I've been collecting 30's and 40's jukes for quite some time. In the last couple years I've gotten into the 50's jukeboxes. I just spent a month and finally finished this Seeburg VL200...here's a couple photos. I'm going to finish my V200 now that I have the chrome back. Photo of the V200 is before the chrome went out. I bought an extra V and VL to have good parts for one.
After the V200 I have several other 50's favorites I'd like to restore.
Any other 50's juke lovers out there?

Absolutely gorgeous, beautiful job.

I love fifties boxes. Sold off all of mine but always looking for more projects.

Thank you for the nice words ggregg.
The 50's boxes remind me of the cars of their time....stylish and lots of chrome.
Don't know why it took me so long to really appreciate them.
Hope you find more projects.

Wow,

How beautiful is that! Jukes have always intimidated me, not to mention the size is a tough sell with she who must be obeyed. Gorgeous example. Cheers.

I never met a juke I didn't like. Until they started hiding the mechanism. In the chrome/deco days they were all magnificent. Yours is. The dazzling colors! How could anyone NOT pay to see it work?

In those days at restaurants, parents would give me a nickel (yes, a nickel) to put in. I'd stand watching it until the food came. They were also the highest fi most people had access to. Big speakers and big watts compared to the average home equipment, AA5 or at most a single 6L6.

Great Restoration!! A very popular and valuable jukebox. They are a hobby providing electrrical, mechanical and wood working fun. There is just something about it when they play those old records at our command.

Check out the old Night Gallery TV show on the internet. The episode was something like "Dans Cafe". I need to look that up to for the exact title. When we saw that show we went out shopping for our first jukebox. It was a AMI Continental 2 from the local AMI dealer. They had just shopped it out and it was $150.00.

We have been fooling with and collecting them since 1971 as a hobby. These days they seem to be getting a lot heavier and more difficult to handle. Gravity is getting stronger?
David (Geritol Ghetto)

Thank you all for your responses!
It's funny how people, especially kids, love to watch them pick up and play a record. The sound is incredible as well....really HI-FI of their time.
Lots of fun (work) to get one working right as well. I end up taking the mech completely apart and replacing any worn parts and making all adjustments. I've found they run quietly and are reliable if completely gone through.
I'll have to look for that night gallery show. The AMI Continental is a beautiful jukebox. I have one waiting for restoration as well as an AMI H200 and I200.
My favorite 50's juke is the Wurlitzer 2000.

You and I have similar tastes. Nice stuff.

What a beautiful light show. Sight and sound.

Thanks guys! They are beautiful when looking like new

Nice! I recently got the '50's jukebox bug myself and now own a Rockola 1446, 3 Seeburg 100B's, 2 HF100G's and a Wurly 2310S. I'm not keeping them all and I've only worked on the Rockola so far.

Where did you get your plating done? Were you happy with it? If you don't mind sharing, what was the approximate cost?

Splendid job! This brings back a lot of memories. The first jukebox I ever saw was an identical twin to this one.

Congratulations and keep up the good work!

Larry

Thank you Larry!

Very nice group of jukeboxes you have. The Rockola and Wurlitzer jukes are great as well. I have two Wurlitzer 2000's but no 50's Rockola's. How did you end up with three 100B's? The G is one of my favorites and hard to find with the original decal finish.

I use Courtesy Plating in Villa Park, Ilinois. Been using them for many years and they are one of the best I've found for die cast jukebox parts. He has done many of my Wurlitzers in the past and I just had him do the chrome (nickel) on a Wurlitzer 700 this month when he did the Seeburg parts.
There is a local company that is just as good, but they are slow and much more expensive.
As far as chrome price they charge $1,700 for a VL200 and $2,000 for a V200....$300 more on the V200 as they have to do gold plating on several pieces. I'm sure it would be much less if you don't do the dome frame, side glass trim pieces and all the small loose parts that were not originally chromed but they look nice done. The chrome for the drum covers adds $150 each if you want it done which I did. The Seeburg V200 and VL200 have alot of chrome and are one of the most expensive jukeboxes to do....more than double the price of the other 50's Seeburgs.

I'm taking a break before I finish the V200, and will be going back to restoring radios for a while as I'm sick of looking at jukebox parts.

Hi Shutterdialradio,

Thanks for the plating info...I'll research them some more. Sounds like they specialize in juke chroming. It's hit and miss regarding chrome quality so references are always good.

The Rockola was my first juke earlier this year. While surfing eBay for parts I came across a guy in the vicinity that was selling off his inventory. The chunk I bought from him was the 2 G's, the Wurly, some parts, and 5 B's. One cabinet was in really bad shape so I gutted the set and I hope to make 4 good B's but probably just 3. The GF wants one of the B's, I want to keep one of the G's, and definitely the Wurly, and then sell the rest to cover the cost and maybe make a small profit. I find the machines fascinating in all aspects and more addicting than collecting radios! Tomorrow I'm picking up yet another Wurly 2310.

I love old Jukes, I have a Seeburg M100B that's been in the family since 1964 and a Q100 that I picked up last January.

I'm currently working on restoring a 3W1 Wallbox to use with the model M100B.

I think you already know about all my jukebox doings around here . Your VL looks super nice . The rechrome shure costs enough ! My first 50's jukebox was a Seeburg G and i still have it . Last year and a half or so ago i worked over 4 Seeburg trashcan machines . I recently sold a Rockola 1485 ( 1960 ) and a Wurlitzer 1250 ( 1950 )
That was my third 1250 , still have one .

I restored a seeburg G for a guy up in Boise . I took in a late 60's Wurlitzer for partial payment . This one i also got this year and its now in 500 pieces .

Here's a suggestion that I've used in the movie theatre:

We have candy cases that have product in them that are lit by fluorescent lights. For years, we used cool white fluorescent lamps in the cases. I decided to try to change the lighting in our concession stands, so I went from warm white overhead CFL's to whats known as bright white CFL's to make the concession stand draw your attention as you walk around my lobby.

For the candy cases, I went to Gro-Lux lights from Sylvania... yes, plant lights, to light up the candy packaging. Now, the colors of the candy boxes POP and are more vivid than before.

I suggest that you replace the cool white fluorescents in your vintage jukes and install Gro type lamps. Especially in boxes that have lots of colors on them. This will really make the colors glow.

Along the same lines, I've installed warm white fluorescent lights in my popcorn warmers. The light is more yellow/cream looking, and the yellow popcorn glows.

Amazing what you can do with light.

That's a good suggestion. I'm going to give it a try.
Been working on radios for a while and now getting back to my jukeboxes

Hi Ken. Still have your first 50's jukebox? That's great. The G is a very nice machine and as I had said earlier, is difficult to find with the original decal finish intact. My first 50's juke was a Seeburg B which I traded long ago