At long last but worth the wait

Some time ago I said we were in the process of restoring a Wurlitzer model 1100.
I should have known better and gave a ridiculously optimistic  completion date( May or June according to an earlier blog), I will never learn.
However, the long wait has been well worth it and Stephen, our restorer, has done a fantastic job.

Stephen with his pride and joy

We spent all Afternoon listening to the rich warm tones of this box and admired the finish, the restored veneers and the re nickelled metal finish and the turning coloured lights  . Stephen then admitted that he had finished restoring the jukebox a couple of weeks ago but his family loved it so much they begged him to keep it "for testing" for a few more days!

I think this has the best sound of any of the 78 rpm Jukeboxes, excellent amplifier, good sounding speaker and the first Jukebox to have the (relatively) lightweight 'Cobra' tone arm.

Will put some more images up of the finished jukebox on the website and on this blog over the next few days

Here are a few pictures of the 1100 being restored

The speaker has been rewound and the cone re-doped

External metal removed for polishing and nickel plating 

Amplifier has been fully restored and tested

Back restored, as good as new

This caused problems, bits missing, head scratching,
 now working with new bits!!

A Jukebox for the Space Age

An AMi Continental 2 of 1962

The latest Star Trek movie is causing quite a buzz on the internet so I thought it appropriate to feature the amazing AMi Continental 2, one of which we have nearly finished restoring , which, in style at least, is a definite spin off from the Space Race.
This Jukebox pre-dates the original Star Trek TV series by four years but a year after the launch of the first men into space, Yuri Gagarin and Alan Shepard.

Yuri Gagarin

The design of this jukebox mirrors  the optimism in the future which was prevalent at the time.
The clear dome cover revelling the internal workings, turntable, tone-arm and selector mechanism  looks remarkably like a space helmet visor and the curved display panel hovering above  would not look out of place on the Bridge of the Star Ship Enterprise, Even the plastic facia under the dome is the same colour as Yuri Gagarin's space suit!

Admittedly the design owes at least a nod to the French/British Jukebox from the 50's the Chantal Meteor 

Chantal Meteor Advert, circa 1957

Which looks as if it's off the set of Forbidden Planet . (and I wouldn't be surprised if the Daleks  design was not inspired by this Jukebox).

The Chanal is a child of 50's Si-Fi and the Continental a child of 60's Science fact.

The reality of both machines though is that the technology inside is from the late 19th/ early 20th century, Berliner's Gramophone, a selector mechanism with routes into the machinery of the19th century weaving industry . The display panels on both machines had to have at best typed or hand written labels carefully placed in the right slot so it corresponded to the record being played! No touch screen technology here.

This was also a time when jukeboxes were becoming old fashioned , people could afford record players, transistor radios and started buying in singles and LPs in large quantities. 

The Continental 2 was the last Hurrah of the "Silver Age" Jukeboxes. After this jukeboxes hid there turntables and selector mechanisms as if embarrassed by the old technology they contained. Desperate to keep up with the new technologies of LPs the same year as the Continental this  Design Award wining Seeburg LP player was produced.

I know which one I would prefer  to own...

We hope to have the Continental Ready to show in June I will post details photographs when it has arrived in our Showroom.

A beautiful Jukebox from 1948

Wurlitzer 1100 of 1948

We will soon get the fabulous Wurlitzer 1100 back from restoration.
It should be in the show room by the end of May/early June.
This is one of my favourite jukeboxes and  the last by the famous designer from the 'Golden age' of jukeboxes, Paul Fuller .
His most famous design is the Wurlitzer 1015 but I prefer this model for looks and it has a great sound.
It is nearly the same size as the 1015 but because of the lancet top it looks a lot smaller.
It has a more sophisticated tone arm and I think a better sound. It, of course, can only be stacked with 24 78 rpm   records playing only one side but with  record in good condition what a sweet sound!
Here is to the link to the the page on the website.
I will post more pictures of the actual jukebox ( the one above we have sold), with detail shots when it arrives at the showroom