Phonoland

Posted: **Mon Feb 08, 2016 6:15 am**

Gday

I am looking to get a jukebox as a present for my wife. As I have no experience in this area I have started to do some research to help me out before buying. I am going to look at a Rockola 453 soon and would like to know what to look for / any known issues with this model.
It states that "its in working condition but sometimes has trouble picking up the record" Would be happy if this ends up being the case and would be happy to start learning from there.

I have repaired a few early 80's pinball machines over the last year and also knew zero when I started, so not afraid to dive into a manual and get my hands dirty.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thank
Pete

Posted: **Mon Feb 08, 2016 1:25 pm**

Hi! and welcome to a friendly board!

I see you're in Brisbane.

The first thing I would consider, is how far away you are from a jukebox engineer, who could assist you if you can't fix it yourself. In my experience, here in the UK, they don't come cheap and want to charge you "an arm and a leg," for mileage.
The problems with the box you mentioned could be anything, but anything "intermittent" to me sounds like it has suffered from lack of maintenance. It may be a lack of lubrication for the gripper arm.
The 453 is a nice little jukebox with a tried and trusted mechanism.

Posted: **Mon Feb 08, 2016 5:14 pm**

Hi Pete,
That's probably one of the hardest things to do, as we do not know you skill level, nor do we know the condition of that phono ?
It would be my advise, that you look at it, see how "dirty" it is and come back here, with your assessment of what it is not doing correctly, before you commit to purchase --At that point, we may be better able to judge--
And as for you "Doghouse"--I am what you call an "engineer" (we use the word "repairman", or "Tech" here)--I have made a good living repairing them for almost 50 years--and I do charge what I consider fair, but high fees, as I usually can "fix" any problems much faster then someone without the knowledge/experience---In other words, like in all things, you get exactly what you pay for--- :lol:

Ron Rich

Posted: **Mon Feb 08, 2016 5:19 pm**

Hi
I would say trouble with picking up a record is related to lack of lubrication on the gripper assembly
clones

Posted: **Mon Feb 08, 2016 7:12 pm**

Ron Rich wrote:Hi Pete,
That's probably one of the hardest things to do, as we do not know you skill level, nor do we know the condition of that phono ?
It would be my advise, that you look at it, see how "dirty" it is and come back here, with your assessment of what it is not doing correctly, before you commit to purchase --At that point, we may be better able to judge--
And as for you "Doghouse"--I am what you call an "engineer" (we use the word "repairman", or "Tech" here)--I have made a good living repairing them for almost 50 years--and I do charge what I consider fair, but high fees, as I usually can "fix" any problems much faster then someone without the knowledge/experience---In other words, like in all things, you get exactly what you pay for---
Ron Rich

I'm not doubting your abilities Ron, or that you charge reasonable rates. But you live in the birthplace of jukeboxes. These days repairers are few and far between in the UK and those who repair them know it.

I'm lucky, there's a jukebox engineer a couple of miles away from me and he's very helpful and value for money. But he wouldn't want me to tell anyone else about him, as he doesn't need any more work. But the nearest ones to me that actually advertises "jukebox servicing," are fifty miles away in different directions. That's a long way in the UK. The mileage and labour for any other form of electrical repair would be a lot cheaper than I've been quoted in the past for a jukebox.

Posted: **Mon Feb 08, 2016 9:54 pm**

Doghouse you're lucky, I haven't come across any in Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland, they have all moved on to the touchscreen machines, even the cd machines seem to be redundant now. From time to time I have to send stuff over to England. Sometimes I call to do some vinyl repairs but there isn't enough to sustain a full time person
clones

Posted: **Mon Feb 08, 2016 9:59 pm**

clones wrote:Doghouse you're lucky, I haven't come across any in Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland, they have all moved on to the touchscreen machines, even the cd machines seem to be redundant now. From time to time I have to send stuff over to England. Sometimes I call to do some vinyl repairs but there isn't enough to sustain a full time person
clones

My guy is in his late eighties, (that's why he isn't looking for more work, he only agreed to look at mine as he literally lives ten minutes away). He's been into jukeboxes since he ran a Wurlitzer agency in the West End in the late fifties. He went on to work in electronics, but kept his jukebox interest as more or less a hobby.

Posted: **Tue Feb 09, 2016 2:03 pm**

Hi Bob,

Would that be Mike by any chance? I will not give his surname out.

We engineers give out advice, but there comes a time when an engineer is required to sort out a jukebox, none of us engineers are getting any younger and if push comes to shove the last thing we want to do is get into a car and spend hours getting to a site. I try to get customers to send me or call into our workshop with there parts so we can test/repair them.

With regards any electronic boards repairs I would rather that customers do not atemp to use a soldering Iron in most cases it takes ages to rectify what they have done before we can get down to the actual repair.

Regards
Alan

Alan Hood
ami-man
UK

Posted: **Tue Feb 09, 2016 2:56 pm**

ami-man wrote:Hi Bob,

Would that be Mike by any chance? I will not give his surname out.

We engineers give out advice, but there comes a time when an engineer is required to sort out a jukebox, none of us engineers are getting any younger and if push comes to shove the last thing we want to do is get into a car and spend hours getting to a site. I try to get customers to send me or call into our workshop with there parts so we can test/repair them.

With regards any electronic boards repairs I would rather that customers do not atemp to use a soldering Iron in most cases it takes ages to rectify what they have done before we can get down to the actual repair.

Regards
Alan

Alan Hood
ami-man
UK

Yes it's Mike, A real gentleman.

We found we had a shared interest in painting.

Posted: **Tue Feb 09, 2016 4:01 pm**

Hello Bob,

I fully agree even though I have never met Mike he has been a customer and we have talked over issues on Rowe Ami's for many years.
I only met Len Beddow (a roving engineer, country wide) a few years ago and I have been repairing his Rowe Ami boards & amplifiers for over 20 years.

Sorry Pete for drifting off of your topic.

Regards
Alan

Alan Hood
ami-man
UK

Posted: **Wed Feb 10, 2016 1:25 pm**

Thanks for the replies. I'll post some pics when I get them.

The other thing I am worried about is once I get one jukebox they may start to multiply

Posted: **Wed Feb 10, 2016 5:32 pm**

Moff wrote:Thanks for the replies. I'll post some pics when I get them.

The other thing I am worried about is once I get one jukebox they may start to multiply

This is a common problem, I bought one and then a few years later to use a phrase coined by another contributor to a jukebox message board, "another followed me home."

I've two now and three wall boxes. If you don't find a box to your liking, there's a simpler alternative that I have, if you can find a working wall box at a reasonable price. I paid around £70 each for mine on e Bay, but they're much more expensive now, "the secret's out,"

It provides much of the same "nostalgia."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atNmUD-ryIE

Phonoland

Rockola 453 - What to look for?

Rockola 453 - What to look for?

Re: Rockola 453 - What to look for?

Re: Rockola 453 - What to look for?

Re: Rockola 453 - What to look for?

Re: Rockola 453 - What to look for?

Re: Rockola 453 - What to look for?

Re: Rockola 453 - What to look for?

Re: Rockola 453 - What to look for?

Re: Rockola 453 - What to look for?

Re: Rockola 453 - What to look for?

Re: Rockola 453 - What to look for?

Re: Rockola 453 - What to look for?