Rockola 160

I can't express how happy I am that my old jukebox is working.  I bought it at a garage sale in Edmonton for 200 bucks a few years ago.  It hadn't been run in years, the top glass was broken and it was in rough shape.  I shudder to think how much I have invested in it, and I don't want to really dig in and do the math to find out.

I ended up finding a bunch of parts on line.  A replacement top glass was the most important one, but also some of the title card holders that were missing.  In addition to that I needed a new cartridge, coin door, locks and a few other things.

I got my friend Gary to come out from Lake Louise to do the restoration.  He is actually a friend of my Beer Parlour Project colleagues Chris and Connie.  Gary is originally from Manitoba, but has been out in Alberta for many years.  He and his EX share responsibility for their daughter, who is going to high school in Banff.   As a result Gary has worked for a number of years as a driver/operator for Parks Canada, and has been based in Lake Louise. 

My Jukebox is a Rockola 160, Model 432.  It dates to the late 1960's.  The sound system includes and old tube amplifier, which is working.  The records that were in it when I bought it ranged in age from about 1972, to the mid 1980's.  Interestingly, Gary's father used to be the Rockola dealer for his part of western Canada.... near Winnipeg.  I certainly lucked out in finding the right guy to get involved in my restoration.

Starting a couple years ago I consulted with Gary on what was a fair price to pay for my Rockola when I first found it at the garage sale.  The seller wanted 300 bucks but Gary advised to not pay more than 200.  Later I hauled it out to Nordegg, as that was more convenient for Gary to travel to.  Initially he checked it out and we confirmed that most of the components were functional.  Some months later he returned and set to work on restoring it.  He pulled a couple of the motors and some switchgear and took it back to Lake Louise with him to work on in his spare time.  He also installed the new cartridge at that time.

This past week he returned to Nordegg and re-installed the motors that he had previously serviced.  After a about three hours we had it up and running.

It's not perfect... after all it is as old as me.... 60 something.  But it works....!  The coin mechanism is a little temperamental, but that could be the Canadian verses American coin thing that vending machines were once sensitive to.  If not, then we can always over ride it with the free play switch.

Now I just have to clean all the old 45rpm singles that were in it... and add a bunch more from my collection.  Soon it will be running loud and proud and driving the neighbors crazy..... or perhaps they will appreciate it and come over to listen with us.