Tuesday, June 15, 2010

2004 Rockola "Bubbler" CD Jukebox


After Rockola in Chicago, was purchased by Antique Apparatus of Torrance CA, the "Bubbler" model they were making, underwent a number of changes. This "C" model is the most technically advanced of them all. (The yellow components inside the cabinet reveal that).

For years these 'bubblers' have boasted outlandish power, so don't expect to sit in front of it with it cranked up all the way.

One of the most appealing features of these Rockolas is the revolving color cylinders (animation) within the top arch of the cabinet. In a low light setting, this baby looks like Las Vegas on a Saturday night.

You might enjoy the story of how we got this one. It came to us from Vegas! Although we seldom find a reason to purchase jukes from very far away, this one gave me a personal reason to trade the bright lights of LA for those of Vegas.

This older guy calls from LV and says he's downsizing and needs to sell his "bubbler" right away. His story is that he bought it new in 2007 from a billiard store and never really used. I'm thinking, "sure, that's what they all say".

I ask him to send me some photos. From them it appears to be a CD-8. Then I have him read
me the model number on the ID sticker on the back. He tells me it’s a model CD-SC. Never heard of that one. He also says he just had eye surgery and to just come up to LV and buy it. The movers were coming the next day. So I hopped in one of the delivery trucks and headed to Vegas.

As soon as I saw this unit, I knew he was telling the truth about it not ever being used. He had told me that right after he bought it, he remodeled the house to the tune of $3 mil. So it sat in storage for 2 years.

It only had 10 CDs in it and no title strips. By the time the remodel was finished the value of his home had plummeted so he's moving to a smaller place.

The juke was immaculate. Here's the catch. What he though he read, with one bad eye, on the back of the cabinet as CD-SC, was really CD-8C. You see by 2007 Bubblers were touch screen and had no typical title strip display.

He assumed that when he bought it from the billiard store in 2007 that it was the current model. It was actually a floor model from 2004. Our experience is that billiard stores tend to do that. Thus he didn't get what he thought he was paying top dollar for.

(BTW, anytime a seller can't tell you the year of a Rockola Bubbler, have him send you a photo of the sticker on the back. It shows the year. Also have him go into the computer program and take a shot of the total plays shown in the display window).

When I got it back to the shop and lit it up, we found the computer only showing 575 total plays. That's like a weekend's worth of tunes. The envelope with all the instruction manuals was un-opened as was the remote control with batteries still sealed. It was still brand new!

This beauty will light up your room and your life.

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