The Repurposed Jukebox Wallbox MP3 player

[@shannonbriggs100]

I love how you buying a table turns into you buying and setting up a very expensive (but very beautiful) remote control. I bet your house is bloody amazing.

[@Amy-ft5mt]

probably

[@alexfinns6162]

Ikr

[@brockowings4138]

Lol. That seems to be how it always goes. You get 1 thing and end up not happy with it until you end up getting more stuff.

[@sideshowbob1544]

That is by far the most involved, elaborate, complex way to play an mp3 ever. I like it!

[@DanaTheInsane]

When I was a kid you still saw these around working. I miss them.

[@joesphx19]

What an ingenious way to honor my youth in 1950s - 1960s America. Only the lucky few will know what this means: a half-dozen sliders, icy cold mug of Birch Beer and a pocket full of nickels to play the wall box which was mounted to your dining space. And as you sat on the orange metal stool the full meaning of the establishment's name became evident, "Royal Castle".

[@Agamemnon2]

I'd probably drive myself insane if I owned one of these, always tweaking the 100-song selection according to mood and time of year. That's what I used to do with my old MP3 playlists.

[@thasickest]

it's so easy to do, they are literally setup to take the wear and tear of weekly and even daily titlestrip changes though because they are a commercial product. in todays money they cost about $3200 in the 1950s by comparison.

[@grundie]

There's a chain of US themed diners in Ireland called "Eddie Rockets" and they have working Seeburg wallboxes at every table - but converted to use 20c Euro coins.

[@Techmoan]

+grundie in the UK Ed's Diners have them, and in the US Johnny Rockets (amongst others) have them as well. The ones in Ed's are reproductions. I wish I knew where they got these from.

[@nguy1128]

i have been in johnny rockets a few times, let me tell you they are really nice machines

[@ami200]

@@Techmoan I know it's 4 years late, the Ed's ones that where reproduced where made by a company in Leeds called sound leisure which still make Jukeboxs today

[@Zerbey]

Johnny Rockets is a great place to visit if you're ever Stateside, the burgers are pretty good too and they go to a lot of effort to get the 50s diner vibe.

[@hodgeophone]

Just come across this, 4 and a half years too late. Ed's Diners have now gone the way of the dodo. Originally (pre 2008, the group changed hands after this) the Seeburg boxes in the restaurants were originals. Soho branch had an original Seeburg hideaway record player, the others ran off a hideaway cd Jukebox(NSM). I know this as I used to service them and designed one of the cd interfaces we used. Love the channel!

[@MattHayesVinyl]

I used to know a couple that converted an entire room of their house into a 50's style diner. Your video reminded me very much of that. They had something akin to an ice cream bar that you could sit at, diner tables, and a jukebox with one of these remove controls contraptions. The room was something to behold.

[@buddyclem7328]

Matt Hayes As soon as you said, "Ice Cream Bar" I started hearing the Goofy Goober Song from the Spongebob Squarepants Movie scene when they get drunk on sundaes.

[@JoeGP]

so you were looking for a table and ended up making a video about this, love it :)

[@Techmoan]

Joe G.P. Yes - and I'm still waiting for the table to be delivered.

[@TheCrazyCrewNL]

+Techmoan Are you still waiting?

[@Peter-ft8nl]

+TheCrazyCrewNL No he shows it in another vid :)

[@TheCrazyCrewNL]

Peter bedingham What video btw. i want to admire his table

[@SneakyFox195]

+Techmoan Please do give us an update once it arrives! Im excited just for the theme alone haha.

[@stevenjlovelace]

I love how you've got Tupac on your 1950s diner jukebox.

[@wyokaiju992]

I'd be putting Massive attack and Boards of Canada and the like on mine....

[@Phobos_Anomaly]

Wyo engineer BoC forever! :-)

[@modularcarpet]

@@wyokaiju992 Yeah Boards of Canada - good shout!

[@SamanthaIreneYTube]

I had a local diner that used these until they had a new owner renovate the place and really screw up the aesthetic and food now. Sometimes, you don’t want anything to change or look different. Sometimes it’s nice just to try to preserve something

[@dennisthebrony2022]

AND EVEN DR DRE!!!

[@bodegg2]

This would have been exactly what I wanted a couple of years ago! I ended up getting a wall mounted lookalike that plays mp3's from a stick but is also bluetooth capable. Still quite expensive but looks the part.

[@nickvickers3486]

Wow, it's October 2023 and I've found an old Techmoan video I haven't seen yet! That has to be the coolest way ever to play MP3... I know Matt doesn't always do a video every week now, so when you can't find a new one, dig into the back catalogue!

[@AndyRCchannel]

the internet is an expensive place for the creative mind

[@Techmoan]

AndyRC Very true.

[@varkokonyi]

I like seeing RC pilots here

[@thasickest]

that it is. you should see the wallbox i've setup with led's (on my channel).

[@SardiPax]

You do find some obscure widgets I never even knew existed. I was puzzling over how the Wallbox controlled the Jukebox and only worked it out shortly before your video demonstrated. Thanks for an enjoyable video :)

[@pjeaton58]

3.29 - find out the voltage on the yellow wires coming out of the transformer - then get a 230 transformer to that voltage - fuse the output ! - looks about 100 VA size - then fit properly in a constructors plastic box - Maplin have all these items - Please make sure you have an RCD on your electrics - I watch most of your videos and you have a brilliant understanding of technology - Power supplies are their own speciality - I do NOT want you to be electrocuted . P J Eaton (Elec.Engr,)

[@schlechte-schaltungen]

Indeed, the fuse holder that thing came with is definitely not safe for mains voltage. It's likely meant for car electrics only.

[@themysteryman2678]

I accidentally clicked dislike on this. I am not proud of myself.

[@gplechuckiii]

What you may find interesting is that there are many "real" wall boxes still being used in Diners in the US that are there since they were installed between the 50's and the early 70's.

[@Dre2Dee2]

I've been to a few diners in my life that had this exact kind of machine.... beauty :D

[@Crazzzzzzzziesandus]

It's not taking things apart that I am afraid of its putting them back together

[@Toolness1]

I was the same way when I first got into guns and gunsmithing. I fix and restore old collectible military firearms and it can be really scary because they are worth so much money, and parts aren't always easy or cheap to find! One thing I learned that is a huge help is when you are taking something complicated apart, take pictures at every step and make notes. Have small cups or bins to put parts in, and label them as you go. Stick small stuff to a piece of masking tape and write on the tape where it goes and what picture goes with that part. That way, when you go to put it back together you can see where everything goes down to the tiny springs, screws, etc. Most of the time there's a KZbin video you can follow, but this picture method helps a lot when there isn't an exact assembly video for what you're working on. You may make a few mistakes along the way, but that's how you learn. You can't be afraid to do it. Your confidence will grow and eventually you'll be good at it.

[@RicheBright]

@@Toolness1 Excellent advice. Thank you.

[@coydog7902]

Ive seen those at 1950’s and they are so cool I’ve listened to it play music once!!!!

[@gtoger]

I like that you can use the Muppet to say all the things that would sound nasty from a human, but are humorous and on-point from the Muppet. Well done.

[@dloomis]

Yay more retro audio technology for me to consume. I like your bits on video cameras, but I'm always happy to see some cool audio tech. Great work as always!

[@vidm96]

The image quality in this video is great!

[@Techmoan]

vidm96 Thanks - this was a hard one to shoot, it would't fit on my light table - I had to wait for sunny days - but with the sun at the right point and the reflections caused issues. It was shot over five days - split across three weeks.

[@vidm96]

Perhaps you should do a review of affordable studio lighting next ;p

[@TaberBucknell]

That was awesome! Thank you for the explaining how the wall box worked ... I always wondered what was inside. Your analogy to a step-by-step telephone switch is very appropriate.

[@christhomas7905]

That is the most epic retro music thing I've seen on your channel!

[@HepcatHarley]

I have the same wallbox. Mine was an optional extra for the 1953 Seeburg W100 jukebox I have. Love the adaptation for the iPod though very interesting, Thank you :)

[@MrJohnjake]

i love these type of videos with the retro music and other things

[@xanth987]

This is one of my top fave vids by techmoan. I love looking at the Rockola and Wurlitzer jukeboxes.

[@ZERO_O7X]

I can't describe how much I enjoyed this video, thank you.

[@ComradeRachel]

So when a guest comes over and says "on man this pretty cool" ill be like yup cost me hundreds of bucks and hours of work so you better like it! lol

[@Wolfie_Rankin]

One more thing, I'm the proud owner of a Sony D-50, which was the first portable model ever. It was featured on Beyond 2000 back in the day. My Dad bought it for me... it died years back but I had it repaired and it has worked well ever since.

[@HowardPrice]

Awesome project Matt. There are still a few diners in San Francisco that have these on the tables. Really nice piece of pop culture history!!

[@kakureru]

Nice! I have one of these sitting around (although not nearly as polished as yours) but now im interest in seeing what I can make it do. Thanks!

[@questfailer]

You have the most amazing retro stuff

[@johnmichaelrichards]

That'll be a nice project for me in the New Year.

[@justification1979]

I have a Seeburg select-o-matic jukebox like the one shown in your video. One of these years I want to find a matching wall box and pod speakers.

[@biggles1024]

I love this remote control. I have vague memories of seeing them in a cafe in Melbourne when I was a young boy during the 1960's. I must have gone there one day for lunch when in the city with my mother, most likely during our annual Christmas shopping trip. Cheers from Oz. :)

[@Techmoan]

biggles1024 You'll still see them in a lot of retro diners. The Johnny Rockets diners I've been in on Royal Caribbean cruise ships often have Seeburg wallboxes.

[@ALFAGOMMA]

biggles1024 I too remember seeing them in one or two cafes in Melbourne in the mid-70's even (in Russell St). When travelling on Route 66 in 2013 I ate at a 1950s diner in Illinois that had them at every table.

[@aussiefurbymogwaifan6621]

@@ALFAGOMMA what brand were they?

[@utube101x]

This looks like it was a fun project.

[@MattTester]

Excellent, for anyone who hadn't seen your videos I imagine that walking in to your house would be like walking in to a museum of interesting tech.

[@Super_Charged4life]

the dinner down the streen has one its a 50s themed dinner so of corse it was an original one pretty cool little thing even had the orginal corner speakers

[@metal134]

Dammit, now I want this.

[@rogeliolopez2190]

I know antiques you see them and you just have to grab it

[@slicedpage]

I hope your feeling back to normal now. What a fascinating project that must have been for you,taking the machine apart,replacing the cards, fantastic. Reminds me of when I was young and the jukebox man would come around with the updated top twenty singles each week(the ones with the centres removed) to the pub my parents ran. I could buy the older ones for 50p each. I kept losing the adapters for them. And as each record finished I'd have to swop over the damn thing to the next one LOL. Thanks for bringing those memories back.

[@Techmoan]

slicedpage I never really bought 7" records myself, but my older sister had quite a lot from the 60s and early 70s and a lot of those had the larger US/Jukebox sized hole in them, I'm guessing some of those were ex-jukebox discs too.

[@slicedpage]

Techmoan yes they would have been.I'd buy them at half price from the jukebox man,saving my pocket money for Saturday pictures LOL

[@VideoSack]

Techmoan In the US here, 7" records were referred to as "45's", as in 45 revolutions per minute. Even today we have 1950's diner themed restaurants that still have wallboxes at each table.

[@markmarshallmusic]

Ya had me at Ziggy! 😃 What a lovely piece of work. Thanks for sharing it!

[@markmarkofkane8167]

Seems like a lot of trouble. I remember as a kid and teen watching actual jukeboxes play 45's. I had to peek in certain angles to see the action. My favorite memory is the vertical Record playing jukebox. Great video.

[@FordGTmaniac]

So THAT'S what these things are. My grandma has one of these, I remember seeing it and I thought it was a really old, fancy radio.

[@jsnsk101]

when you got the hi-res player i thought you needed a cd cover wallbox to go on top to make finding tracks easier. but this works for your top 100.

[@cindyalvarez3559]

Back on the 80s these were really neat because since in most place they had been there since the 50s the prices were not changed so that was a way to listen to music for less than a quarter

[@kn0xXShuffler]

My parents used to have one of these in our kitchen, at some point it just go thrown away because we had no more room. Never knew How much it was Worth :D

[@LilDroidBlue]

This is a wonderful idea! I would love a real jukebox one day actually. I have a lot of newer 45 RPM singles, a lot that came from my aunt's and uncles like 60's/70's/80's rock and roll, a lot of Motown. I have around 100 or so that are from the 40's and 50's and some really early 60's that came in two metal 45 containers that we found in an old house we helped clean out. I haven't even had the chance to clean all of them, let alone give them a listen. A couple really good ones I noticed right away, like Banana Boat Song and Ain't Got No Home, great variety. I really love vinyl, so I don't mind flipping the 45 over to play the b side, or taking it off to play a different song... But I really would love to have a jukebox specifically so that I could easily play a song from my collection without searching through all the cases, just pick out my most favorite ones and load them up. It would also obviously be a great conversation piece.

[@savintcrew76]

Sir, sorry to be rude, but it would be the best interest to see a video tour to your house and see all the the classic - new tech / gadgets / furniture you've got and how it implied to overall interior design and aesthetics :)

[@sublimationman]

I use to work on those wall boxes for a living when they were in use in bars and restaurants. My boss had hundreds and hundreds of them along with the juke boxes.

[@Techmoan]

sublimationman Perhaps you can answer a question. When you updated the records in the jukebox did you swap out the whole multi-page menu in the wallbox, or did you just swap out the individual cards?

[@sublimationman]

Unless it was a new installation the strips were changed on location 1 by 1. Back then though a location was lucky to get 4-6 new records a year and normally only once or twice (2 or 3 records at a time). And locations could have 4 to 20 wall boxes so changing records could be an hour or more work for a single person. Often at least 2 people would go to change records. Also those colors were used to identify genre and not just for looks. So if say someone wanted country music they would look for the orange strips. If they wanted oldies (40's to 60's) they would look for the gray strips and so on.

[@Techmoan]

sublimationman Thanks for the info.

[@zaprodk]

Wo. So beautiful. I am very envious of your purchase :D

[@ROCKY44]

Fantastic project, clearly explained as always.

[@kiwihib]

OMG I'm showing my age the milk bars in South Dunedin and the city all had these when I was a kid 50's/60's ruled.

[@greenskin3000]

The content on on your channel keeps surprising me in terms of scope and creativity. Very good job! Thanks for sharing! Cheers

[@Techmoan]

greenskin3000 Thanks...I just show things that interest me and hope that other people find them interesting too.

[@devjock]

Been subscribed for quite a while now, and I'm always amazed by the awesome gear you're collecting and decorating your house with. This one is no exception. Great explanation of the workings, the hacking and the result. But the real question is; when can we expect a house tour? :)

[@Milosz_Ostrow]

Nice bit of nostalgia. For use in locales where the mains power is 220-240 volts, I would ask the vendor to supply a transformer with the appropriate primary winding, or one with two primary windings that can be connected in parallel for 100-120 volts or in series for 220-240 volts. Sure, you can get a separate step-down transformer, but it adds complexity. I presume the transformer is needed because an induction or geared synchronous motor in the Seeburg Wall-O-Matic requires AC, not DC, to operate the rotary encoder contact.

[@JTS21]

Looks great. Hope we get an update when table arrives!

[@TheBarnacleBlimp]

what a beautiful piece working art.

[@Techmoan]

Barnacle Blimp I'm so glad everyone seems to understand the attraction of this - it is a perfect example of the things I like - beautiful objects that are more than just ornamental.

[@TheBangersnSmash]

Not my sort of thing but it is really nice. super cool.

[@stonedcommander]

Sweet...They still use these in a diner near me, last time I was there 5 years ago anyway...But yours looks much nicer...The ones here have the speakers built it and it does not look as retro...Love the sleek chrome look on yours.

[@tobortine]

Really excellent, well done and thanks for sharing.

[@Beavis-et8ox]

Cool, very beautiful.

[@johannes914]

Gorgeous ! Thanks ! I learned something again.

[@brightivan]

I thought the most expensive remote control is my $700 iPhone, controlling the Spotify app on my laptop across the room. Anyway nice collection. The Mel's Drive In diner still have them with a working jukebox and I've tried only once.

[@robloughrey]

I have one of these too. Good Stuff now is awesome.

[@ddragon8154]

I absolutely *love* this as a project! As others have said, it's probably the most beautiful music player ever seen! :-) (Though granted, my taste in music doesn't really fit these too well. Could you imagine a wall box offering artists like Emperor, Moonsorrow and maybe a spot of Dragonforce? ;-) I'd be interested to know how the wall boxes communicated selections to the jukebox, and how order queuing worked on them. The cable coming from yours looks to carry power in and the signalling looks the same as for rotary (Pulse dialling) phones, but how on Earth did the jukebox queue up orders in establishments where multiple wall boxes were installed and being used by different tables at the same time? :-) Finally: I don't know if they're still there as I havn't been in years, but one of the Burger Kings in Guildford next to the A3 used to have a wall box at every table. No idea if they were original or reproduced ones, mind you. :-)

[@kirankankipati-thelinuxcha689]

o my god.. I checked the video background in the link you shared. Absolutely amazing results. Happy accident :)

[@blueskylazer]

Having grown up in the USA, I've seen these thousands of times, mostly in restaurants. Did they not have them in the UK in the 50's and 60's?

[@PTTM2006]

You sir, are a very very patient man

[@Techmoan]

PTTM2006 I'm definitely learning to be...sometimes things are worth the time/effort.

[@Cristian.Cortez]

I like the music selection

[@NewOrderrr]

Loved the video! And hats off to the vendor or folks that got this working with an iPod or MP3 player, while still using the mechanical;s of the device. I would almost want a plexi case made up to show off the internals of the cogs selecting the songs, most folks would think it's all electronic inside. I wonder why you didn't pick a 200 song unit? And did they send some dimes and quarters to test it with?

[@Techmoan]

***** I prefer the look of the 100 unit and it is only really a novelty, so having 100 songs on it is fine. I'm struggling to remember if it included any coins, I had some of my own and of course it can be used on free play too.

[@KyoshoLP]

I remember going to a diner a few times at some point in the early 90s and they had similar boxes at each booth, but they used cassettes inside (or at least appeared to, because they had the labels from "single" cassettes facing you) and each were their own jukebox. They only played at very low volume, but every table could listen to their own music. It was weird, because you could still hear music from other booths. You basically had to pay for a song if you wanted to keep your sanity. The music selection was pretty poor. Maybe 15- 20 songs. I just tried to find one of these on google, and I'm coming up completely empty. I swear I'm not crazy. I very clearly remember the things.

[@andriealinsangao613]

You Really Got Me by the Kinks.... Nice choices!

[@davidellis4031]

Oh great, another pointless thing that I desperately want...

[@jaxnean2663]

I totally love this!

[@theequaliser8026]

As always great review

[@Liowen]

Hmmm now I want to look around my area and see if I can find these, I have seen some that go for fairly cheap in the past when an old restaurant is cleaning up their storage. Get a multi stage DVD/Blu-ray player and hook it up to this would be kind of cool as well, though a bit over kill LOL.

[@BlueRadiation]

could you post a list of songs you put in there? i noticed there are a lot of songs i like so i wanted to check the rest Thanks!

[@Biscuit-Triscuit]

You've got great music taste TM

[@cyberchecker]

You should really replace that mains transformer with a 240V device. It isn't much trouble and you can get rid of the inefficient step-down transformer

[@owenjbrady]

I dig your music taste , find it funny that you listen to chronic 2001 lmao great album.

[@allamakee1397]

One of very very best. You have outdone yourself this time. Now I have to have one. Thanks

[@Techmoan]

allamakee1397 thanks and if you do decide to get one, I wish you the best of luck.

[@ceedoubleyou]

great clip, keep ém coming.

[@TheRyanjMain]

This is awesome !!!

[@starchild7843]

Always wondered how they played those when seeing them in movies. I thought each one on the table is its own little jukebox and thought if every teenager in the diner was listening to theirs on their table, then be loud and noisy and couldn't hear your own because all of them is playing at the same time. Those are neat little things and always wanted a jukebox to put in my living room, but filled music I grew up listen to! And it wouldn't be like the movie called The Craft where one of those teenage witch's mother had Connie Francis on every selection.

[@RicheBright]

Thanks. That was interesting and looked like a fun project. Did your table ever come in?

[@loganiushere]

Ha! I recently got back from a Caribbean Cruise on Allure Of The Seas, and one of the restaurants they had was Johnny Rockets. There they had things that looked EXACTLY like the one you got, to the point where I wonder if it's the same thing. EDIT: The ones at Johnny Rockets took Nickles, not quarters.

[@Techmoan]

They are the same. Some diners use reproductions, but many use originals.

[@carloscalzone8264]

What a legend!

[@DJignyte]

Great stuff!

[@Mrcaffinebean]

Very cool! A local restaurant has these at every table except I believe they are reproduction. But for some reason they are broken and they can’t find someone to fix them.

[@kolxoznik]

We still have these working in Astro Burger in Los Angeles!

[@TairnKA]

I had an idea of finding a 1950s jute-box (bubblator) and install a kick'n computer with water cooling. It would also play music (like yours).

[@saucerful4351]

So all of that stuff is going out/in over the gray wire? - taped to the RCA jack wires and then yellow wires to the transformer so it is handling BOTH power AND the MP3 selection signal?

[@somethingoriginal1980]

quick tip for ebay buyers: anything claimed to be "untested" usually means it does not work but doesnt want to repel possible buyers

[@RaveTracks]

As the youth of today would say, "I'm well gel". Another fine video Mat!

[@singaporemick]

You are very clever Mr Techmoan

[@ashes345]

I’m from Australia What transformer are you using I have been looking at a few for my wall box one I’m looking at is 9-30V, 60VA, 2A Transformer

[@PatriciaCross]

Put another nickel in In the nickelodeon All I want is having you And music, music, music

[@buddyclem7328]

Patricia Cross You make me want to do The Charleston, or some similar dance step!

[@jamesslick4790]

And the weird part is, a nickelodeon was an early format of movie theatre, So I could never figure out where one could deposit the nickel. (The ticket booth?). And why would I go to a nickelodeon for "music,music,music" in the silent film era? LOL.

[@robc4191]

Mrs Moan is a saint for all the silliness she endures

[@AngelSamael]

They had something like these at a 50s themed diner at a service station but the buttons were the modern kind which are just simple electronic push button switches with a plastic overlay that displays the number or letter of the button. Combined with the poor choice of songs it ruined the entire point of it. The flashing neon sign was a nice touch although it was probably unintentional given that one of the staff tried to fix it and it looked out into the car park.

[@valdarmort]

now that you have a nice wall box you should open a diner to go with it lol