Antique Radio Jukebox – Part 1

This week I wanted to talk about a new project that I am in the early stages of working on. After I completed my arcade machine I found that I really enjoyed using it as a jukebox. The software was very easy to use and really gave a nice jukebox experience. It occurred to me that It would not be much more difficult to build an actual jukebox than it was to build an arcade machine.

While researching jukeboxes and old radio cabinets, I found that I was really drawn to the older, classic looking designs. The older cabinets from the 30's and 40's had so much style and design built into them.

The idea is to have my jukebox look just like one of these old jukeboxes, but inside I would of course have a computer and about 20 thousand available songs!

I thought that I could probably find an antique jukebox or radio cabinet for this project. However I did not want to destroy a classic antique, so I began to look for an old cabinet that was beyond restoration.

I managed to find an old radio cabinet that would work perfectly for this project. It is a Philco model 37-610. This radio cabinet was built in 1937! This was a 5 tube radio that did not work at all. It was missing some knobs and the tubes were dead. I managed to buy it from a collector who let me have it for $20!

So this is basically where I am with this project. I am going to try and restore the cabinet itself as best I can. This will take quite a bit of work as even the laminate is pealing off in a few places. I am planning to modify the look of it as well. At first I felt like I should not do anything too drastic to change it's appearance. It's kind of scary to start hacking away at a 72 year old piece of history. But I soon realized that I bought in in such rough shape, I shouldn't feel too bad about changing it. (I'm still fighting with this one, but I've made up my mind).

I still need to actually figure out how this radio will work as a jukebox. It's easy enough to fit a computer and a sound system in the cabinet, but I am not sure how to set up the user interface yet. Some ideas right now include having an LCD screen rise up from the top or back. I have also been thinking about using a 10” touch screen laying flat on the top surface.

The plan right now is to have it look as close as possible to original, but work as a modern jukebox.

I'll keep you updated on my progress as I move forward on this project.

Related Links

Philco Radio Gallery
http://www.philcoradio.com/gallery/1937a.htm