Home Units
Below are several photos of the various home and upper class commercial entertainment units built by Seeburg. Many photos were taken from the sales brochures, but several were kindly provided by others. In those cases, credit for the photo is given. Each photo is accompanied by a short description of the machine.
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SLBA1 shown at left,
includes the player, amplifier, speaker, and base unit. Home entertainment unit,
200 Selections, intermixed 10- and 12-inch 78 RPM records. SL1 is the library unit (mechanism and cabinet) only. SLB1 is the library unit and base unit with no amplifier or speaker. BA1 is the base unit with amplifier and speaker. B1 is base unit without amplifier and speaker. Introduced sometime around 1948. This machine (and SICM) used manually-operated levers to make a selection. The SICM was an industrial version, built for factory and office building background music. See the description under 200C1, below, for details of the lever selection system. Photo courtesy 'Seeburg Ed'. |
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200C1 200 Selections,
45 RPM.
Introduced 1952 Played 45s only, using a manually-operated lever to select the 'A' side, 'B' side, neither, or both. The lever does not automatically reset when the selection is played. This machine was housed in a nice furniture cabinet, and included an amplifier and speakers. The 200CU3 of 1957 was quite similar. Photo courtesy Dennis and Sue Lavin of Iron River, Wisconsin, USA. Dennis says that it uses a 12-inch Jensen coaxial speaker, and sounds great! |
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200LU1 200
Selections, 45 RPM.
Introduced 1952 Same mechanism as 200C1, in a wooden cabinet with amplifier. The 200LU3 of 1957 was quite similar. Photo courtesy 'Seeburg Ed'. |
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200CU1 200
Selections, 45 RPM.
Introduced 1952 A 200LU1 without the cabinet ready for a custom cabinet or wall mount. Photo courtesy of 'Seeburg Ed'. |
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100LU2 100
Selections, 45 RPM Date unknown, but probably 1953 or 1954. Evidently, this was a very low production, miniature, 'salesman's sample', which were easier to transport than the 200LU1 or 200LU3. Photo courtesy 'Seeburg Ed', who thinks most of these were recalled and destroyed by the factory. If anyone has one of these, please contact me. |
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Here are some photos (provided by Bill Butterfield) of a 100LU, which was photographed at Warren Rowe's shop in El Monte, CA. Like the SL units, this plays the A and B sides while the carriage is traveling in the same direction. Later Library units played A and B sides as it got to them, similar to most coin-operated jukeboxes. According to the dates on several of the items, this machine was built during the 12th week of 1950. Thanks to 'Seeburg Ed' for an email detailing the above information. |
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SEP1 'Encore' system,
25 records, 16⅔ RPM Price (October, 1963): $895 Plays the same records as the Background Music systems. Evidently, the term 'foreground' comes from the cabinet being more furniture-like than the utilitarian cabinets of the BMS2 and BMC1. A sales brochure shows this unit as having a pair of modernistic legs for use as a floor-standing unit. The photo at left either has them removed, or it was also offered as a cabinet-top. Photo taken by Paul A. Hvizda, and provided by Randy Hvizda. Thanks! |
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Interior view of an Encore system.
Photo courtesy Randy Hvizda. |
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AMS1 Automatic Music Centre (Seeburg's spelling,
not mine) 100 selections, 33⅓ RPM,
also played 16⅔ RPM records.
Introduced 1965 First machine to use the 12-inch 33 1/3 RPM mechanism, type 13S12T1. This was quite an expensive unit, evidently intended for use in upper-class restaurants to provide background music, and upscale homes. I'm including it here, because I think it belongs in this section rather than in the Background Music page. Not many were built. The large, lower cabinet contains the mechanism, amplifier, and control center. Above is the selector unit, which is basically a Wallbox with a few extra switches and no title strip pages. A variety of external speakers were offered with this unit, such as the MFS1, MWS1, and MHS1. Anyone having photos of these, please email me.
Photo courtesy Enos Crum. |
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A photo of an AMS1 selector. It uses the same stepper scheme as the contemporaneous SC/SCH
Consolettes, except that each group (letters followed by numbers) put
out a maximum of 11 pulses for letters, and 10 for numbers. Additional buttons permitted all selections to be made or
canceled, controlled volume, etc. There supposedly was also an AMS2, but
I know nothing about it. It may not exist. Anyone having
any information about either unit please email
me. Photo courtesy Enos Crum. |
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Interior view of an AMS1. This machine had
two Tormat memory Units! The second (called a 'Sequencing Tormat Memory'
or STM) was used to simultaneously write in
all records of a pre-selected group when the last record of that group
had finished playing. There were three such groups available, and you could
include adjacent records into a group. The size of each group was
programmable, in increments of five records. The groups were intended
for mood music, elevator music, contemporary, etc., and you could choose
to play a group based on the time of day by using the optional program
timer. The AMS uses a special clamp disc and sensing switch to permit it
to play the same 9-inch large hole 16 2/3 RPM records as were used by
the Background Music Systems. Finally, there are mechanism
carriage switches to sense cam plates mounted to a separate bracket. The
cams selected one of three programs (for example, background music for
daylight hours, big band for nighttime, etc.) The chassis at the left bottom is the Control Center, SCC2. To its right is the Program Control Center (PC1) which contains the stepper controlled by the remote selector above. The small chassis just to the right of the mechanism is the Audio Control Amplifier, which has a couple of amplification stages, program volume controls, and an audio sensor. The larger chassis is the power amplifier, PAS1, which is basically a jukebox amplifier without preamps. For this machine and the other home units uses a small preamplifier that rode with the mechanism carriage. The small orange-colored (Seeburg called this color 'Coral') box at the lower right is a Power Junction box. Photo courtesy Enos Crum. |
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Carriage detail of an AMS1. The audio
preamp is in the small box in front of the carriage. Photo courtesy Enos Crum. |
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HSC1 Home Stereo Console 100 selections,
33⅓ RPM.
Introduced 1967. Price (May 1969) $1295 Seeburg decided to get into the home stereo business in a big way, releasing 5 different models plus accessories, pictured here and below. This machine also used the 12-inch 33 1/3 RPM mechanism in a fine cabinet including speakers and an AM/FM tuner. The receiver was built by G.I. of Canada, and wasn't too reliable. For this series of home stereo units, selections were made by entering a two-digit code (00 through 99) on a rotary telephone dial. Extra buttons permitted all selections to be played, or all to be cleared. The dial connected to a stepper unit, contained in the control center along with the power supply, and other miscellaneous circuitry. This machine used the 3S12T1 mechanism, similar to the 13S12T1 used in the AMS, but eliminating the ability to play the background music records and cam plates. Also, it was different in color (brown vs. coral for the 13S12T1).
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HSC2 Home Stereo Console 100 selections,
33⅓ RPM.
Introduced 1967. Price (May 1969) $1295 Mechanism and Control Center identical to the HSC1. Kevin Green of the Seeburg Jukebox Information Club Yahoo group points out that there were differences in receiver unit and speakers used between the HSC1, HSC2, and HSC3. The HSC1 used the model SB100, SB200 receiver and amplifier, while the others used the SR300 combined unit. |
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HSC3 Home Stereo Console 100 selections,
33⅓ RPM.
Introduced 1967. Price (May 1969) $1295 Mechanism and Control Center identical to HSC1. Another difference between units is that the HSC1 used a 12 inch tri-axial speaker for each channel, while the HSC2 and HSC3 used a 10 inch woofer, 6 inch mid range and 3 1/2 inch tweeter for each channel. Thanks to Kevin Green for pointing this out! |
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AP1 Audiomation
Player 100 selections, 33⅓ RPM.
Introduced 1967. Price (May 1969) $795 Same mechanism, Control Center as HSC1. Finished cabinet, containing only the mechanism, control center, and selector. As shown in the photo, the speakers and receiver are optional separate units. |
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AP2 Audiomation
Player 100 selections, 33⅓ RPM.
Introduced 1967. Price (May 1969) $695 Same as AP1, except unfinished cabinet, with no doors. |
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HSC/AP Accessories. Left to right:
Remote volume control/selector/headphone unit (HRSC3), remote selector unit
(HRSC1),
bookshelf speakers (HRSS1) and headphones (HHK1). In the photo, the booklet on the right appears to
be the installation manual, while the books at left are just there for
decoration. . Prices (May, 1969): HRSC3: $75 HRSC1: $35.50 HRSS1: $79.90 HHK1: $33 Photo courtesy Kevin Green.
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HRSC3 Home Stereo Remote Control for
use with the HSC and AP series of Home Stereo Systems. This used a
multi-wire cable to control the Home Stereo, permitting selections to be
made. It also included a headphone jack with volume control, Clear and
All Play buttons to delete all selections or play all selections, and a
button to reject the current selection.
Photo courtesy Hildegard Stamann. |
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6000 'Kenilworth' Home Stereo Console 100 selections,
33⅓ RPM.
Introduced 1968. Price: $995 This machine used the 12-inch 33 1/3 RPM mechanism, type 3S12T2. Rather than having the control electronics in a separate chassis like the HSC/AP series, they were housed in a sheet metal box bolted to one side of the mechanism. This system introduced a new selection scheme, using a 10-button digital pad similar to what would be used in the LS3 digital jukebox, introduced the following year. Also similar is the way the selections are written into the Tormat memory, using SCRs (or as Seeburg called them, SCSs). The later digital gray box (introduced with LS3) controlled the SCSs from a custom integrated circuit. |
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6001 'Granada' Home Stereo Console 100 selections,
33⅓ RPM.
Introduced 1968. Price: $995 Identical to the 6000, except for cabinet. |
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| 6000 'Milano' Home Stereo Console 100 selections,
33⅓ RPM.
Introduced 1968. Price: $995 Identical to 6000, except for cabinet.Photo courtesy John Durfee of Durfee Coin-Op. If you need parts, or want to buy a machine, please visit his website. |
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The 'Plexiglas' HSC, built in Jim
Burdon's Seeburg HSC 'Hobby Shop'. This machine was used at trade
shows to attract attention to the product line. Jim Burdon was a Seeburg
Field Service Engineer who specialized in the home entertainment
systems. Jim Burdon was a Seeburg Field Engineer who was responsible for
all Home Stereo matters. He was the world's expert in all things Home
Stereo, and passed away a few years back. He is sorely missed by all of
us who knew him. Photo courtesy Seeburg Jukebox Information Club. |
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Photo of the Plexiglas HSC in the
window of Chicago's exclusive Lyon-Healy music store. Lyon & Healy is a
world-renowned manufacturer and seller of musical instruments, and had a
store in downtown Chicago. The sale price on the Home Stereo is listed at
$1395. This would have been in 1968 or so. This appears to be the same
Plexiglas unit as pictured above, but the clear doors in front of the
mechanism have been removed.
Photo courtesy Hildegard Stamann. |
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| Home Stereo Cabinets that never made it to production | ||
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This photo and the four that follow
were provided by Kevin Green. They are publicity photos for a new line of Seeburg home units,
called the 'Trend Collection'. My guess is that the series was to be released in
the early to middle 70s, but never made it to production. Evidently,
sales were not good enough to continue to offer the home units. They are
publicity
photos of the prototype cabinets, used for management approval of styling prior
to expending the time and money to prepare the cabinet design for
production.
This model was called the 'Trend Mediterranean'. Brochure text for this and the following photos courtesy Hildegard Stamann. From the brochure: The Mediterranean - Elegant Oak. A masterpiece in the art of cabinetmaking. |
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'Trend Italian Provincial'.
From the brochure: Italian Provincial - Distinguished all wood Pecan. |
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'Trend Early American'.
From the brochure: Early American - rich, glowing hand-rubbed Cherry. |
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Nifty-looking smoked glass doors here. The speaker grilles look similar to those used on the LS50 or
QS50 lighted speakers, which makes me think they were to be released
some time in the 70s .
'Trend Contemporary'. From the brochure: The Contemporary - Warm Walnut with black break-proof glass doors. |
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Last is the Futura model. The lighting
effect brings to mind the FC1 jukebox, so chances are this brochure
dates from around that time. From the brochure: The exciting FUTURA cabinet - a dramatic combination of tempered glass and chrome available in two models. FUTURA I - elegant black tempered glass and chrome. Front doors being an entirely new decorative form of light sculpture to cabinet design. FUTURA II - features clear tempered glass cabinetry which allows the entire unit to be integrated into the mood of virtually every room decor. Provisions are made for self-decorating - simply insert material, wall paper, tapestry or art prints between the clear glass panels. With FUTURA II you can create cabinetry to accommodate a multitude of decorator settings. Photo and brochure courtesy Hildegard Stamann. |
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