1950s Seeburg Wallbox Remote Converted for Modern Streaming

If you remember the 1950s, or at least the parody that we see on TV and movies, you probably picture teenagers drinking milkshakes and playing music. Perhaps the tunes in this image are even controlled via a shiny jukebox wall remote connected above a restaurant booth.

While we can debate the pros and cons of the era, it does seem that many items made then, including these remote music control units, were built to last. Dr. Scott M. Baker got his hands on one made by Seeburg, and proceeded to convert it into modern music controller based around a Raspberry Pi. You might assume he somehow swapped out the keys to measure each letter and number selected individually, but he instead preserved the device’s basic functionality, going so far as to find a 25V AC transformer to run it.

After quite a bit of work just to figure out everything functions, he designed a Raspberry Pi HAT to take signals from the original motor-driven system to select songs. The Raspberry Pi, along with some extra controls, are mounted below the unit, allowing song selection without popping quarters in over and over.

You can find an explanation of how things work in the first video below, and his Pi circuitry in the second. Finally, if you’d like to duplicate this gadget, or make something similar, the project’s code is available on GitHub.