Original 1962 Rock-Ola Princess 1493 Vinyl Jukebox

The Rock-Ola Princess was first released in 1962, in the Silver Age of Jukeboxes. Holding up to 50 records, it sports a ‘visible mechanism’ wherein the viewer can see the records being physically selected and played through its narrow, arched glass. The Princess is well-known as being the smallest free-standing model of these visible mechanism jukeboxes, with 8,500 of them produced.

The Princess is manufactured by Rock-Ola: creators of the only true authentic, brand new American CD jukebox on the planet.

Allow us to explain how and why we go to such extreme lengths when repairing and restoring vintage games.

Over the years we are fortunate enough to have gathered together a select few individuals whose enthusiasm for jukeboxes, pinball machines, and vintage arcade games ensures that they are never less than 100% committed to the task in hand. They quite simply love breathing new life into old circuitry and want to see as many of these classic pieces preserved for future generations as possible.

Not for them the perfunctory checklists and proverbial ‘tyre kicking’ which pass for an inspection at other dealers but instead an unflinching determination to get to grips with the detail. This usually begins with a thorough strip down of the machine and a forensic examination of the internal workings. They’ll be aware of the particular quirks and foibles of any given piece and instead of just replacing failed parts they’ll always go the extra mile, swapping out components that are likely to fail in the near future.

An obvious comparison would be between a classic car that remains on show in a garage and one that you can actually enjoy driving, to see in detail the process involved see our blog post.

Rare though many of these machines are, rarer still are the examples that have been properly restored or can truthfully be said to be in full working order. It goes without saying that when unrestored machines come up for sale online or at auction, they’ll often be priced rather lower than the machines sold by Pinball Hives Company, and the point we wish to get across above all others is that there’s a reason for this.

In this business Pinball Hives Company’s reputation is second to none, and as it’s been hard won over the years it’s something we never take for granted. Every machine that goes off to a customer, be they corporate or private, is a potential advertisement for the business and if we didn’t do our job properly then we wouldn’t have the high number of loyal, returning customers that we do.

We’re justly proud of our One Year Parts and Labour Warranty, which extends to on-site visits so if your machine does require some attention, you won’t necessarily have to endure the pain of separation.

We’ve always recognised that with specialised products such as these the after sales service is just as important as the initial sale. It takes a long time to build a reputation and over the years our commitment has won us not just the loyalty of our clients but also the trust of the last remaining American Jukebox manufacturer, Rockola, who in 2014 appointed us as their Exclusive British dealer.

Music itself is an important part of our business, as reflected by our treasured vinyl library, so we are able to help you source and create the perfect playlist. We also make all of the title cards in original typewriter font – so if you’re a bit stuck for choice, we are only too happy to help!