1960s? Rock-ola Jukebox acquired and need some info

[nasadowsk]

Rock-Olas from that vintage are pretty collectible. Beware the dreaded 6973 tube!

You will need to disassemble, clean and re-lube the gripper arm. Manuals are easily available, and parts are pretty easy to come by. These things were like TV sets, mostly different cabinets and slight mechanical variations.

Most issues are things being greasy, out of adjustment, or dirty.

If you want torture, you want a late 50s Seeburg!

[vortalexfan]

Originally Posted by nasadowsk

Rock-Olas from that vintage are pretty collectible. Beware the dreaded 6973 tube!

You will need to disassemble, clean and re-lube the gripper arm. Manuals are easily available, and parts are pretty easy to come by. These things were like TV sets, mostly different cabinets and slight mechanical variations.

Most issues are things being greasy, out of adjustment, or dirty.

If you want torture, you want a late 50s Seeburg!

Where might I find the service data/manuals for this Jukebox?

Also do you have any suggestions of where I might locate some of the parts I need for this jukebox? The parts I need for this currently are the turntable platter, the cartridge, and needle, and a door and key for the coinbox, and a lock and key for the top cover.

Also what's wrong with the 7868 output tubes in this jukebox that I should be aware of them?

[JohnCT]

Originally Posted by vortalexfan

Also what's wrong with the 7868 output tubes in this jukebox that I should be aware of them?

Price...

The Westinghouse 7868 is a fine tube - long lasting and great sounding. The "problem" was that it became hard to find because the production run was short. These were some of the very last tubes designed and produced before the fairly rapid changeover to transistors started. RCA's "version" is the 7591 and has an octal base instead although is otherwise virtually identical.

Many guitar amps and music amps had these tubes, so when production stopped, there wasn't decades of old stock kicking around the prices skyrocketed. Then the Russians, before they decided to try to rebuild the evil empire, put many vintage tubes back into production, including the 7591 series. These are also now made in Slovakia - at least the 7591 - not sure about the 7868.

The 7868 and its 7591 octal cousin are made in Russia and they actually did a fine job with them, and for a while, they were a lot cheaper than the dwindling supply of NOS or good used 7868/7591.

Now, the prices of even Evil Empire tubes have gone up big time, and current production is pricey once again.

But, while the 7591/7868 series is a great sounding and long lasting tube in high quality music and guitar amps, juke boxes (let's be honest) generally have at best ordinary amplifiers in them anyway, and even if they don't, usually have crappy phono cartridges. If I ran into one of these machines that need 7868 output tubes (which are much more expensive than the almost identical 7591), I would replace the sockets with octals and rewire for 7591s or even the 6L6GC.


John

[vortalexfan]

OK Thanks for the heads up about these tubes, I tested them on my tube tester and they all tested fine yet, so it looks like I should be good for right now, and I'm planning on reselling this jukebox so I can let whoever buys this unit from me worry about replacing the tubes.

What do you guys think would be a fair asking price for this jukebox once I get it going?

I was thinking about $1,500 without the extra 200 45 rpm records and about $2,000 with the extra records. Does that sound about right or am I way off?