NSM City IV Jukebox
(160 Selection)
I felt The Gamesroom needed something a little different since it's initial incarnation
and when the offer of a choice of FREE jukeboxes came my way, I couldn't
help but say 'Oooh, yes please!'. This was one of four machines available to me and
quite definately for restoration. It had been residing in a garage for the past however
many years and was being cleared in prep for a house move. Owned then by a good
friend of my fathers it just had to go and I couldn't wait to get stuck in.
The NSM 'City II' was a machine I'd liked for many years and always thought one of them
would look rather fitting in my retro amusement aracde. My exposure to jukeboxes had always
been relatively high as my parents are the pround owners of a RoweAmi R80 and keen
record collectors too so we visited various jukebox shows over the years. This machine, the City IV
being the later machine (1988 I believe) uses the more advanced NSM 'ES 5' tech found
predominantly in CD machines of the time - a realcross-over item! These are the first
pictures, just after being landed at home. Once the dust and grime had been removed it
was clear of the work needing to be undertaken.
I could see the metal work of the cabinet needed attention; all speaker grills
were rusting away & the bass speakers in the bottom didn't look to great either!
The only life in the old girl was the flourescent tube in the main body of the machine
and to top it all, I had no access into it. Keys? Nope! That would make life far too easy!
Old title strips show what was last available for play when in working order!
Well, after keys arrived (I managed to get replacements ordered) the long job of
cleaning down took place. All things considered, she wasn't too bad but after a few
hours of tinkering all I had achieved was to get the lower illumination running
which just confirmed my initial thoughts that the bass speakers would need
changing.
Seeing to the fact that other coin op machines have simply flooded the ground floor
of our house, my makeshift workshop soon began take shape on the gamesroom floor -
Oh, what the heck! Removing the baseboard revealed a very clean bottom
half indeed. The wooden cabinet parts were all very dry and in particularly good shape.
Quite the opposite to much of the metal items onboard (albeit just externally).
More dismatling - even the cash box frame comes out!
Lower front panel off - yep, speakers shot! New 9" woofers required or repair the
originals? Hmmm!
Speakers now out - making good progress with the cleaning.
The technical term here for these is...... knackered! Incidentally, the same applies to
the original castors which had all bar one collapsed! See top right.
As promised, new rubber wheeled castors added - should be kind to the floor too!
Lower grills removed in preparation for rubbing down and painting. They should come
up really well.
Final parts come off that I wish to remove and computer will be getting looked
at shortly - All power outputs are present but machine will not fire up. Suspected faults
with main board and possibly carriage unit. PSU is fine and amplifier should be ok.
Tweeters and mid-range in perfect condition - testing and working.
These will go back into the machine when she gets put back together.
Below are the new woofers set to be installed into the jukebox. Aside from being
fit for purpose and the correct size they needed to be distinctive due the fact
they are illuminated. I couldn't find anything close to what came out so made
the decision to choose something contempory and keep it looking fresh.
Part way through painting some of the rubbed down, rusted parts.
Undercoat, 3 x top coats & 2 x coats of laquer make for a real hard wearing finish.
...and so the rebuild begins. Starting from the bottom up... grills and speakers
in - looking rather good at this stage I feel.
Top speaker grills back in....
After what seemed like an age, the computer parts were returned to me from repair
(for a premium price to boot!) and the final re-assembly took place.
By this time The Gamesroom had even seen a change of colour on the walls!!
She is now fully running without any faults at all and should stay this way for many years to
come (fingers crossed!).
New Title Strips
Machine in action
