Help! Seeburg 3W-1 Wallmount with speakers\vol under buttons

Hi! I recently bought a Seeburg Wallmount with the intention of using what I could as a computer case. I tear it apart (carefully) and discover that it is a Seeburg 3W-1. I google Seeburg and see it is an American company. As I read this I recall clearly: imprinted on the back of the unit is "Made In Canada."

Hmmm...
I look at photos of 3W-1's online and they ALL are considerably different than mine.
They don't have the front radiating speakers with gold grills nor the 3-button volume control beneath the selection keys.
I search webpage after webpage, youtube, forum after forum and can't find a reference to one that looks like mine.

As of this posting, I am guessing it is a retrofit?!?

If it is a retrofit, it is an amazing one because the interior fit is flawless, and the chrome "shell," if you will, looks and fits spectacular! Two of the volume buttons are broken but that just adds character. The interior mechanical looks VERY functional(coin/slug detection etc) but I am yet to evaluate the electronics.

So...do I have a very rare retrofit piece that might be a collectors' item/value? Do I leave it alone until I find someone who would want to restore it completely (I have no interest in restoring it) and sell it to them?

Or...do I go ahead and take the grinder to it and make it into a crazy-ass vintage PC case?

I have to admit, I've kinda fallen in love with this Wallmount. But do I keep it or set it free?

What are your thoughts?

Confused and anxious...

Jimmer.

Ontario, Canada

Hello Jimmer,

What you describe is not in my books, I would have a look on the Stamann website and check out their Archieve Section on www.jukebox-world.de to see if you can see your wallbox.

Regards
Alan

Alan Hood
ami-man
UK

Jimmer,
Can you post a photo--I have no idea what it is ? If not, is the any electronic "board" in it, that has any part number on it--or, at least, which "selection system" does it use ?
Ron Rich

Thank you for your responses. It is a $0.10-1 song, and $0.25-3 songs.

Serial number on inside: 118XX. The same number is written in marker on the back plate. I will look for additional identification markers.

This will be my first attempt at posting photos. I hope it goes well.

Thank you for you timely responses, I appreciate it.

Jimmer.

Please accept my apology, the correct model is a 3W-1.

MAN!!! I must have been tired when I typed that!

The serial number 118XX is outside the range provided by http://www.jbw-forum.de/sdb/index.php?a ... el&id=7095

The same plaque indicates it is a 25 volt, and 60 cycles.

Sorry to have wasted members' time with the wrong model number. Good grief!

Jimmer.

Hi Jim,

very interesting!

I'd say it's not a retrofit but a so called aftermarket Canadian design by Chris Sheils, Toronto.
This means he used a Seeburg 3W1 and did built a new cabinet around the equipment used inside.

What is an aftermarket model? These were done to older models to give them a new, modern look. Often locations which did not have too many guests could be gained for these conversions. I do not call those retrofit models. A retrofit model is something made about today in the style of back then.


I never saw a 3W1 in this cabinet but a Wurlitzer 5207. I also found a little note in the Billboards that this was presented in 1965.
http://www.jukebox-world.de/Forum/Archiv/Welt/5207.htm

You will see two different wallboxes shown in this article. They are very small but I'd say those are two different ones. I would ID them as the Wurlitzer 5207 wallbox shown in our archive already plus your 3W1.


Sorry, I can't answer your question about what to do with this one. These are my thoughts:
- it is a rare model
- therefore it is a real part of (Canadian) jukebox history and so sad to destroy in my opinion
- it might have an ideal value for real collectors
- but regarding a monetary value it might not be worth too much


I would love to add your 3W1 to our Jukebox Archive, too. Same if you can provide me with a photo of the ID plate.
It would go into the Canada section: http://www.jukebox-world.de/Forum/Archi ... htm#Kanada



Kind regards - Hildegard

Jim,
That was a 3W-1, that someone "modernized". The round cover was removed and the square one, with speakers, added.
I have seen several different versions of that "modification", both with, and without speakers.
Ron Rich

"I would love to add your 3W1 to our Jukebox Archive, too. Same if you can provide me with a photo of the ID plate.
It would go into the Canada section: http://www.jukebox-world.de/Forum/Archi ... htm#Kanada

Kind regards - Hildegard"
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Hildegard - I am happy to provide you any information you would like. Please let me know what format you would prefer the photos, I am happy to provide them. You are doing a great service to the public by providing the information you provide on your site. On behalf of all of us who happen to be privilege your compilation, thank you.

Sincerely, thank you for educating me about the difference between 'retrofit' and 'aftermarket model.' After all, isn't education the purpose of forums?

I spent several hours today cataloguing every mark/serial number on the piece. I thought it might matter to a collector. I know it won't matter to someone who needs a computer; someone who prefers to have a piece of art/history as a conversation-starter which (just!) happens to employ all the qualities of a modern desktop computer.

I (simply) noticed a discrepancy in the piece.

From my experience, it is better to ask for advice than it is to prematurely destroy something that might matter to somebody. Anybody.

I guess, when it comes to this belief, I am naïve.

Aftermaket pieces are apparently quite common.

I believe a common person would never have known this piece was out of the ordinary, or rather, ordinary but just altered. I can see why Mr. Sheils took it upon himself to do this work. It is obviously a labour of love; not a get-rich-quick scheme. The evidence is in the details.

Knowing what I know now, I would rather have this piece in the hands of someone who CARES and break even than sell it to someone who thinks it is 'pretty cool' for a profit. These days, every antique I see looks like a fantastic candidate for a great computer case.

Cheers,

Jimmer.

Hello Jimmer,

thank you for kind answer. Photos as a .jpg are fine. If they have a format of 800 x 600 that would be ok. But if making photos smaller is a problem I can do so as well.
Photos from the outside and inside and different angles are nice. If there are ID plates, sticker or so which could give extra information I like to see them, too.

I agree doing aftermarket models was common. It was found in the 1940s but also in later years like 50s and 60s.
But often not that many of a certain model had been produced. Or a manufacturer made them all slightly different. Plus often it is dificult to find out who made them.
For most it is not an important question but from a point of research it is worth a chapter in jukebox history – in my opinion at least. That's why we try to show as many models and their manufacturers as possible.

There are some clever engineers who make 3W1 or other wallboxes work with a modern music system. I am sure they are in the States as well as over here in Europe. Two years ago in UK a seller offered AMI WQ and 3W1 wallboxes which had an iPod connection integrated to use with home stereo device.
They are in the back of this photo: http://www.jukebox-world.de/grafiken/Ji ... C02790.JPG
I think (I am not sure, somebody else might know more, Alan do you?) that the internals of the wallbox are still kept inside.

Kind regards - Hildegard

Greetings Jimmer,
I would very much like to add your speaker/volume control piece to my collection of wall boxes. Please contact me off list at gmari2@verizon.net
Thanks
George in jersey, USA

Hello Hildegard,

Yes all of the wallbox internal parts are retained from what I understand the ipod interface is supplied by an American company. I have not looked into it but one of the forum members Doghouse Riley has used the kit interfacing with a Rockola wallbox.

Bob, if you would like to fill us in with more information on how this is done it would be appreciated.

Regards
Alan

Alan Hood
ami-man
UK

Here is a photo of the Model Number and Serial Number of the wallbox.

Thank you for posting the photo of the ID plate. In general it is the same like those I know. Just the way how it was made is different.

On your ID plate the words are embossed into the metal.
On our ID plate of a regular 3W1 all is printed except the serial number which is stamped.

Does anybody know if Seeburg ever made those ID plates, too?

Kind regards - Hildegard

Hi Hildegard,
I doubt if that question can ever be answered 100 % correctly---but here's my guess---
( I have repaired many wallboxes and never noticed the other type of tag--but then, I would usually have no reason to look at the tag--all I remember is the type you posted)
Seeburg was always looking to "cut costs". If a "supplier" offered a replacement part for less, they usually sold it--In this case, I have no idea if that was an "in house" product, or an outside supplier was providing them. Either way, if someone offered to do it for less, Seeburg would have purchased them. It could also be that the machine used to make the tags broke down, and they needed them, so they contacted an outside supplier for a batch. Or, it could also be that for some reason the original supplier was notable to supply them at the moment--probably, more likely, un-willing, as Seeburg had not paid for the last batch ?
The photo here by Jimmer, could also be a reproduction, someone made--it could have the correct SN on it, as the original tag may have been damaged, but still readable--or, because all Seeburg wallboxes through the SCH, series, had the SN written in ink, on the cabinet back ?
Ron Rich

Hi Ron,
I am sure you are right about your thoughts. Who knows what Seeburg did back then - especially with an item producing for so many years like 3W1.
Jimmer's photo shows that Sheils in Canada did not produced their own ID plate, means with their name etc. Of course they could have done this, too.

But now, I guess, I will start to look at every 3W1 ID plate to see whether they are all the same or different or whatever.

The more answers are found the more more questions come up. This is life, isn't it?

Hildegard