Rock Ola 443 : Dinah Washington : What a Difference a Day Makes

This video is to demonstrate the function of a vinyl Jukebox, no copyright infringement is intended.

This is my 100 play 1969 Rock-Ola 443, which lives with my 160 play 1977 Rock-Ola 468 in our summer house at the bottom of our garden. It's a compromise with my wife as I've saxophones an electric piano and a vintage hifi in the front room. The view is up the length of the garden towards our five foot deep koi pool.


I've had the 468 for two and a half years and the 443 for a year and a half. Both had been in private hands for more than half their lives, so are in excellent well cared for condition, although I have restored a few things in both to bring them up to almost original condition.
The carousels have selections from all musical eras, from my teenage years in the late fifties.
U.S.A 50/60s pop, Doo-Wop, Motown, Jazz orchestral and ballad standards and 70/80s pop, later than this vinyl was mostly replaced by CDs and mp3s.
This record I would describe as a "double A side" as it has "September in the Rain" on the reverse. Such records are sought by jukebox enthusiasts, as the "B sides" of a lot of old records have a really poor tune on them, so will rarely be played then or now.

This hobby (one of several) is of course all about nostalgia. Half the "experience" is putting in the coins, making the selection, hearing the machine searching for the record and the anticipation when the stylus starts tracking in before the record starts.
People like me who have access to several means of music reproduction, will say that you can't beat hearing a vinyl record on an old jukebox with their powerful stereo amplifiers and their four big speakers, which provide excellent reproduction even at low volumes. Of course the other part of the experience is maintaining the machines to keep the b***ers workin'! (I do my best as an amateur) and there's lots of enthusiasts on dedicated message boards who are willing to help.
They've four electric motors and many solenoid and leaf switches, multiple connections, over a dozen fuses and several trip switches.
Really knowledgeable engineers are few and far between and mostly "getting on a bit" as progress and the computer chip have long passed vinyl jukeboxes by.

It amuses me when the teenage children of friends and relatives see these machines for the first time, many of whom will not have seen a 7" single before. They are completely fascinated by my "300lb plus, ipods." as are their parents, as they often remind them with affection of certain times in their lives .

Category:

Music

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• Rock
• Ola
• 443
• Dinah
• Washington
• What
• Difference
• Day
• Makes