Bobs' Capehart Orchestrope

Capehart Automatic Orchestrope model 28-G.B. circa 1929. Electric pick-up and amplifier. Restored inside and out, including the wallbox. Record magazine holds 28 records, non-selective. After playing each record, it is flipped over and restacked at the bottom of the magazine for a total of 56 sides. This machine is coin operated from either the coin slide (on the side of the cabinet), or the wallbox.. This video is still listed in memory of Bob who passed away in August 2022.

[@RadioSvit]

A fantastic mechanical machine ! Respect to the owners for the impeccable technical condition . 👌👍👍👍

[@johnjomennelson8631ForEveryone]

I absolutely love this, thank you so much for sharing this, it holds a special place in my heart

[@puciohenzap891]

What a gorgeous bit of kit!

[@thomase13]

Wowwwww! I have never seen a jukebox anything like this before! I had no idea they were so old! Beautiful and amazing!

[@milesmead2232]

Wow! What a wonderful rarity!

[@dariowiter3078]

Fantastic machine, folks! 🎵🎶🎵🎶🎵 💿💿💿💿💿 😀😀😀😀😀

[@rodneykingston6420]

Two most interesting things: 1 You get no choice or selection - you drop a dime and you get to hear whatever the next record in the stack is and 2. no lock on that door! They sure trusted the general public in those days!

[@matthewfarmer2520]

This is like a jukebox, awesome 👍

[@RaymondTVinyl]

Oh Bob this is so Fabulous!!! I can watch and listen to this player for days on end!!! Thank you!!

[@calvinlloydpatterson]

The sound quality is very impressive ... a piece of working art. Truly lovely!

[@kpbattlesword6062]

I just found a Capehart 500 G cabinet (unfortunately Gutted). Such a beautiful piece of furniture.

[@faerieSAALE]

This type of music needs a comeback. Singers too!

[@samuelfellows6923]

I think that was an example of 1920s American jazz? We still have [acoustic] jazz genre in modern music

[@Wingwarper]

WOW! WOW! WOW! This why America could later land a man on the moon! What incredible technology with such a fragile audio medium. You are so fortunate to have this working gem. And Nat and George playing too! Thanks for taking the time to share this!

[@Timothycan]

Fantastic machine! Love the fretwork on the front, too.

[@alanspagnolia9474]

SO ahead of it's time. What a fantastic system this is !!! You are truly BLESSED !!

[@muddysledge]

Oh man this thing is absolutely gorgeous. What craftsmanship!

[@PureBrew1]

really impressive sound for how ancient this is.

[@tommarion9007]

Early sort of Juke box model, coin fed, wow! A first for me! Thanks for sharing!

[@stephrdt2054]

Une pure merveille de technologie !

[@01Bubba2001]

The two records played in this video are:"There's Everything Nice About You"- Nat Shilkret and the Victor Orchestra,,also, "Because My Baby Don't Mean Maybe Now"-George Olsen and His Music.

[@arthureverett8220]

Beautiful primitive early form of jukebox I wish they made the modern internet jukeboxes with that intricate fancy woodwork and detailed cabinetry. Capehart also manufactured radios TVs and record players in the 50s and sixties to compete with Crosley products

[@HarborGuy]

Amazing ....

[@victrolaman]

Absolutely fantastic early Jukebox, thank you so much for sharing.

[@rjtwigg1]

A beautiful machine that plays the records at the perfect speed.

[@cpaulphl]

A truly phenomenal machine. It looks (and really sounds) so much better in person. Thanks for sharing this!

[@jukeboxeddie1]

The Capehart was developed by Homer Capehart, who became the head salesman for Wurlitzer after his company went bankrupt. Capehart was a sales genius and was the brains behind the distribution system that jukebox manufacturers used for decades. When he went into the business again under the name "Packard" (for Packard Avenue in Chicago where his factory was located) after WWII he couldn't penetrate the network that he himself had developed decades earlier. The Packard jukebox company was short-lived and Capehart went into politics and became a U.S.Senator representing the state of Indiana. He is known for his lavish parties and having a half-lit stogy sticking out of the right side of his mouth. He was a major influence in the jukebox industry nonetheless.

[@deccakitty]

Ed Liss Thank you for the history on this wonderful man! his mechanism were a tad harsh but beautiful to watch none the less!

[@wannabelikeyou6253]

Packard Manufacturing, that produced the Manhattan Jukebox, was located in Indianapolis Indiana.

[@echodelta9]

Not to be confused with Packard in Ft Wayne. I assume this famous name Capehart was used by a brand sold at K-Mart and popular with my parents age bracket when buying a cheap stereo in the 70's and 80's. Especially in Indiana. Kinda like those Crosley radios with blurtooth. We have had one jukebox company here as long as I been here.

[@01Bubba2001]

Once a record is finished playing, it is pushed to the right side of the mechanism where it slips from the drop tray to be flipped over carefully then carried under the turntable mechanism to the left side. There it is gently pushed upward to join the bottom of the stack of records resting on supports.

[@quantumleap359]

The Incomparable Capehart! Very very nice>

[@jukeboxeddie1]

Beautiful restoration. Fascinating mechanism. I restored a '46 AMI "A" many years ago and when I was testing it initially, it took one of my 78's and flung it across the room and smashed it to pieces. Luckily it was only a test record. If you tried that with a '53 Wurlitzer 1500 model it would crunch the record between the turntable and the record platter. Each model has its quirks but it is fun to restore them to their former glory...

[@RaymondTVinyl]

Thinking of you, Bob, this evening and Desoto!!! Hope all is well. This vid sends me back to the glorious visit to your place and all the amazing machines!!! Hugs!

[@esroberto1]

FanTAStic!! Great restore job! What a machine. I'd run this thing 12 hours a day if I had it!

[@mermodfreres]

That is an amazing piece of art!

[@wurlitzergroup]

Beautiful machine Bubba! One thing we tend to forget is, that when this was "on location", most people had never heard music reproduced with such fidelity. There were windup phonographs, and radios with earphones, and that was about it.

[@Symphonicprelude]

Everything's great, especially the needle being used. You hear the music without a lot of surface noise.

[@Borriaudio]

Very pleasant sound, good bass and clarity! I like the sound of these early magnetic pickups. I actually use a similar pickup for digitizing shellac 78s, I get much better range than with the 78S Shure cartridge. One of the videos uses this kind of pickup for the background.

[@Sonoraman]

Very nice!! The tunes selected for this video weren't too shabby either!

[@amberola1b]

Wow, must be standard on all Capeharts, ,treating the record so gently when rejected from the turntable. it`s just awesome.

[@Karlfalcon]

Wonderful! Such an excellent example of the quality the old horseshoe pickups were capable of.

[@mikepeine3898]

mine cost about $2,000 in 1937 and I've been trying to get rid of it for over 30 years .

[@diamanda0822]

this is art, esto es arte. i feel like travel across the time,congratulations.beutifull machine

[@vintagecoinop]

Just want to give a big thanks to Bob who went out of his way to get me copies of the 3 Capehart advertising place cards that he had on his 28G. Bob went out his way to get me great copies on heavy stock paper. I was able to place them inside my capehart that I displayed at the November 2017 Chicagoland coin-op show. The Capehart was a big hit and everyone marveled at it. So again a big thanks to Bob. He is a huge assist to the Jukebox hobby.

[@maynardcat]

What an unusual and beautiful vintage phonograph this is, and the first time for me seeing one .

[@rkmklz7562]

What year is this machine....1940s?... never seen a jukebox like this.... Beautiful ❤...the 1920s music goes great Too 👍

[@atco21117]

Wonderful!! -- Atco

[@neilmansfield8329]

Love these old jukeboxes

[@arthureverett8220]

Looks like it has a giant oval speaker up front

[@bluedoris88]

just fantastic. respect!

[@01Bubba2001]

The needle used is a Osmium Phoneedle, rated at 2500 plays, for coin-op record changers.

[@Danroxye01]

Amazing !

[@01Bubba2001]

Yes, it was an early jukebox, in that it is coin operated, but non-selectable..

[@Bagel-the-Beagle-1]

Very nice good shape!

[@ricardosalesdemello4130]

Que Maravilha!!! Isso é lindo

[@amberola1b]

OH.....MY.......GOD, at the end of the first record when it pushed it out of the way, I thought it was going to drop down the chute, instead a pair of arms are there to catch it to GENTLY place it in the played stack. I`m sooooooo envious.

[@ingoknutschalex]

ja holla die Wald Fee ! Rechtherzlichen dank . Dann wünsch ich Dir immer einen prall gefüllten Geldbörse ! LG Ingo

[@01Bubba2001]

The speed correction has been made to the turntable..

[@that1940sguy]

WOW!! Just... WOW! I've been wanting to see this machine in action since I was a kid, only seen pics! Were there pot metal parts you had to replace to get it working? If so, how in the world did you find the parts, or did you model & cast them yourself from aluminum or brass? NICE, 5 stars!

[@trainguy111]

Is this like an early jukebox?

[@lamodette1]

wow lovely

[@JackOfAllTrades2022]

Very nice, maybe someday I'll be lucky enough to find one like this! probably not!

[@ingoknutschalex]

Ein wirklich Exklusives Gerät ! Und einen super Klangbild für diese Zeit ! Wenn die Frage erlaubt ist ,wie teuer war dieses herrliche Stück ? LG

[@robfriedrich2822]

Did they make special juke box records with 2 A sides (than doing a record with a hit on A side and a weaker song on B side)?

[@01Bubba2001]

Yes, they made reissue records with a hit on both sides.

[@stiltoncheesewright]

Wonderful machine ! I love the bass-response from the electronics ! I'm assuming this uses a Victor-style magnetic pick-up, what kind of needle is used ?

[@musicman0150]

This is a unique phonograph. I like the way the records come up and then gently slide down the magazine for replay. At first when I saw the record slide down, I was afraid it would just drop in the hole and break but I see now how the machine works. It changes the records very slowly to prevent damage. How is the sound varied? I didn't see a volume knob anywhere and wondered how big the speaker is? It looks like there would be either a 12" or 15" field coil speaker since this early amplifiers used field coil speakers. Thanks for the demonstration and looking forward to more videos like this.

[@robfriedrich2822]

I guess it would be on the back - because the customer shouldn't make any adjustments. I remember no jukebox with visible volume knob

[@amberola1b]

damn, you can`t get any gentler record handling than a capehart, a friend of mine is trading me a later capehart for my Victor "L" door Victrola. His is the flip over model, and the cabinet needs to be refinished, but it does work, he demonstrated it to me and i can`t wait to do the trade.

[@timzhot]

Hi Bob , I am a great admiror of your machines, so much so , the video inspired me to get a record changer , thanks to ebay , whilst the mech was extremely well packed it sustained a little damage , the inurtia of a thud in transit sheared off the mech motor and snapped the worm gear inside the gear box, I know its a long shot but would you have or know where I could get a replacement motor complete , Many thanks Tim

[@VTMCompany]

How large is the cone speaker?

[@01Bubba2001]

That would be a 10" speaker.

[@w8lftr]

I have never seen one like this before, amazing mechanics. Since I am novice at these how do the records get back over to the left side of the machine to be in the stack again? Is there another mechanism to move them over or does the operator move them?

[@arthureverett8220]

Even the coin mech was fancy and ornate!!! Beautiful masterpiece all throughout!!! The modern internet juke boxes are made from pressboard and are ugly with no class at all and lack bass response

[@tough213]

Hello I really enjoyed this jukebox can you tell me hor show in a video how the records get restacked to the supply pile on the left side . it really is amazing how the mechanism works

[@01Bubba2001]

Check out this video for the functioning of the mechanism.... Capehart Orchestrope Model 28G: A Detailed Look

[@crosscoupled]

What tubes does the amp use, 2A3's, 45's or something else?I love this old stuff.Have a Graybar 770 hi boy radio from about this time.Uses push pull 45's.

[@michaelshultz2540]

Absolutely beautiful. Thanks. And what were the cops doing outside? Did you get a noise complaint fo jamming out ? GIGGLES

[@Symphonicprelude]

What a great machine ! It's the best thing to play Orthophonic records on, other than an Orthophonic Victrola. What are the titles of the 2 records ?

[@01Bubba2001]

Hallo LG, die nicht rekultivierte Orchestrope kostete mich $2.800,00 , plus weitere $1.500,00 für den Schrank und Verstärker Wiederaufbau. Bob

[@JozefSterkens]

But what needles were used??????

[@azphonohunter]

Hi, I have a 1928 Capehart Orchestrope Model 28F and was wondering where can I get the correct needles and key for the front door?

[@manidig]

Not to be picky but I have the George Olsen record of Because My Baby....the turntable is running too slow.

[@seywhut2985]

does it ever break a record flipping it over like that?

[@Gemlya]

Tom & Jerry music :)))

[@01Bubba2001]

The speed correction has been made to the turntable..