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Post by Ron Rich on Jul 3, 2018 16:48:51 GMT
Hi All, J.P. Seeburg started out as an O & O corporation, till about 1956 (*1.), at which time a company called "Fort Pit Industries" purchased it. Very soon after the purchase, Fort Pit, changed it's name to (the?) Seeburg Corp. They went on a "buying spree" and acquired many companies, in many fields at that time. Williams Electronics (games) was purchased sometime in the 60's, I believe (un-sure of the date). "Seeburg" went through many "re-organizations", and used different versions of the name for each re-organization. Some were The Seeburg Sales Corp, Seeburg Corp., Seeburg of Delaware. The Seeburg Corporation. The last Seeburg, operated under bankruptcy court supervision in 1979, producing the SMC-1 model. In Sept. 79, the court closed Seeburg. A year or so later, Stern picked up some rights to make "coin operated phonographs" *2. They made the Stern/Seeburg SMC-2 model, for awhile. They may have made some 100-79M models too ? Stern then went on to "design" the VMC model. This proved to be a dud. By this time, Stern, was also financially having problems, and it too, wound up closing. A year or so passed, when one of the former Seeburg employees attempted to resurrect Seeburg. This effort was called "The Seeburg Phonograph Corp." They produced the SMC-3 and some of the first CD phonos, under that name, and the name "Seeburg International". The "head honcho" of this effort passed away unexpectedly--which led to the end of that effort. Somehow "other people" used the name "Seeburg" for a few years/models. Ron Rich *Edits: 1. On Aug 30,1954 when the application (#452876) for a patent on the "Tormat" selector system (which was then called, "Selectors for Automatic Phonographs), was filed, Seeburg was known as "The Seeburg Corporation , a Corporation of Pennsylvania". The drawings filed un-mistakenly show the Seeburg Mechanism. This app. was NOT filed by "Seeburg" but was filed by two engineers--who assign all rights to Seeburg -- They MAY have been Seeburg employees at that time ??
2. "Seeburg" NEVER made a "Jukebox"-- I was tolt that "J.P. hated that term" (by, I THINK, but am not sure, it may have been Mr.. Rockola). Seeburg made "Coin Operated Phonographs" ! One of the later "successor" Seeburg companies, made a CD Jukebox--
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Post by andylevine on May 2, 2019 22:50:15 GMT
Great stuff!!! How about another FAQ Ron Rich about the manufacturing process.... was it assembly line? How many hands touched a box before it went out? I’m sure there must have been a woodworking shop and an electronics shop. How many could they build in a day throughout the years? This stuff fascinates me! |
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Post by Ron Rich on May 3, 2019 2:59:00 GMT
Hi Andy,
Yes-- it was an assembly line--"stuff" was fabricated in different areas and transported to areas where "final assemblies" were combined to make a hole unit of some type. I stayed pretty far away from the wood section, as I did not like the dust. No idea how many hands had touched one prior to being boxed-- As far as I know, one day in 1962, 200 were shoved into boxes--I heard that was the record that they were going for, and they made it ? I would guess, that 100 per day would be a very difficult pace to sustain--- Ron Rich
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Post by jakedaniel on May 13, 2019 15:25:59 GMT
Why did Seeburg go all-in on the 33 1/3 LLP concept, even building 33 1/3-native machines starting with the LPC1 for a few years? In hindsight, it looks like a giant mistake.
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Post by Ron Rich on May 13, 2019 16:14:19 GMT
Hi Jake,
I dono-- some "marketing genius", I ASSUME, convinced someone in charge it was a "winner" ??
lol Ron Rich
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Post by armandh on Nov 21, 2019 4:37:56 GMT
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Post by Ron Rich on Nov 21, 2019 13:23:06 GMT
Hi All,
Tony was one "heck" of a guy. I considered him a very good friend. We had long phone "conversations" ( both via the phone, and email),for I would guess, was the last ten years of his life. We would meet every once in awhile-- I always enjoyed that time. I miss him a lot ! Ron Rich
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Post by armandh on Nov 24, 2019 23:35:07 GMT
Hi All, Tony was one "heck" of a guy. I considered him a very good friend. We had long phone "conversations" ( both via the phone, and email),for I would guess, was the last ten years of his life. We would meet every once in awhile-- I always enjoyed that time. I miss him a lot ! Ron Rich similar in age and military experience I was the first and last poster on his guest book sadly some one nicked my copy of his SHP book
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Post by Ron Rich on Nov 25, 2019 13:16:27 GMT
Armand,
Tony's books ( except for the one we never got to print), are still available from several suppliers. Ron Rich
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Post by armandh on Nov 25, 2019 16:05:59 GMT
Armand, Tony's books ( except for the one we never got to print), are still available from several suppliers. Ron Rich yes but my friend with the "bench" and all the parts died. he fixed direct coupled PA amps daily, what would take me a week for just one. experience makes a big difference.
the tube amps I can do easy but I let a pro do the last SHP [the keeper]
the SHFA-1 that I rebuilt got new output XFs and sockets rewired for 6CW5/EL86 a small tweak to the AVC late model arm and cart, new speakers, sounded superb.
[after hand selecting all the 12AX7s from a bag of pull outs, my late friend again]
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Post by Ron Rich on Apr 26, 2020 17:51:26 GMT
Just in case, you think you know "all about Seeburg"-- here's one that did not get too much attention. All of the various, "Seeburg" corps., put the word "Seeburg" on all of the "coin operated phonographs" they built. No one else, ever, had their name on this product--except one gent., who was able to sneak his initials past, in the mid 60's and conceal them in "plain sight", just prior to getting fired ( for the "100th time"). He was the "President" of Seeburg (something) at that time-- His name was Jack C. Gordon, and he was a great guy, as well as being a great "BSer", by his own admission !-- He snuck his initials onto both sides of the PFEA models, in the mid-60's. He "confessed", to me that he only did this as he was sure he was going to get canned, again, and he did, "the day after I signed-off on that cabinet design"---He gleefully told me this story--which, I ASSUME to be true (yep, the initials ARE there !), some years later--while once again, being "employed by a Seeburg company". LoL ! Ron Rich
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Post by jukingeo on Nov 23, 2020 15:23:03 GMT
2. "Seeburg" NEVER made a "Jukebox"-- I was tolt that "J.P. hated that term" (by, I THINK, but am not sure, it may have been Mr.. Rockola). Seeburg made "Coin Operated Phonographs" ! One of the later "successor" Seeburg companies, made a CD Jukebox-
-That might have been Rock-Ola that hated the term jukebox. Another thing Mr Rockola hated was the mispronunciation of his name hence his splitting his name up as Rock-Ola, thereby forcing one to put the accent on first syllable.
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Post by Ron Rich on Nov 23, 2020 17:43:48 GMT
Coodbe ? I spoke to Mr Rockola several times-- I do not recall speaking on that subject with him-- On his name, I do recall what he said-- He was extremely proud that in "Spanish speaking countries" his name meant, "jukebox". I also recall him speaking on how to spell it-- He preferred "Rockola" for his name, and "RockOla" for the name of the jukebox, but as he pointed out to me-- that never got done. Ron Rich
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