In the end, it's all about the music isn't it??

rockabilly777

I'm not sure this warrants it's own thread, but it seemed inappropriate for the recent acquisitions thread. I suppose I could use this thread as a journal of bringing this thing back up to fully functional form. This is my first foray into this kinda thing, and while I possess decent mechanical aptitude, I have no actual learned skills, so it will be a learning experience. What the heck am I talking about anyway? Since I, like most here, am an appreciator of all kinds of music, I bought a 1951 AMI D40 jukebox. There's a short but cute romantic story that goes along with the purchase, but I'll get into that later. The pics posted here are not of mine. I just sourced them from Google Images. The appearance is the same, including the finish, but I haven't even taken any "before" pics of it yet so these will have to do. See what you think:

Mine is functional and is set up to play 45's, but was originally designed to play 78's. However, it takes an adapter ring to fit around the 45 to make it the same size as a 78, and I only have 2. The D40 accommodates 20 records (each with 2 sides, which gives it the "40" in it's designation), so one of the first things I have to do is see if there's a source for these things. Just searching thru Google, it would appear not. I'm wondering if I could go a 3D printing route. Anyhow, enough blabbering for now. This thing spent all of it's life in a bar somewhere in Ohio, so it desperately needs a thorough cleaning. More pics to come.

 

theartofmovieposters

Awesome purchase Rock...I love the old jukeboxes.
i would be very surprised if there wasn't some after market produced parts you could buy???
I know hubby found issues sources some bits for his pinball machine but found all eventually.

Can't wait to see the actual unit as it gets a new life!

Charlie

I am vinyl junkie and have hundreds and hundreds of albums and 45s... I was given a non-working jukebox about two years back and got an estimate for $975 to repair it. Ouch. I’d rather buy posters.  One of these days I’ll get it going.

rockabilly777

This one is functional, but as mentioned, needs to be cleaned and dialed in. However, the historical significance of jukeboxes in general, and the design of this unit in particular is what draws me to it. I’d display it in a room even if it had no hope of working. I’m with you. I certainly am miles away from having deep pockets, and couldn’t get it restored if I wanted to, but I bought a service manual for it and am feeling my way around the internet to see where to go with questions.

Matt

A poster collector buying a jukebox!!! now that's over the top......damn it but totally COOL!! I wish I had the space for one.

rockabilly777

Maybe you do! This one isn’t huge. It’s 152cm/60” tall, 76cm/30” wide and 66cm/26” deep. With regards to disposable income, I have no more business buying posters than I do a jukebox, but it was the right unit at the right time at the right price. As eluded to before, I like it just as much for being great industrial design as I do that it plays music. Hopefully I can be a good custodian of it and bring it back to it’s former glory.  Thanks as always for the kind words, guys.

Rick

would be nice to hear some old Sun rockabilly records on that!

Eisenhower

Very cool jukebox, Rock! looks like a months/year(s) in the making project, but well worth it! Nostalgia is wonderful to bring back to life; and reading the manual is really getting down to basics! Good luck and keep us updated!

rockabilly777

Thanks, man. I’ll take some “before” pics (warts and all) to provide a baseline. I have zero idea what I’m doing, but hopefully I can feel my way through. As happens with purchases of the unfamiliar, I’ve already run across things I didn’t know to look for when buying, but I’m still glad I got it, and that basically it functions. Since it will ultimately only offer 40 selections at a time, by only 20 artists, it will be an interesting journey to see what/who makes the first list.

Eisenhower

Very cool! It's all about the journey! as for the first 20 artists, given they have to be 45's the selection will be fun to watch develop. certainly keep us all updated!

theartofmovieposters

I think you'll do just fine
Can' wait to watch your journey through to the end.
Will you be compiling the records too or just using what you already Have?

rockabilly777

I'll definitely have to make a want list and go searching. This model was designed to play 78's, but was adapted by AMI to play 45's when they became popular. I figure there's a wider spectrum of artists and genres available on 45 than 78, so I'll just leave it converted. What I need are some of these adapter rings that make a 45 the same diameter as a 78, so the jukebox can grab it:

Unfortunately those aren't mine. I have 2, but need a total of 20. Arrrrggghh.

rockabilly777

I still haven't snapped any pics of the music machine yet, but I was putzing around youtube the other night and stumbled across this video. It must've been shot (poorly) by the guy I bought it from, as I didn't make it. Anyhow, this is my jukebox in action - all 2:25 minutes of it.

Eisenhower

Nice Rock! Nothing like it today. A true memory from the past....good tunes. 

theartofmovieposters

It looks like it is in reasonable shape???? LOVE the electric blue adapters!

A bit of TLC and she'll be as good as new!