first jukebox, is it any good?

[fcjim]

Hey I just scored my first jukebox, an NSM Prestige II. I've never heard of the brand, but then again if it's not Wurlitzer Seeburg or Rock Ola I've probably never heard of it anyway! I guess they're German made?

Previous owner said it plays but at the wrong speed. Sounded to me like something I could fix but I haven't powered it up yet, it's still out in the shop. It was filled with an eclectic mix of crappy music, so now I need to find some cool 45s I guess.

So are these good/ desirable units? This was free so if I learn these suck I won't be upset.

 

[Charles Kline]

It LOOKS awesome. I hope the lights around the outer frame flash in a chasing pattern like an old school theater marquee sign.

 

[thegleek]

NSM jukes are top of the line awesome-sauce-ness.

ex-klov'er g3n3r1c (infamous for creating the anti-klov group that got him banned here, and also he made joystick grommets) owns two NSM's --- the ES 160 version.

I would rank NSM juke's 10-100x better then every single Rowe/AMI juke ever made in all history.

Only juke better than an NSM would be the $10,000+ vintage Wurlitzer bubble iconic ones.

 

[fcjim]

It LOOKS awesome. I hope the lights around the outer frame flash in a chasing pattern like an old school theater marquee sign.

Well you may be right about that... not only do they chase, but they appear to react to the music! I hope it's not a coincidence and that mine actually does this, it looks really cool!

NSM jukes are top of the line awesome-sauce-ness.

ex-klov'er g3n3r1c (infamous for creating the anti-klov group that got him banned here, and also he made joystick grommets) owns two NSM's --- the ES 160 version.

I would rank NSM juke's 10-100x better then every single Rowe/AMI juke ever made in all history.

Only juke better than an NSM would be the $10,000+ vintage Wurlitzer bubble iconic ones.

Thanks! That's one solid vote for "doesn't suck." I'm getting a lot more excited about this score now!

 

[Doghouse]

They are quite a reliable machine, but aren't considered to be in the, Wurlitzer,AMI, Rock-Ola, Seeburg league.

Fifteen years ago I had the opportunity of buying one but settled on a Rock-Ola instead.

 

[KenLayton]

We had two NSM (I call them NFG) jukes on our route back in the day. They were nothing but trouble and we had almost daily service calls on them. The special cable between the mechanism and the control board would develop breaks inside the cable. Amplifiers were constantly failing. Sometimes the cpu board would die. They were so much trouble and even our local distributor (at the time it was Northwest Sales in Seattle) couldn't fix them. They told us the manufacturer (NSM) would not give them any help. So eventually Northwest Sales dropped NSM from their product line.

We ended up retiring all of the other jukebox brands (Wurlitzer, Seeburg, and Rock-ola) from our route to concentrate only on Rowe-Ami jukes. That way we only had to stock one brand for parts. Plus Rowe provided excellent FREE technical service clinics for operators. We always had great luck with Rowe equipment.

 

[tddlny]

When I was heavily in the business everybody used to say NSM stood for NO SOUND OR MUSIC. My opinion they are junk.

 

[ArcadeTechGW]

Well you may be right about that... not only do they chase, but they appear to react to the music! I hope it's not a coincidence and that mine actually does this, it looks really cool!

Thanks! That's one solid vote for "doesn't suck." I'm getting a lot more excited about this score now!

Well, the people with experience have weighed in.

And you still have it, and it works.

Cherish what you have. It looks cool. Work out how to fix it - you have the cable issue - you can probably make a better cable using high quality stranded wires for example. Bullet proof what you can.

The speed thing can be as simple as the grease has hardened and the speed wheel is stuck at the wrong point. Look at the manuals, see if you can discern what is going on.

Maybe you have a good one that will give you long and great service?

 

[Hoppy2021]

The speed thing can be as simple as the grease has hardened and the speed wheel is stuck at the wrong point. Look at the manuals, see if you can discern what is going on.

Grease really shouldnt be the issue. You do not regularly lube up nsm player mechs like you did on the Seeburg STD models. The only real thing that *might* need lubing is the little plastic/nylon plunger. But that has nothing to do with speed, and more so with gripper arm movement and record playing.

***edited to add*** when I say lubing the plastic plunger, I mean a very very fine flim of white lithium lightly brushed on. Its really best not to do in the first place unless you know what you are doing. It could have the same results as someone getting WD-40 happy with an old mechanical pin. Then every reel has to be taken apart and degummed over time.