What jukebox for private arcade

Tamerlain

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We are putting together our own home arcade with the older classic games. We would like to add a jukebox. I don't have any idea what kind...what would be a good fit to a 70s to early 80s theme...I want to stick to 45s no CDs...which brand or model would have been around then...I am not looking for rare....common would be fine...also take into consideration reliable ...And price... thanks for your help
 
I had a 1974 RockOla 454 and loved that box. It had absolutely beautiful sound and was very reliable. You can find nice, working ones for about $300.

Bill
 
I have a 1983 Wurlitzer Fuego, 45. I've had it for maybe 7 years and have had not one problem with it. The Wurlitzer record mechanism in it is used on a ton of jukes and is known to be very reliable. In my experience, or opinion, is that the newer 45 jukes, aka the 80s ones, are the most reliable jukes there are. Definitely more reliable than the cd versions, where a little dust can make them stop
 
I have a 1964 Rock-Ola Princess Royal. It took a fair amount of work to get it going, but since then it's been fairly reliable. I still need to rebuild the amplifier though, as it distorts some high frequencies. A juke of this age definitely will need some work, but I like this one for several reasons. For one, you can see the record playing. That's something that a lot of the newer jukes hide, but it's fun to watch. It's also not very big, which is important for a small gameroom area.

Another interesting feature it has is the ability to play 7" LP's as well. That format is pretty useless at this point, it was a jukebox-only format that never took off. But, the great thing is that this gave this machine the ability to play records with either the large 45 RPM hole, or the small LP center hole. The spindle has little tabs that stick up to sense the size of the record. A small hole record pushes them down, which flips a cam and changes the speed to 33 1/3. I simply removed the cam, disabling the speed change. This leaves me with an automatic center spindle, allowing me to play European import 45's with the small hole unmodified.

But, again, on a machine this old, be prepared to do some work on it when you get it, unless it came already fixed up... It also only holds 50 records.

Also, when you do get your jukebox, you're going to want this:
http://www.pinballrebel.com/archive/other/onlinestrips/index.html
It's an online title strip generator. Just type in the records and it'll generate a PDF you can print to make title strips for your jukebox. Use cardstock for best results.

-Ian
 
Depending on the color scheme you prefer, R85 or R86 get my vote for early 1980s models. Parts and repair services are readily available for Rowes, Rockolas not so much, and Seeburgs can be really difficult.
 
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Get a Rowe R-85 thru R-89.

+1 - what he said.

I have had a Rowe R-89 now for 10 years with no problems and it sounds great. I also have a Rockola 488. It's a nice juke too, but the sound the Rowe puts out just blows the Rockola away. The Rockola has been finicky too.

YMMV, good luck in your search.
Tom
 
All right ~ Vinyl is the way to go!

I'll concure all the Rowe R series votes. You can get them cheap and they are easy to fix. Get the ones with the flashing disco lights if you can, they are great! Pull out the title strip board and you got a nice big window to watch the records play.

If the big ugly box shape wont do it for you, Rockola machines from that peroid are very cool and affordable. Our 440 get a regular workout with little to no problems.
 
Unless you are really hung up on 45s, don't discount the newer CD players converted to MP3s. You get access to a huge number of songs which you can customize easily. I am looking at keeping a couple of theme images depending on the season (load up them Chrismas songs in December) that can be kept on the hard disk and just copied over. My setup uses a 100GB hard disk partitioned 30/70 and I have a long way to go to fill the 30GB main partition.

ken
 
Hello Tamerlain,

I agree with Ken also the R-84 through to the R-94 will give you the least trouble if all the electronic boards and amplifier are checked out for dry joints (cold joints in the USA) on all of the connection pins.
With regards to servicing they are virtually sevice free, a new styli every couple of years and a new turntable drive belt if it shows signs of being loose or it effects the speed.

Regards
Alan Hood
ami-man
UK
 
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