1950 AMI "C"

I have just been told by a friend of mine, that his uncle wants to sell his AMI "C". He asked me if I would be interested and I said YES!! VERY INTERESTED!! The Price Is $300.00 or best offer, which I know is a good deal. The thing is I'm a Rockola guy, and have never worked on an AMI. I was Told That They can be hard to work on, Is this true? I was just wondering if The early AMI's have any major issues that I should be aware of before buying this? As Far As I know All it needs is a few new tubes and possibly a needle (from what I was told, it will select and play with no sound)

I have owned an AMI B for about 16 years and I believe the mechs to be identical. It has proven to be a very reliable machine with only a few minor problems over the years. In my opinion from a novices point of view, these machines are less complicated than the Wurlitzers, Seeburgs and Rockolas of the period. If your friends machine has not been previously restored, I would recommend the following, strip down, clean and lube the 3 motors, also check carbon brushes on them but make sure they go back exactly as they came out. Check the gearbox in the transfer and record rack motors for hardened or dried up grease. You may need to clean this out and replace it. Make sure all plug pins and sockets are clean and give a tight connection. Clean and reset all contacts. Replace rectifier if its the original sellenium type. Check fuses are correct sizes. Pay careful attention to the cam micro switch and its set up. This sits upright behind the tone arm post. The contacts inside can get very dirty and pitted and can cause all sorts of problems. The good news is that this switch can be taken apart and the contacts cleaned. A note of caution, be very careful as there is a tiny spring in there which has an annoying tendancy to fire out if you dont keep a hold of it. Getting this switch set up properly can be a bit fiddly, but the manual tells you how to adjust this. There are 2 similar switches on the front of the record rack. Also be careful when pulling the small pinned plugs out as it is very easy to put them back in the wrong way round. Clean and lube chains, transfer arm, solenoid plungers and record rack runner rails. Perhaps other members can make some further sugestions of advice. Last of all get yourself a manual. This will prove invaluable and is readily available for various sources.

Good luck

Gary