar on the bottom and these pins and contact plates and the electrical connection is broken. The result being a certain damn John Denver record that plays over and over. Magnets on the bottom, magnets on the top and more contact tabs. If you like taking apart one complete piece and having 1000 pieces on your bench, this is the job for you. See all those pins, 2 rows of them. Chose C3, and one of those pins will stop the "frog" when it comes by and tell the record tray to select that record and play the B side. Not "star wars" high tech...more Jules Verne. This is where it goes in the machine, in the rear of the cabinet, just below the record changer you can see in the picture. 4 screws and a plug and it comes out. This is also a good time to lube the clutch and mechanism. The selectomatic 100 will be good as new after a painstaking clean up of that pinbank. "There's a storm across the valley, clouds are moving in..." Mr. Denver there is a change in the weather coming.
... My buddy said his neighbor kept pestering him to buy this old Seeburg jukebox so he could stop paying storage on it ... When he asked how much? the neighbor told him $500 ... ... he busted is ass to get over there that day to drag it home ...
^^^^killer buy on a seeburg. That is a sweet juke box. If anyone is interested in how to spend a couple fo hours in the garage doing the most tedious job in the world...Clean 100 of these little contacts. That is still more fun than what comes next...putting the pinbank back together. There was one plate that was dirtier tan the rest, I bet that was the John Denver one.
Some of the pins come out bent, that one on the bottom was probably C1 (the infamous John Denver record). Straiten them with a pair of needle noses, the bend easily. Besides cleaning the contact plates these need to have the funky corrosion cleaned off as well so the magnets grab them easily. The fun part of the job is to reload the bank with the 100 pins, plates and springs after everything is clean and spotless. Cool trick I picked up on line, fold a business card in half and use it to keep the pins in place while you are replacing the upper contact plate, those 20 pins have 20 slots they fit into. You just wiggle the plate around till all the pins fall into place then bolt it down, slide the card out and repeat the process 4 more times. It isn't horrible but it will take a few hours. Ever play that Operation game as a kid? Using a pair of needle nose pliers and lowering the pins into place without the little contact plate falling off is a lot like that. Anyway, that is how you fix an early Seeburg when the selector is not working properly. Last night Mrs Bandit and I danced in the garage to a perfectly working juke box. Now I can make good on my promise to my painter. Always keep your wife and your painter happy!
my 1956 Bergmann Symphony, built in Hamburg-Altona. it works very well, spent hours of fun in our shop. 80 selections, the amp is redone and since then it powers out Carl Perkins twice as much.
Great thread.Thanks for posting.Many years ago,a friend had a jukebox servicing business.The take out records were just thrown out beside the shop.That pile was about 15ft across the bottom,and about 6ft high.Ahhhhhhhhhhh.If I only knew then what I know now,I could be a rich person.Sighhhh. Good luck.Have fun.Be safe. Leo
My 1958 Rock-Ola works fine. Me and my Kids have great Partys with it. Sent from my S41 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
If anyone has an old 78 RPM version I records for it in truly mint condition. Better hurry though, I'm down to my last 7000 or so. No, that's not an extra zero...
I have an old Wurlitzer that plays thenm them. Always looking for Elvis on 78, I have enough Bing Crosby to make me want to beat my children but I do want malakilukimaka .
The Jalopy Journal
