Anyone here modify their juke's?

CykoMF

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Just wondered how many of you guys dress up your old machines and what modifications you've done to them.
I don't do anything that can not be undone and -I save all the original parts so factory original 'restoration' is an easy option.

Here is one machine I've been working on, originally a mint R-84, I yanked out the coin habitrail tubes, the amp doghouse and title strip billboard and completely replaced the front panel with one from a R-85 (Had to have the light show man!)

Then I trimmed out the 'innards' with sparkle paper and a Hard Rock Cafe theme. The coin return button now acts as a cancel switch since it's on permanent freeplay anyway. You can't really see em in the pic, but I've printed up track lists on transparency paper and stuck them to the inside front glass.

Still have some wires I need to reroute and relocate the volume control (or get a remote for it) but it's coming along nicely. Also looking for a turntable that will support the small spindle hole 45's so I can play picture discs in it. Anyone have a suggestion for that?

OK, I've shown you one of mine, now let's see some pictures of your juke projects.
 

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Hi,

The turntable you need is part of the automix kit for this jukebox.
The kit number is 2-66681-02 but if you intend to use just undinked records then you can get away with just getting the turntable part number 3-07921-02.

You could try at www.happ.com or through a Rowe Ami distributor.

Regards
Alan Hood
ami-man
UK
 
I replaced the CD changers in my Pioneer 55 jukebox with one of the MP3 units and it is great. The sound is amazing and having loads and loads of tunes is awesome.

The only issue I had with it is that their instructions were a little light. I had an old laptop HD that I had just reformatted and put into a USB HD adapter case, so I loaded up some songs based on their docs and then it didn't work. It took about 30 minutes of digging on their site to find out (buried in a FAQ) that the drive has to be formatted Fat32. One reformat later, using the same external USB harddrive adapter, a quick load of songs and nothing. I went back to square one and started with their USB HD adapter and fully reformatted the drive (not quick format) loaded songs and it finally worked. Apparently, all HD adapters are not created equal. Now that I know, it works great. I have about 400 songs loaded (out of 5400 slots available) and I need to figure out what to do with the CD label holders.

ken
 
AmiMan - Thanks for the info (and part numbers!!!) Alan, I'll call our local distributor soon as I can. Your 'nick' sounds familiar, I think I've seen you around on some other boards. JukeboxWorld maybe?

YellowDog - I've heard many similar stories about them mp3 drive conversions. Have you had any problems with inconsistent volume levels? That was another complaint. I'd like to try one someday but...

Doesn't the Pioneer 55 use the same title cards as the Rowe/AMI's? If so I've got a single page scan (of 4 cards) that opens into MS-Word. (I use em in my Eagle. see pic) All you have to do is copy and paste your song titles into the proper areas, print and cut em out. Looks pretty nice, you can use different fonts, colors, etc... Let me know if you'd like to try it.

ToolGuy - Thanks for the encouragement!
 

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There are a couple of things that can cause inconsistant volume problems. The biggest one is using different software programs to rip the songs. Some do a better job than others. Most newer ones also let you "normalize" the volume levels. I use the Windows Media player (I'm too lazy to go find a better one) so I don't have the problem of different volumes from different apps. I don't normalize the volumes as I find that it takes some of the fidelity out as well.

The Pioneers use a card about the same size as the CD cover so I will probably be doing something similar. I am trying different things to see how they work out. The biggest issue I have are in the big directories where I have 7 or 8 CD's by different artists, whose cover art gets printed???? ;)

ken
 
Ken - Technically, making an mp3 takes away some of the fidelity, but I know what you mean. The normalizing also changes the musics dynamic range. As long as you are happy with the sound quality I don't see any problem with it. There are many time and space saving benefits for converting to mp3, but for me, it takes away from the reason for having a jukebox in the first place.

With your cards, if you're going to make custom ones, why not use multiple covers or different theme pictures? Maybe even background pictures with titles superimposed over them...

Alan - OK, I think you've helped me out before at one of them other sites I visit. (and thanks for the tips on the rest) Glad you found this place, and welcome!

I've found a service guy with a bunch of old parts, might be able to get something rigged up. I want to drill out the spindle shaft and centering hub on the turntable and install this spring loaded center into it. (See pic to show what I'm talking about) Would like to hear your thoughts on it. Think it'll work?
 

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Hello CykoMF,

You will have to let me have your name.

Yes you could drill it out but it has other engineering problems. On the top of the turntable is the raised lip that takes the dinked records, this would have to be cut or milled off and would also have to be turned in a lathein order to accept the 1100/1200 centre that you are trying to fit. The best bet would be to try doing this all in a lathe. Centre the turntable on a lathe and first cut down the lip so it is flush and then you would have to cut a recess to accept the centre. The only step would be to drill the shaft which you may find is quite hard and lastly the peg hole to accept the peg on the centre. It would not have to be spring loaded but the centre may have to be shimmed to the correct hight.

A lot of work but it may be your only alternative, I have only come across two of these turntables, one was in a kit I had in stock.

Regards
Alan Hood
ami-man
UK
 
Good news! I've just received my turntable project back from the machinist.

He cut out the center spindle and recessed it enough to accept the (soon to be) spring loaded center. Turns out the turntable shaft was made of rather hard steel and was somewhat tricky to drill but, it all looks pretty good. There was some porosity in the aluminum material where the cut had to be made, hope that isn't going to be a problem. I'll try to get a photo posted soon.
 
Here is the picture.

I'm still hunting for a spring that will provide enough lift without pushing the record off the platter.
 

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For your sound leveling issue, I know with the old Seeburgs they dealt with it on the amplifier end, there was an extra tube you could use that would "level" the volume from the different records.

Not sure if you're using the original amp, but I wonder if AMI had a similar option.
 
Yeah, it's the original amp, solid state so tubes aren't really an option.

The spindle is working pretty good so far. I'm going to swap out the records soon and finally get to play some of them imports with the 1/4" holes.

I was hoping some other guys would share their mods in this thread. Hate to think I'm the only one (admitting) doing this.

Someday I'll post pics of my RockOla's 'magic window' project.
 
An update on this project...

It's working fine. I've had a few of them extremely thin imports try to lift up off the turntable and slip a little bit but, otherwise it's been doing great.

Have another more radical project I've been working on. . .
Gutted a ROWE R-84 cab and moved all required components into a coffee table around 1/3 the size. Plan is to top it off with a clear dome and make a functional machine that'll fit better in a smaller room.

Let me tell you it's like Tetris putting all them pieces into that little table!
Will try to get a photo posted of it real soon.
 
Here is the picture.

I'm still hunting for a spring that will provide enough lift without pushing the record off the platter.

Hi John,

That work you have done is great on that R-84 turntable. With regards to a spring, have you thought of modifying the mechanism by installing the Automix Kit.

As I may have told you this kit is 2-66681-02 I have one of these kits less the turntable and the sensing wire.
Most people would not fit the full kit so that it would just work for dinked and undinked records and play them both at 45rpm rather than what the kit was designed for to play dinked records at 45 rpm and undinked at 33.3 rpm.

If you require the kit or advice/documentation please contact me off of list.

With regards to projects have you seen the guy in the UK that has produced a CD/DVD that shows you how to make a copy of the Ami Continental using basic tools and materials found at most DIY outlets.
Ebay item number: 220883672011

Regards
Alan

Alan Hood
ami-man
UK
[email protected]
 
I'm in the very beginning stages of converting a Rowe CD100 to a touch tunes. I have a flat touch screen and some of the compnents. Looking forward to diving in.
 
Hi again Alan,
Thanks for that info. Is that kit for R-84?
Probably would have saved me a lot of work machining that platter.

It's working very well, I get an ocasional record to slip once in a while but not bad.

Been working on another project, I gutted a R-85 and fit all the peices into an end table. Got a clear plastic dome for it and plan to make a little mini juke with fully visable workings. Should keep the kids (and me) amused. I've got a pic of it with the panel templates in place.
 

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Hi John,

I think you would have been better with a small dome similar to the one that is for sale by the chap who sells the instruction CD of how to make a copy of the Continental jukebox.

This chap is based at York in the UK.

Regards
Alan

Alan Hood
ami-man
UK
 
As to the MP3 volume level question. There is a value stored in an MP3 that can be used to adjust gain as it goes through the player. I have used a piece of software called MP3Gain before to do just what you all are talking about. It will scan all the MP3's you point it toward then give you the ability to choose a setting that will normalize them all as close as possible. The software then adjusts the gain in all the files to "normalize" them. If there is a huge variance you can get them close, but not exact. It has never been enough that I can hear. I used it a few times years ago when I had the same problem so its the only one I am familiar with. A quick Google search shows other tools out there so there may be something better.
 
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