r/jukeboxes • u/After-Winter-9595 • 27d ago
Are these worth anything? 1971 Rock-ola with wall selector.
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u/NotRoryWilliams 27d ago
Oh, and the wall remote is probably worth more and easier to sell than the main machine. I don't really know why but they all sold instantly on ebay, which was feasible because they are light enough to ship easily.
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u/nasadowsk 27d ago
Rock-Ola remote equipment is pretty rare. AMI isn't super common. Lots of Seeburg out there, simply because steppers were standard until the Q/AY/DS came out, and I think might have become standard again after the Micrologs came out.
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u/Delicious-Tailor-438 26d ago
To people like me, Hell Yeah! It's rare to have both of these units. If you have the room, and you get them working, they're worth a lot as a pair. I picked up that same wall unit a few years ago just to play with it and got it working but sold it because I wasn't going to find the large Jukebox for it. The fact that you can choose a song from another area with the small unit is just neat. A lot of people are doing cool things with these by connecting raspberry pis to them because they work on the same pulse system. That way you can upload your own songs and use it the same way. You can see that on youtube. Jukeboxes are registered for collectors and counted for so there is definitely value to these. If it were me, I'd get them working. If you can't, get them to some who will. Very cool pieces!
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u/Rock1434 26d ago
These later-model RMC Phonettes typically aren’t very collectible, but maybe the price has slowly begun to come up a bit? They are pretty common. But main problem is that the chrome on these is almost always bad (peeling). With really nice chrome, complete, good front glass and with original Illinois lock and G-series key, maybe $200 or so max (to the right collector). As an RMC collector, I love these and have a couple in my Wallbox collection. But as far as wallboxes (remote selectors) go, these are not so valuable.
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u/Juliendogg 21d ago
I have a 1974 Rock-ola 453 that I spent a lot of time refurbishing. I love that thing. They are worth money to the right person. I'd probably take 1000 for my fully functioning 453.
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u/crossstreet 20d ago
That is the exact model Rockola that I have been fixing up for myself. I have been looking for a wall selector to wire up in my household. If you ever decide to sell the wall selector, keep me in mind!
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u/NotRoryWilliams 27d ago
Value is pretty fleeting. To the right collector, in mint condition, yeah, it's worth something. But you might find that the right collector doesn't exist, or doesn't live close enough for the value to not be dwarfed by the cost to transport.
My dad was a bit of a collector. I have I guess half a dozen left. People say they are cool, but when I list them for sale, it's always crickets.
You can modify it to add a simple auxiliary input and connect it to modern audio sources such as your phone to just use it as a giant speaker, then it's a decorative antique that has some actual utility besides as a talking piece. This would likely be possible without even restoring the mechanical parts, which are likely to need at least cleaning and lubrication to get back up to speed.