Good Vibrations jukebox restorations

I never realised Rock-Ola’s have special slots for mono records. 🤭

Well, that was interesting. The discreet restoration of a very early 1934 Seeburg Selectophone. Discreet, meaning keeping everything as original as possible, although structural work on the cabinet couldn't be avoided. This Seeburg had been worked on in the past and was then put on display only. The mech is quite unique and much fun to see it in operation. Castings turned out to be very brittle so it needed a lot of careful attention to get it un-gummed and moving again. Honorable job, to work on a Seeburg as old as this.

One of the last projects to be finished before the end of the year. This lovely original AMI finally needed a technical overhaul. And that after only 65 years of playing and so far only being serviced. Now, with every availabe upgrade fitted it’s ready for another 65 years. At least.

Sometimes you run into a little nice private collection. 😉

And again, a beautiful Duke Of Juke / Good Vibrations co-production. Ready just in time for Rosmalen. See you all next weekend!

Sometimes a restorer’s life sucks.
Quite a bit.

Update: remarkably funny comments by my friends and customers! Thanks. I’m okay now.

Well this was a very special job. This very V200 was the one that started it all...

Imagine me, 1988, not yet aware of my latently present love for jukeboxes, visiting a friend's house for the first time. Climbing up the stairs, entering his living room, and there it was: This Seeburg V200 in all it's shiny glory!
From there on things went really fast. I learned about all the different jukeboxes, about people putting them in their houses, where to buy and how to restore them.

Now back to 2023: I run my own business in restoring the most beautyful jukeboxes in the world. And this V200, which I never lost out of sight, needed a thorough service. (Only 36 years after the late Frits Aalders serviced it. 😄) It was a pleasure and an honor to work on this V200 which turned out to play such an important role in my life!

By the way: This is now the first Seeburg in the Netherlands equipped with Victory Glass' brand new amplifier!

Just a quick update to let you know that there are many interesting things happening in our cosy little workshop, all at the same time! More detailed stories in the near future! As we say in Holland: busybusybusy.

Yesterday, I got this lovely jukebox book for my birthday. Actually, it’s a book for children, but hey, aren’t we all big kids collecting stuff? It’s about a little girl remembering going on the road with her grandfather, who was a jukebox mechanic. It has some beautyfull oil painted pictures by James Ransome.

The adventures of the nasty Princess. Coming soon in a theatre near you!

And now for something very completely different!
Thirty-something years ago I missed the opportunity to buy an Arietta Piccolo. Only just, by two minutes. And it has bothered me ever since. Finally, last year I found a decent one to add to my personal collection. And, to be honest, I’m over the moon with it.
The Arietta Piccolo is a German built wall hanging jukebox from 1956, built bij Treff in Berlin. It was available in three colors, has a tiny little tube amp and a very odd mechanism with a pile of 35 singles all rotating at the same time. Looking at the titlestrips I suspect that this Musikbox has been in storage since 1964.
This one will be tastefully restored. Somewhere in the next thirty-someting years.

Wurlitzers keep rolling in. And out. 🤩

Well that was was a very rewarding project! A reknown collector entrusted me with his Wurlitzer 2504 to give it a full restoration. This must be the prettiest 2504 around at this moment. Ready for delivery and then on with the next. So many jukeboxes to restore in the forthcoming year!

Just for the record…

Service call! Nothing wrong with this lovely Tempo. Just a conversion to LED tubes. Less power consumption and much quieter. That’s one happy customer.

Wurlitzer 2504, the IKEA Edition (Some assembly required).
Seriously, a fresh veneered cabinet and a bunch of cleaned and lightly polished chrome parts… Let the fun begin!

Shopping day…

Pinbanks galore. ❤️

And on with the next...

And again, one lovely original Wurlitzer was delivered to the customer today, after a thorough technical restauration. Mice nibbled on most of the wires in the junction box so it was quit a challenge to get this one right.
On the outside evertything was exceptionally original so a little dusting was all it needed. Oh, and we fixed the pilaster of course. I love these machines.

The re-restoration of the Wurlitzer 2100 is coming along nicely.

(📷 Duke Of Juke )