1948 Jukebox!

[Sefton]

If pressed I'll have to claim a state of temporary insanity led me to this...I bought a 1948 AMI Jukebox! I walked into the antiques store and saw her standing there. She had the look that could destroy a man's bank account...and yet...I knew I had to have her! I randomly pressed a button...there were no titles yet. The needle went down and out of the speaker came the warm full sound that can only come out of a set of tubes. It melted into my ears like sweet honey. It was Harry James' "I've Heard That Song Before". I knew it was all over...I was hooked and I didn't care.

]

 

[BigSleep]

*sniff, sniff* I think that is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in my life! *sniff, sniff*misty, misty*

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

It was Harry James' "I've Heard That Song Before". I knew it was all over...I was hooked and I didn't care.

Then you looked over your shoulder and there was Rod Serling in his Kuppenheimer's suit, smoking a cigarette.

Great find! I wouldn't have been able to resist either!

 

[skillbilly]

Drool

That is a seriously gorgeous specimen. I've wanted one for soooo long. Out of curiosity, what antique store was that beauty hidden in?

 

[newspapercowboy]

juking

niiiiiiiiice

 

[Sweet Leilani]

Nice!

Welcome to the jukin' hobby! I can almost guarantee you'll want another one at some point- they're addictive! (Or at least some cool accessories, like a wallbox or two, auxillary speakers, maybe a microphone kit....lol !)

To find out more about your purchase, you can subscribe to Always Jukin', at www.alwaysjukin.com .

 

[Sefton]

Hi Skillbilly, The name of the shop that I picked up this gorgeous dame in is "Janakos and Company" located at 1001 California Drive. Not far from the Broadway train station (trains only stop there on sat/sun) and a fairly short walk from the Bulingame ave. station (which is open 7 days a week). It's a great shop...I've bought a number of items there including a lovely 40s or 50s sofa. Right now they have some great 40s radios although I've got to lay low for a while until I've finished paying for AMI!

Hi Sweet Leilani.One of the other Loungers (Cousin Hepcat-a real nice guy!) sold me a copy of the AMI owners book and gave me a copy of "Always Jukin'. Neat stuff!

Tony I hope I run into Mr.Serling again! He pointed me in the right direction this time (although I wouldn't buy a TV on his advice...if you remeber what happened in that episode ).

 

[Wild Root]

Swell! I've never seen an AMI before... it's not a bad looking box there friend!

I've seen some killer Rocola's, Seeberg’s and Wurlitzer’s in Antique shops before... once I saw a 1936 Wurlitzer for $1500! For anyone who knows Jukes, that's cheap for such an early model! I wish I bought it!!!!

So, my question is this... when are we going to have a juke joint party at your place?

=WR=

 

[Sefton]

Swell! I've never seen an AMI before... it's not a bad looking box there friend!

I've seen some killer Rocola's, Seeberg’s and Wurlitzer’s in Antique shops before... once I saw a 1936 Wurlitzer for $1500! For anyone who knows Jukes, that's cheap for such an early model! I wish I bought it!!!!

So, my question is this... when are we going to have a juke joint party at your place?

=WR=

As soon as I've paid for the Juke and can afford to buy a few chairs for people to sit on!lol $1500 for a '36 Wurlitzer? Holy mackerel! That was a crazy low price for a '36 (well,maybe crazy if you need to buy things like food and pay rent... )

Actually I'm buying lots of 78s now so I will be ready for you if you can make up here! Just got some Paul Whiteman,Count Basie and Duke Ellington sides. Also some Benny Goodman...the S.F. Amoeba records has about five folders of Goodman 78s all for a buck each! After what I paid for the Juke I'm sure glad that the music can be had for that price!

 

[Wild Root]

Yeah, tell me about it... I was really tempted to rob a bank and get that machine! Or, at least take out a small loan. But, the time was not right and well, I didn't have any room for it with all my old radios and such... HA! Who I'm I trying to kid here, I'd have MADE room for that thing!lol Any way, I don't think it was playing at the time, looked nice but, needed some TLC.

Well, you stock up on 78's and then give me a call... we need no chairs, we just need room to dance!!!

=WR=

 

[Cousin Hepcat]

There was a 1936 non-lightup Wurlitzer which looked worked fine except the amp was silent (probably was fully restored and a tube came loose in transit), sold for $600 at a local coin-op auction about 5 yrs back (before I feld like I could afford such things).

When I was record collecting in school, a fellow who was big into jukes told me about how in the 1960s, when they were at their lowest value, he & his dad went around buying 40s light-ups for around $40 each, and there were so many "woodies" (pre-lightup), they had no room on the truck, so they got left in the junk yards & in the woods.

Sefton, your mailbox is full, so here's the reply I was going to send:

I really don't know about that. I don't see any adjustments in my model C jukebox for that, or in the manual; I'd say the best thing to do would be to get two really big ones of those thick hard plastic furniture casters to put under the front wheels. Unless you have the time / resources to "fix it right": unplug the changer cables, remove the mech (its the same one as in mine - HEAVY!!), and get someone to help you tilt it back... Determine what kind of improvising may have been done to the original base that caused the rear wheels to protrude further than the front, un-do it, and re-attach them on the level. Or, extend the front wheels by bolting a plywood board of appropriate thickness in between the wheels & body (can always be un-done).

Good luck & enjoy!
- Bobby

 

[Wild Root]

When I was record collecting in school, a fellow who was big into jukes told me about how in the 1960s, when they were at their lowest value, he & his dad went around buying 40s light-ups for around $40 each, and there were so many "woodies" (pre-lightup), they had no room on the truck, so they got left in the junk yards & in the woods.

Left in junk yards and the woods? AAAAAAAAAHHHH! NOOOOOOO! That's so sad... man, I'd kill for a woody! Here's one I saw on the net... I'd love to have one of these guys...

1939 Seeburg.

Just for fun, the 1936 Wurlitzer

=WR=

 

[Cousin Hepcat]

Left in junk yards and the woods? AAAAAAAAAHHHH! NOOOOOOO! That's so sad... man, I'd kill for a woody! Here's one I saw on the net... I'd love to have one of these guys...

Those are sweet choices, Root - and AMI had the most mechnically sturdy and reliable mechanisms of the Golden Era (one reason why I chose their 1949 model), although their cabinetry wasn't just quite as showy as the bigger selling Rockolas and Wurlitzers. AMI was also the first maker to offer a juke that played both sides of 20 78's instead of just one.

Sefton's model B is a superb choice all around for anyone who wants a great looking, reliable, & reasonably priced (as these machines go!!!) golden-era light-up juke.

fftopic:
PS. Have you seen these? Posters put out by Wurlitzer, after they started making the light-up models - asking restaurant owners to turn in their older woodies to Wurlitzer for total destruction, to ensure the new Wurlitzer owners that their older box will never compete for customers at another restaurant!

If you know how to work on stuff, you can still get them, non-working but complete, pretty cheap. They are much easier to work on than any other kind, even the later light-ups, since they're simpler. Make great projects. Original service & repair manual reprints are still easy to find. Woodies deserve more respect...

Swing High,
- C H

 

[Wild Root]

:cry: :cry: :cry:

Why, OH WHY?!? That is the most gruesome photo... the destruction of beautiful deco art pieces... it's wrong, just wrong! Yeah, I know they didn't know they'd be worth anything but, what a silly sells ploy to sell their new models.

Cousin, if you find a some what solid 30's woody, would you let me know about it? I'd love something mid to late 30's.

=WR=

 

[Twitch]

Old or vintage things only hold a reverance for us today. In the past there was no sentimentality or nostalgia for "things" of bygone eras. My Grandmother had no use for antique furniture or any "stuff." To them it was just old stuff and nothing sccreamed "poor" like having old anything.

I am amazed at how indignant some antique car people get when they bad mouth hot rods or any modified old cars. In the 1950s and 60 cars of the 20s- 40s were just old cars. Driving a car from the 30s in the 1950s was like having a PA blairing "I'm poor!" or "I'm eccentric" Only kids were interested in them and only because they were cheap. Now we look back in scorn at modifying them as though people we supposed to have a crystal ball and would know that all their old cars and other antique junk would be sought after one day.

It's all relative. Back then people didn't have disposable income to "go antiquing" or cruising in vintage cars.

 

[Wild Root]

This I know and agree with but, it's still a bad image to cast one's eyes upon!

There were plenty of packrats back then who recalled the depression and hung onto just about everything thus the reason why we have anything from those golden years.

I'm amazed there are any Juke Boxes left! I'm happy that not everyone back then destroyed everything that was only 10 years old. Bless the packrats!

One thing I’m not happy about are the kids who started to customize cars in the 50’s and 60’s are still doing it today… they have got to have a very original straight car to chop up… they don’t care if there will never be any original cars left one day, they just want to do what they think is cool, no regard for history or antiques. Now, I did see a nice ’40 Plymouth coupe on ebay…. The guy was selling it because it wasn’t wanting to hot rod such an original car… that made me happy to hear!

=WR=

 

[Twitch]

There's very little chopping of complete roadworthy cars going on today. No one can afford to purchase a restored to stock vintage car for 15-20 grand and then sink another $30-40,000 in it. Also rodders are not into brakes and suspensions from the 30s! Too dangerous. If they don't simply buy a fiberglass replica body, about the most they confiscate is a rusting hulk of the metal original body from a derelict, decaying junker. There are complete rolling chassis available too and one can build many duplicates of Fords/Chevies from the 30s-50s. I

visit hot rodding site forums and there is no one drooling to hack up classics into hotrods. This was done in the 50s-60s when there were overloads of "old cars" that no one wanted. We must realize that Ford alone produced over 7 million cars from 1932-1941. In the 50s-60s they weren't rare or special at all.

For my part it would make so much more sense to build an all modern aftermarket and repro car if I desired a 32 Ford roadster hot rod.

 

[airfrogusmc]

Sefton, SWEET. I picked this up about ten years ago and keep the long necks in it.

Some cool jazz from a vintage jukebox with a long neck or two aaahhhhh now it doesn't get much better than that...

 

[Sefton]

Sefton, SWEET. I picked this up about ten years ago and keep the long necks in it.

Some cool jazz from a vintage jukebox with a long neck or two aaahhhhh now it doesn't get much better than that...

Those long necks are soda pop right? That's a beautiful machine!

The place where I work has been a customer of Coca Cola since the 40s and they still hang the original wooden signs up (inside of course...they'd get stolen pretty darn quick if left outside!) They also have a Coke clock from the 40s. I don't care much for soda but those old vending machines are special.

 

[airfrogusmc]

Would love to have an old jukebox to go with. I usually keep it well stocked with a large varity of beer.