Tag Archives: Seeburg

Vintage Fiberglass Safari Animal Heads From Banana Republic

Posted on March 16, 2019 by Hepcats Haven

While surfing Craigslist I came across a gentleman who was selling three wall mounts. He was selling a Zebra, Gemsbok Antelope and a Kudu Antelope (Kudu is the one with the twisted horns). We are always on the hunt for cool additions to add to our Tiki/Big Game room and these fit the bill!

The retail company called Banana Republic was founded by Mel and Patricia Ziegler in 1978

Back in the 80’s Banana Republic was rolling out African safari themed ads. During this time they went all out decorating their stores. They adorned the walls with many kinds of fiberglass safari animal heads.

These heads had a stamp that reads BR1985 (Banana Republic 1985). They produced the animal heads I am posting but also elephants, rhinos, giraffes and many more. Most of these heads were destroyed after a change in the stores advertising direction. Enough with the back story let’s discuss the mounts we picked up…

The first one I will discuss is the Kudu. These are life size pieces and unfortunately this one had a busted off horn at the base. Upon further examination I realized the other horn was loose as well. I decided to bust that horn off at the base too.

I knew the best thing to fix this was JB Weld! This stuff is remarkably strong. The horns were made out of solid resin so I needed something that would be able to hold them in place with their considerable weight.

I applied a liberal amount of JB Weld and used my finger to wipe off any excess that squeezed out from under the horns. Once dried I touched the bases up with paint to help conceal the repairs.

Next I put the Zebra head in its place…

Lastly I hung the Gemsbok…

Along with these new additions we have our rhino, shark and chimp!…

Here is a small video of the heads in place…

Seeburg ‘1000’ Background Music System

Posted on March 25, 2015 by Hepcats Haven

Mel and I picked this up from a guy in Davis California. I have always wanted one of these. I love the styling and size of this unit compared to the size of the Seeburg LU1 we own.

These machines are about the size of a microwave and slightly heavier.

I had a hairpin leg stand that was sitting around so I decided to refinish it and use it as a platform for this Seeburg.

I tried to match the paint the best I could to the Seeburg, I even used gold spray paint webbing to accent the aqua.

The inside is pretty clean for as old as it is.

Though there is a speaker in the door you could also hook up satellite speakers to fill a room/store with the soothing sounds of mood music.

This machine is functional but it could use a tune up. Our friend Justin at Stellar Electronics is going to take a look at it to see if he can convert it to play 45’s. If anyone can do it Justin would be the person.

The unique things about these units is that they play a 16-2/3 speed records, which I think are unique to this machine. The Seeburg Background Music record is a vinyl record of a non-standard size of 9 inches diameter with a 2 inch center hole. These units had 3 types of background music: basic, mood and industrial. The records were distributed quarterly in boxes of seven. The operator was supposed to replace records in the system with new records of the same number (i.e. MM-125). Each box is labeled with the library type, date to place in service, and instructions to the operator. These instructions also specify that each record is to be returned to Seeburg after use. Upon return, the records were destroyed.

When we purchased this unit the previous owner had about 40-50 records. I will keep you informed on what we do with this little gem!

Something cool I discovered while researching this Seeburg unit is that someone created a streaming audio station of just the music from the Seeburg 1000 music library. Click HERE to check it out!

SOURCE:

http://seeburg1000.com

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HOW TO: Applying Wood Veneer

Posted on September 6, 2011 by Hepcats Haven

Dont let it intimidate you!

I know from antiquing all the time you come across a lot of great wood pieces that have water damage or chipped veneer. This will usually turn off most collectors/buyers but don’t let it intimidate you. If something catches your eye you should really consider buying it and repairing the surface. The surface damage actually gives you the power to haggle more and get the piece for very cheap in some cases.

Depending on the kind of wood veneer you buy it can be relatively cheap to expensive. There are a vast array of woods to choose from and the grains can blow your mind. Usually the more exotic wood veneers have to be special ordered through a specialty wood dealer. I don’t think you will find veneer at Lowes or Home Depot but I could be wrong. I purchased a 4×8 sheet of Teak veneer (around $200, but I have a lot left over for other projects) from a dealer in Sacramento California to restore the surface of my Seeburg Jukebox pictured below. The original surface of the veneer on this cabinet was not in the best shape.

Keep in mind that the veneer was not this color. I stained it to make it look richer but you could just oil it as well.

Something to remember is that you always want to cut the veneer to overhang the piece of wood you are applying it to. This gives you room for error in case it does not line up appropriately. The surfaces that you are going to apply the glue to need to be completely free of debris otherwise you will see it when the two pieces are glued together. Here are a few things to use to help complete the job:

Remember you have to apply this to the back of the veneer and the surface you are applying it to. Also, you can use just a regular brush to apply the glue to the surfaces.

If you don’t have a router with a veneer trimming bit this is a low cost option. It has a razor that when slid on the edge of the piece you are veneering cuts off the excess.

I have this same roller. This will help to push out any air bubbles that get trapped during application of the veneer. I prefer this tool as opposed to using a flat piece of wood because the wood could mar the surface.

Here is a video from DIY to show how simple it is to veneer something and trust me it really isn’t difficult.