The J.P. Seeburg Co. was a jukebox industry leader for over 50 years.
The J.P. Seeburg Co. manufactured more than 200 jukebox models from 1928 until the early 1980s. The company was founded by Justus P. Seeburg, who came to the United States from Sweden at age 16. His company successfully manufactured player pianos until the mid-1920s, when phonograph recordings became widely available. During its prime, the Seeburg Co. was an industry leader, pioneering innovations such as 200-selection and microprocessor-controlled machines.
Vintage Jukeboxes
With its debut in 1928, the Audiophone, the first Seeburg jukebox, played 78 rpm records, featured eight selections and was operated with pneumatic control values. Over the next 20 years, the number of selections rose to 20 as the company produced more than 50 models, including some that had remote wall selection devices.
Visible Mechanism Era
Seeburg introduced the first 100-selection jukebox in 1948 at a time when competitors offered a maximum of 24 selections. The company produced more than 50 models of jukeboxes, priced from $1,000 to more than $1,500, over the next 13 years, and later models offered 160 or 200 selections. These models showed the working mechanism through a window display. The first model played 78 rpm records. Later models played 45 rpm records, although the last models of the era also came with an option to play 33 1/3 rpm long-playing records.
Console Jukeboxes
Beginning in 1962, Seeburg adopted a console styling for its jukeboxes where the mechanism no longer was visible. These machines also switched the primary speed of play to 33 1/3 rpm, the speed for albums instead of singles. They featured an auto-speed option to also play 45 rpm records. Some models had a Disco switch that would allow the machine only to play selections from disco-style musicians. By 1965, solid state design had replaced the older vacuum tube models.
Digital Jukeboxes
Seeburg produced its first digital jukebox in 1969. An attachment allowed these machines to use the newly invented Digital Electronic Consolette, which encoded all selections. The Musical Bandshell, introduced in 1970, broke new ground for cabinet design with sweeping curves like those in a park band shell.
Microprocessor Jukeboxes
The first jukebox controlled by a computer microprocessor was introduced by Seeburg in 1978. The company's jukeboxes also switched from playing records to CDs. Seeburg declared bankruptcy in 1979 and was acquired by Stern Electronics, which continued to manufacture jukeboxes for a few years under the Stein/Seeburg brand.
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