Today is devoted to the lower door on the SMC2. I started taking it apart by removing the back reflective glass and the semi-round plastic case that secures the lamp holder. Both double as the holder for the bottom glass. I got a beautiful (expensive) reproduction from Victory Glass that will replace the mirror someone had installed. Once those were removed I put the whole assembly on the bench on a towel to protect the rounded glass pieces. I removed the lower trim piece. It has a fair amount of scratches and small gouges. I will take it to Morales Plating and let them polish it. They won’t be able to get all the damage out-the piece is too thin to go very far into it but I’m more concerned about it being shiny and know they will turn it out as best as it can get. The bottom screen over the speakers was next. I’ll remove as much of the old paint as possible using a drill and wire wheel and paint it satin black. I took the top trim off and then the top cap. I sand blasted the top cap and painted it satin black. A couple other pieces got sand blasted as well and painted the same way. This unit will look sharp when I’m finished with it. After I do the screen next week I’ll spend a day and re-assemble it. Here’s the obligatory “Before” picture.

I finished my SHFA5 amplifier. It is for a DS100 or 160. This is an amp I will put up for sale. I have several more that will be done for the same reason. 50’s and 70’s amps for the most part. I usually do this kind of amp work in the evenings an hour here and there. It has a loud hum on the bench. I believe it is due to my set up. I use an old turntable with a magnetic cartridge as my input. The test record is now the second copy of “I Can Help” by Billy Swan. I never get tires of it which is a good thing since I’ve heard it several hundred times now. I got a SHFA3 in from Joe R. and while tesing it there was a loud hum as well. That amp has a weak Channel 1. I called Jeff to see if I could put the SHFA5 in his DS and test it. Removing his and replacing it with mine will take longer than the actual testing.All I need to do is verify if there is a hum or not. While there he is giving me a couple of mono redhead cartridges. I say give. I’ll swap out work for him for them. He has a C he is hot to get the mech working. I will then turn around and sell one to a fellow that Terry L. introduced me to. The guy’s cartdridge crumbled when Terry removed it to inspect. I need to trace down why I have such a bad hum on the SHFA amps. I tested the ground from the turntable to the amp and it is solid. I’ll visit him next week and check the amp.

I’ve been reconditioning a couple more wallbox boards to test. Speaking of which…I’ve been trying to find out what SCS device Seeburg uses on the audio control. My DEC manual does not have a parts list. I got on ebay and found a fellow in Canada who sold me a service manual and a parts catalog. I have never seen a parts catalog for the DEC wallboxes and am looking forward to getting it. Victory Glass for some reason does not have this manual. I think they are happy to coast on whatever manuals they recieved when they bought AMR, the original publishers of reproduction manuals. I buy/use Seeburg manuals or the ones made by AMR for their quality. I bought one off of ebay once, cheap. It was a copy of a copy and looked like crap. The schematics were unusable.

I also received six gray boxes from Don S here in Texas. He let me have them at a real good price. He is the go-to guy for CD jukebox player units. I met him through the Seeburg Jukebox Collectors page on Facebook. I’ll re-condition these to sell. I’m somewhat known as the go-to guy for black and gray boxes. I’m tickled to get the grays. They’re not as plentiful as the black boxes and hard to come by. I have about a dozen now. I took the cases apart and threw the plastics in a container of water to soak for a couple days. It makes getting the paper labels off a lot easier. One evening I’ll start inspecting the boards and getting the units ready to test.