>> my Rockola
>> jukebox is like that)
>
>
>Fine machines...I used to repair/maintain them many moons ago!
>Wish I could afford to buy one now.
I got mine from a friend. He was moving and didn't plan to take it with
him. So he said I could come get it, but had to remove it from his
basement. It is about the size of a thin desk, and weighs maybe 200 lbs
(it is a table top like design, not the more stereotypical upright as
seen on Happy Days).
So I arranged to get a pickup, and a few large friends to help haul it
from the basement. When I arrived, I found that my friend decided not to
wait for me, and had put it out on curbside. I last spoke with him a week
earlier, so I'm not sure how long it had been there. It had been raining
all week to boot!
The top had been opened by someone else, and any of the 45's that were
reachable had been removed, as well as much of the carousel had been
damaged from attempts to remove 45's that weren't reachable.
Needless to say, I was pissed!
But I took it, and spent the next two weeks on my back inside the thing,
taking it apart, cleaning the rust, and repairing damaged parts. (I
lucked out, the service manual was still inside, and remained mostly dry,
so it was readable).
It runs 99% fine now, and sounds pretty nice (very nice for an early 50's
sound system, but obviously not quite as good as my surround sound
system). The only problem it still has is one of the carousel selector
sensors doesn't always make good contact, and if you try to play the 45
in that slot, it sometimes get stuck and just keeps spinning, never
selecting the record. My guess is a spot of rust (much of it was rusted
when I worked on it), but it is a pain to remove the unit, so I have
ignored it for now.
I still of course have to refinish the outside, as it was just totally
damaged in the rain (the chrome plate rusted and bubbled off, the
woodgrain siding peeled, and some decorative trim came unglued). When I
buy a house, and have more room to work on it, I'll refinish the
outside... but for now it lives at my parents house, and they just can't
have nice things, so no sense fixing it up just for them to trash it
again.
-chris
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Received on Thu Sep 05 2002 - 14:55:01 BST