1977 Rockola 468 Grand Salon

Lister · by **Lister** » Mon Dec 26, 2011 4:29 am

Bought this for $35, It was ugly, damaged and played records very slowly. The selections (read-in arm) didnt work and most of the lights were out.
Looked like this but it much worse shape:

Replaced all the bulbs / lights
Fixed the fascia along the front with JBweld
Replaced all the edging with Melamine edges stained to the right shade
Fixed the selection system
Fixed the speed selection system (was stuck on 33)
replaced the needle
Made a new backglass picture
Minor soldering here n there
Made new inserts etc
replaced the moneybox and top glass locks with knobs - no keys needed
massive amount of cleanup which in itself solved a few problems
now its done!

TinkerV2 · by **TinkerV2** » Thu Jan 26, 2012 11:30 pm

Hello Lister,
I too came across a 468 as well. Mine was $50. Probably in similar condition. You done a really nice job repairing/restoring yours. I especially like the picture you used behind the glass, very nice!
I just finished repairing the gripper assembly which was "glued" tight with old dried out oil. I just posted a question on adjusting the microswitch cam. I hope to make that adjustment this weekend. Any insite you have on this would be helpful. I love mine and can't wait to work all the bugs out of it soon.
Again, Nice job on restoring yours!

Jack

Lister · by **Lister** » Fri Jan 27, 2012 1:45 am

im not an expert so Ill leave it to the experts, all I can say it KEEP IT CLEAN ALWAYS!
You are experiencing what happens when you let maintenance get neglected

Most of my fixes were just cleaning good luck

DoghouseRiley · by **DoghouseRiley** » Fri Jan 27, 2012 7:46 pm

Nice looking machine. These tended to wear well as they were for mostly, posh pubs and hotel lounges. They have the advantage of no chrome to go pitted.

Apart from cleaning it up I bought a new "old stock" Monet graphic as these go blue with age. I got it from Leon of http://www.jukeboxparts.co.uk/ for just a few pounds.

I've probably mentioned this before, it's worth checking out the turntable motor grommets, these harden over time and fail to stop that's undetectable to the ear, a vibration which gets picked up by the cartridge and is reproduced as an irritating background noise when a record is playing. It happens on most Rock-Olas of that age.
As has been said, use is the best form of preventative maintenance and don't forget to play a few B sides.

Mine's working well. My jukeboxes are just part of our "garden experience."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9bmdmSityI

Lister · by **Lister** » Sat Jan 28, 2012 2:51 am

Mine came with the Monet picture but I really didnt like it, I still have it, but I thought it was kind of weird so it was replaced with the Rock n Roll pic