Update on the Seeburg Trashcan Jukebox 148ML

It has been a little more than a month since my father-in-law took on trying to restore my Seeburg Trashcan Jukebox 148ML. We initially thought he would be able to do a full restoration. That is not going to happen. Early in the project he ran into issues with the mechanisms that enable the jukebox to operate. He gave it his best shot. We even reached out to people who restore jukeboxes like the one I own for assistance. Through discussions with these people and my father-in-law, we decided to stop efforts to fully restore the Trashcan and focus on a cosmetic restoration.

The cosmetic restoration included removing all of the mechanical parts of the jukebox on the inside with the exception of the parts that involved lighting. I used eBay to find replacement parts for the red plastics on the sides and the top. I also found replacement parts for the lighting at the top of the jukebox and the bottom along with replacement mirrors for the front door. My father-in-law took the grill on the front door off, cleaned off the rust and repainted it to its original color, gold. He also put each of the new replacement mirrors on the front door. He even replaced the old light bulbs on the inside with new LED bulbs. These bulbs run less hot and will not damage the red plastics like the original bulbs did. My intention is to put my Sonos Bluetooth speaker inside the now empty jukebox. I gave my father-in-law the dimensions of my speaker and he built a custom shelf for the speaker to rest on inside the front door were the original speaker rested. Here is what the jukebox looked like when I inherited it…

Here is what it looks like now that my father-in-law has cosmetically restored it…

My father-in-law was concerned that I might be disappointed with this choice. How on earth could I be disappointed with this? He did an amazing job!! The jukebox is clean. The lights and mechanisms that “move” light work perfectly. With a Bluetooth speaker inside, I can play any music I want; not being limited to the 20 songs that were inside the record playing mechanism. My brother-in-law put his Bluetooth speaker in it for us to see, and hear how music would sound coming from it. I am over the moon with the result! Side note: I have created a playlist of the songs that were in the record playing mechanism so that I can listen to them (and think of my dad) whenever I want. I think my dad would be very happy with how the jukebox came out!

Next step…get the jukebox home. To be continued.