Advice required

Hi all,

I'm writing a feature about the Shure m44-7 cartridge. Shure told me that when they first came out in the 60s they were designed for Jukebox's so that when people danced next to them they wouldn't skip. They mentioned Rockola jukebox.

I just wondered if anyone knows where I could find information on the use of this Shure cartridge/needle in juke boxes?

Ideally I need to chat to an credible expert on this...can anyone recommend who best to talk to? Is there an association who I should go to?

Many thanks,
Dan

Hello Dan

I'm afraid the information from Shure is not quite right. The M44-7 has never been used in jukeboxes. The pickup M44 was available with 6 different needle insertions (depending on the purpose) . See [www.jukebox-world.de] # Shure M44 . In jukeboxes only the version M44C was used. The M44C was, far as I know first used in 1967 by RoweAMI in the models MM-1 and CMM-1 (Cadette). From 1968 it was also used by Rock-Ola in the models 436 and 437 (and many later models). Rock-Ola used a custom item having the type designation M44R. This is an M44C with modified bracket.

The forerunner of the M44C was the M77. It was also used in RoweAMI (from 1963 all models) and Rock-Ola (from 1964 mainly models with solid state amplifiers) jukeboxes. More detailed information you can find in the archive. [www.jukebox-world.de]

Shure pickups were also used in other jukeboxes.

M75 in German Wurlitzer
17CM in NSM (double-sided system, specially developed for NSM)

Best regards - charly49

Hello Dan,

Charly49, is quite right regarding the M44-7 which is used these days as a scratch cartridge but can be used as a substitute cartridge for Rowe Ami and Rock Ola M44C which are no longer made.

Yes Rowe Ami & Rock Ola used the M44C for many years as the standard cartridge in the case of Rowe Ami from its 1967 jukebox MM-1 through to its last vinyl the R-94 (in vinyl format).

The N44C styli is still available for those robust M44C cartridges, I personally have had less than a handfull of failures in the last 35 years.

Regards
Alan

Alan Hood
ami-man
UK

The M44C has long been sold out. But there are other M44 cartridges (M44-7, M44G and others) available. You can buy every M44 cartridge and replace the existing stylus by a N44C. This is necessary because only the N44C can handle the relatively high needle pressure (required in jukeboxes) for a long time. The others are too compliant.

Unfortunately, there are almost no N44C, produced by Shure. But there are good replicas. The original Shure stylus had a life expectancy of 100,000 single plays. I think replicas will not last as long. With the small number of plays today, mostly in the home area, this should not mind.

Best regards - charly49