--- On Mon, 10/5/09, Lou Houck <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> When singles were released in both 78 and 45 rpm,
> Wurlitzer jukes selected a record by a mechanism
> that swung a record tray out over the turntable,
> which rose up on a long shaft, through the tray
> and took the record up to the tone arm in the
> upper regions of the cabinet. This mech was
> even more convoluted than that last sentence!
> There were 10" adaptor discs that had a 7"
> cut out to hold records for machines configured
> for 45 rpm play. What a joy to watch, but hell
> to keep aligned. I've got one out in the barn,
> and am keen to restore it!
The last Simplex-mechanism Wurlitzer made had two
record-tray stacks, one on either side of the rising
turntable. Not only that, but it could intermix
7" 45s and 10" 78s. Is that the machine you have?
It was an amazing example of wringing the last bit
of functionality out of a mechanism originally
designed in the 1930s. "Simplex" became an ironic
name.
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