Archive for the ‘Jukeboxes’ Category

Rock-Ola Jukebox Title Cards to Download

Tuesday, January 24th, 2012

Rock-Ola Jukeboxes LogoOk for you Jukebox fans out there here is an answer to a question we get quite a lot – Where can I get some blank title cards for my Rock-Ola Jukebox ? Answer – Right Here!

For the CD playing models of Rock-Ola jukeboxes the title cards are as much a part of the awe and image of the product as the bubble tubes or the rotating disc selector. They let you and your friends and family flip through your selection of music in the way that only a jukebox can.

Every Rock-Ola is supplied with a number of blank title cards for you to fill out with the titles from your own CDs. However these require that you hand-write on them or are a bit of a master with your printer to feed them through, or you may simply have run out!

Well here is the answer, a blank Microsoft Word document set up for you to type over and print out to give your title cards that professional look. Then simply cut them out and they’ll fit perfectly in your title card display and you’re set!

So for all of you who are looking for these, here they are:

(right click-on the icon and select “Save Target As” – then select where on your computer you would like to save the file)

For those of you who need a bit more automation in your life, you can also take things one step further. There is a program called JukeCD (link takes you to JukeCD’s website) which for around £35 (at the time of writing) will allow Windows based PCs to insert their CDs into their PC where the software will detect the CD, and download the track listing and album art for you, then create the perfect title card ready for you to print out! How easy is that?

As always if you have any questions about our great range of Jukeboxes or how you can load your music collection into them, please give one of our fully trained sales advisers a call free on 0800 612 8180.

Please note Liberty Games cannot be responsible for the content of external links

The History of Rock-Ola Jukeboxes

Wednesday, November 16th, 2011

Rock-Ola Bubbler JukeboxFor those of you who enjoyed our previous post on the history of Wurlitzer jukeboxes, today we take another step back in time and look at the fascinating history behind the legendary Rock-Ola jukeboxes…

When David Cullen Rockola relocated from Canada to Chicago in the early 1920’s he was actually in his early twenties. Seduced by the sound of the city and driven by the desire to succeed, even at that bright and inventive age, he could never have imagined the important part he would play in society as we know it today. Why? Well, simply because he provided the pop-culture people of this planet with the relished and revered Rock-Ola jukebox.

Although the Windy City has been the home of many notable historical figures and events, both good and bad, Mr. Rockola was one of the more significant and overlooked goodies of the 20th century. This future giant of the jukebox realm had the smart sense to know opportunity when he saw or heard it and he began honing his business skills when he started working as a hotel bellboy at the young age of 14. After that, he worked in a few different positions and places prior to moving to the Midwestern Mecca.

Once he arrived in Chicago, David immediately immersed himself into learning the slot machine scene of the gaming industry where he worked at one point or another for all three of the top manufacturers, which were Mills, Jennings, and Watling. He started out making the front panels of the in demand money making devices and before long, in true entrepreneurial style, he opened his own company in 1926. Initially making and selling vending machines he soon began offering weighing scales for good measure and therefore briefly became the Rockola Scale Company.

Blessed with modest success, he was always looking for the next big thing and so when the pinball craze hit the nation in 1930, he chose to challenge the capable competition and though despite his best designs and efforts, he unfortunately almost went bankrupt while playing in that game. As it goes, a few of the games that he invented and had a hard time selling back then are now much more appreciated and sought after, as they are considered among the most innovative and collectable of antique gaming nostalgia.

Bouncing back, in 1934 he had the sound mind and timeliness to obtain a patent on a mechanism that could pick out a music record from a stack of them, then play it and put it back in place. The eventually led to the creation of his famous masterpiece, which is the Rock-Ola Jukebox, finally his product had become a formidable contender in the market.
In fact, to this day, Rock-Ola is arguably the most recognized brand in the world, as these jukeboxes have untiringly entertained millions of people in many, many places.

During his life of ups and downs, Rockola always rolled with the punches as he encountered brushes with the law and the mob. He and his jukeboxes also rolled with the changes while constantly evolving to endure fierce rivalry from his chief competitors. He was above all things a proficient pioneer in people pleasing products, from pinball games and shuffleboard, to coin operated machines that offered music and more.

His company also heroically helped the cause during WWII by halting regular plant operations for nearly 2 years in order to make 3,500 carbine rifles a day for the U.S. military. Following the Allied victory, the jukebox went back into full production and never stopped, even when he later sold the biz to the Antique Apparatus Company in 1992. Although David passed away just a year later at the fulfilling age of 96, his light will forever shine anytime anyone anywhere rocks out around a Rock-Ola!

As always if you would like to know more about our range of Rock-Ola Jukeboxes or any of our other great jukebox range please give one of our experienced sales advisers a call free on 0800 612 8180.

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The History of Wurlitzer Jukeboxes

Friday, October 21st, 2011

Although it may sound like a dizzying ride at a German amusement park or maybe the nickname for a tasty bratwurst with everything on it, it’s not! It’s a jukebox, and in the whole wide wonderful world of jukeboxes, there have been just a few big names through the years that have lit up uncountable dance floors like electric fire. In fact, some brands have become so popular that many people are accustomed to calling these music boxes by the name of their makers and one of the most famous of course, is Wurlitzer.

When it comes to good looks and great sound, it is difficult to find a jukebox that is comparable to this authentic American classic. Yes, there are other brands that are surely worth mentioning though the Wurlitzer was once the undisputed champion of the jukes and this piece of fine machinery still remains a much sought after slice of nostalgia. In regards to iconic Americana, the Wurlitzer is definitely ranked high up there with the vintage 1957 Chevy and Joltin’ Joe DiMaggio.

The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company began in 1853 as a manufacturer and dealer of musical instruments. Although often credited with creating the jukebox as we know it, that did not even happen until 81 years later in 1934 and it was not their first and only claim to fame. As they originally had modest success specializing in producing string, woodwind, and brass instruments they initially gained global recognition when they turned their tuneful attention towards making innovative organs and extraordinary pianos of all types in the early 1900′s.

This Cincinnati based family company was first managed by Franz Rudolph Wurlitzer and then appropriately maintained by his three sons until its relocation to the more musically motivated city of Chicago in 1941, nearly a century after opening. Wurlitzer continued to drive the jumpin’ jukebox revolution of the 1940′s, 50′s and 60′s, making many of the most memorable and marvelous models to date.

The unique style of the Wurlitzer jukebox cannot be mistaken, with their inviting multicolored mood lighting and signature rounded tops. Some of them actually resemble a time machine, which in a way is what they really are, when loaded with reminiscent old recordings. Unfortunately, as all good things must pass, production ceased in 1974 and the company closed in the 1980’s when it was bought by the well known Baldwin Piano Company. The good news is that there were so many made, they can still be found.

Nowadays, many multimedia maniacs get their entertainment “fix” via their digital devices which can kind of take the fun out of things. Especially considering that they are the only ones tuned in to their micro screen and wireless headphones as they are tuning out everything and everyone else in their immediate vicinity. Whatever happened to good old fashioned fun? Try this, get together with your friends at a local bar or residence to harmoniously hang out around a Wurlitzer, now that’s FUN!

New range of Touchscreen Jukeboxes!

Thursday, November 18th, 2010

New Touchscreen JukeboxesAs one of the top retailers in the UK for Jukeboxes we always like to keep our range bang up to date and feature the latest technology. Well these three new beauties new to Liberty Games do just that!

These three great digital touchscreen Jukeboxes are all exceptional value for money solutions for providing reliable digital music to almost any environment.

Designed with more commercial premises in mind they are capable of linking up to three of the hottest jukebox music technologies around at the moment, Milestones in Music, Milestones in Music AV and RPS 10000. Each offers music provision as well as profiling and high reliability. This ensures your customers always get to listen to the music they want when they want!

But if you want one of these for youe home don’t let us put you off! We have supplied a number of commercial jukeboxes to home environments before giving a real commercial-quality feel to people’s games rooms. We can help you out with arranging your subscription with the music providers.

The downside for the home is that you have to be subscribed to a music provider for these jukeboxes to function, but this may be cheaper than you think.

As for features, this is where these jukeboxes really stand out. With simple to use interfaces on a large 19″ touch screen, programmable BGM timers, variable price of play, on screen advertising, happy hours, microphone input, aux inputs and comprehensive data management systems they really do tick all the boxes.

And as for adding your music don’t worry, no expensive broadband connections are required as music and videos can be uploaded via CD.

As always if you have any questions about these or any of our other jukebox range please give one of our jukebox specialists a call on 0800 612 8180.

Products features in this blog post:

Rock-Ola Bubbler Jukebox – New Video!

Thursday, November 4th, 2010

Black JudeboxWhen we got our two latest Rock-Ola’s into the showroom a couple of weeks ago we promised you all some video of them in action, and true to form the Liberty Games video production department have done us proud and produced a video showing off the first, the black bubbler, in all its glory!

Its great to show these amazing classic Jukeboxes off on video as one of the most common comments we get when people see them in the flesh for the first time is that the pictures really don’t do them justice.

It must be something about the silky smooth CD selection, or the cool glow of the bubble tubes that means they really do have to be seen to be believed.

Hopefully with new video you’ll be able to get a better sense of what great products these Rock-Ola jukeboxes really are.

With a 100 CD mechanism, 350 Watts RMS (+ pre-amp out for additional amplifiers), deluxe remote control, iPod docking option and of course the looks the black nostalgic bubbler certainly ticks all the boxes.

If the video wets your appetite don’t forget you can some and see (and of course hear) these jukeboxes in our games room showroom!

And as always if you have any further questions don’t hesitate to call one of our jukebox specialists on 0800 612 8180.

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Video:

New Rock-Ola Jukeboxes in our showroom!

Thursday, October 21st, 2010
Rock-Ola Jukeboxes

Left: Rock-Ola Bubbler, Right: Rock-Ola Harley Davidson Music Centre

We’ve just taken delivery of a couple of really cool looking Rock-Ola jukeboxes in our showroom, and we’re all so excited we thought we’d share a quick picture with you!

We’ve snapped them before they have even been fully un-packed and plugged in, so we’re looking forward to annoying the neighbours a bit later on!

The Rock-Ola Bubbler and Rock-Ola Harley Davidson aren’t just for neighbour-annoying though, as at more modest volumes the sound is still exceptionally clear and crisp, and when all the lighting and bubble tubes are on they really are a piece of art.

We’ve tasked the video production department with showing these babys in all their glory so stay tuned for some great vids of these guys.

Of course if you can’t wait why not head on down to our London/Surrey based games room showroom to check them (and lots of other cools games room gear) out!

Jukebox Focus : Rock-Ola Nostalgic Music Centre

Wednesday, June 16th, 2010
rock-ola jukebox

The Rock-Ola Nostalgic Music Centre Digital Jukebox

Here at Liberty Games we’ve been selling Jukeboxes for many years now, and certainly over the past 2 or 3 years we’ve really seen the pace of technology deployed increase. Wheras ten or fifteen years ago a computer-based jukebox with a large touchscreen may have been the fevered dreams of a mad-man today there are many jukeboxes out there that can easily connect you your ipod and play music from there or store music themselves.

Our current favourite of the current crop though would probably have to be the Rock-Ola Nostalgic Music Centre Mark 3 Digital Jukebox. This great jukebox not only really looks the part, with all the cool styling we’ve come to expect from Rock-Ola, including the colour changing tubes, the bubble tubes and the authentic wood-look, but this model takes the classic jukebox and kicks it straight into the 21st century!

It does that though its generous 19″ touch screen and built in music center software. The touch screen is responsive without being over-responsive, and is a good enough size so you don’t have to squint to read. However the real gem here is in the software. We’ve seen a few pieces of music centre software but the Rock-Ola’s is probably the easiest to use we’ve seen. Like all music centres it can retrieve title and cover art from the internet, but the Rock-Ola goes a step beyond and if there is trouble finding the particular data related to your music, it will sample the music and upload it to special music comparison servers where the musical tones are compared against a vast database and the true artist data is returned! Very impressive.

Not only that but the software is also able to import music from cd, hard drive, ipod and network locations with the correct configuration. Not only that but with the network connection activated there is a really cool iphone/ipod touch app to remote control your Rock-Ola! Alternativley the Rock-Ola has an inbuily web-server which allows you to control all of the jukeboxes functions from any web browser (network configuration allowing).

However all these advanced functions don’t make the jukebox any harder to use with easy drag-and-drop functionality for creating your own unique playlists and simple touch controls for starting and stopping music and controling volume etc.

Marry all of that with 160gb of storage, a 5-band graphic equaliser and truly thumping speakers (2 x 3 inch tweeter, 2 x 6.5 inch Full Range, 1 x 10 inch dual voice coil and 1 x Subwoofer) and you really do have the full package.

As always if you have any further questions about the Rock-Ola or jukeboxes in particular please don’t hesitate to contact one of our Jukebox specialists on 0800 612 8180.

Wurlitzer OMT Red

Thursday, April 22nd, 2010

Wurlitzer OMT Red To RightWe’ve just taken delivery of a great looking Wurlitzer OMT Red CD Jukebox in a stunning red finish, and we thought we’d share a few pictures we’ve taken ourselves of this sexy beast!

Red isn’t always the first colour you’d think to get your new jukebox in, but as you can see from the photos it actually adds a certain touch of class and definately makes this Jukebox stand out from the rest.

This model has all the standard features of the usual OMT CD range, such as 100 CD capacity (with that great CD selection arm), high powered stereo amplifier, title card selection and BGM (Back Ground Music) functionality.

For more information on this great product, please see our OMT Red Page or see our complete range of jukeboxes. As always if you need any further advice please don’t hesitate to give us a cal on 0800 612 8180 and ask to speak to one of our juekbox specialists.

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