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A few photos of complete SL-1200 teardown (still in progress)

37.11.65.35

Posted on April 30, 2016 at 16:25:07
Damián
Audiophile

Posts: 2252
Joined: December 20, 2002
Hey all,

Posted about this a couple days back (25 euro surprise!) but it didn't get too much attention.. in any case, I took a few pictures along the way and thought I'd share them.











I'll do the tonearm tomorrow - hoping I don't have to completely dismantle it, although it's REALLY filthy and I wouldn't be surprised if it gets to that...

 

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Nice job; I would have left that sticker on, though. )MT(, posted on April 30, 2016 at 16:46:48
J. S. Bach
Audiophile

Posts: 9570
Location: Chester, SC
Joined: November 28, 2001
Contributor
  Since:
June 29, 2004


Later Gator,
Dave
Find more about Weather in Chester, SC

 

Looks good!, posted on April 30, 2016 at 19:06:08
Oface
Audiophile

Posts: 1497
Location: columbia, south carolina
Joined: May 3, 2003
I bought one for a similar price in similar condition.

I appreciate the pics, because I have to do the same to mine.

I'll be looking forward to your progress/updates.

 

RE: A few photos of complete SL-1200 teardown (still in progress) , posted on May 1, 2016 at 10:41:08
Ugly
Audiophile

Posts: 2912
Location: Des Moines, WA
Joined: August 22, 2006
I might just toss and replace both the arm and main bearing. Then fix whatever is left not working.

 

Ready for a light blast and powder coating, posted on May 1, 2016 at 15:52:02
mr.bear
Audiophile

Posts: 4167
Joined: November 13, 2001
I have a shop here in Huntington Beach (Surf City, baby!) that would blast that and powder coat it any standard color for about 50 bux- Primo. They do my bike frames, thought about that? This is your one shot.

 

Nice series of photos, posted on May 1, 2016 at 18:53:45
tlea
Audiophile

Posts: 562
Location: New Orleans
Joined: January 20, 2002
Contributor
  Since:
October 29, 2006
It's a very informative set of progressive teardown shots that will be useful to future restorers, but I've gotta say that it reinforces why, for 40+ years, I've never been able to take the SL-1200 seriously: it just looks like a bunch of cheap molded plastic to me. Maybe you should just put the whole thing through the dishwasher and see what happens. Given its reputation for handling abuse, it might come out sounding better than ever.







. . . in theory, practice and theory are the same; in practice, they are different . . .

 

That would be so cool!, posted on May 1, 2016 at 20:03:01
MannyE
Audiophile

Posts: 2088
Location: Miami Beach
Joined: March 4, 2001
But then he has the issue of restoring all that silk screened lettering that will be a huge pain in the ass.

I've searched for a way to do it at home and although I found something once, it was so involved and complicated that I gave up. I couldn't even find a company that restores the silk screening.

If anyone knows of one, I would send them so much business!

 

RE: "Cheap molded plastic"? Dude that main body (the one that's drying in one of the shots) is all METAL. nt , posted on May 1, 2016 at 23:58:14
Damián
Audiophile

Posts: 2252
Joined: December 20, 2002
(nt)

 

RE: Nice series of photos, posted on May 2, 2016 at 00:57:21
John Elison
Audiophile

Posts: 23874
Location: Central Kentucky
Joined: December 20, 2000
Contributor
  Since:
January 29, 2004
It might look like molded plastic, but it's really cast aluminum. It's a rather substantial turntable and even the tonearm is well engineered with some of the lowest friction bearings available. Its bearings are rated at just 7-mg force at the stylus to initiate tonearm movement. In comparison, my SME V bearings are rated at 20-mg.

With some reasonably priced upgrade modifications such as Cardas tonearm wiring, silicone fluid tonearm damping and a strobe disabler circuit, the Technics SL-1200 Mk2 easily exhibits high-end performance comparable to much more expensive turntables. I own an upgraded SL-1200 Mk2 as well as a $15,000 Sota Millennia Vacuum with SME V and my Technics sounds very good in comparison when equipped with the same cartridge and phono stage.

Buying a Technics SL-1200 Mk2 was one of the best decisions I've made. Of course, I bought mine in 2009 just before Technics discontinued production so I paid only $475 for the turntable brand new and $338 for the upgrades from KAB. I'd put it up against any $2000 turntable of the same time frame.

Best regards,
John Elison

 

RE: That would be great but, , posted on May 2, 2016 at 08:41:11
Damián
Audiophile

Posts: 2252
Joined: December 20, 2002
I'm across the pond in sunny Madrid :)

And I did think about it, though not for right now - and in any case I'd want to have some way to preserve the lettering. I do understand that there are companies that sell them in some form or another, meant to be inserted under a final layer of clear varnish - that might be worth investigating.

Thanks!

 

RE: The arm's busted.. partially anyway , posted on May 2, 2016 at 08:55:38
Damián
Audiophile

Posts: 2252
Joined: December 20, 2002

You can see it on that picture. Some schmuck must've clearly tried to 'fix it' by tightening the screw as far as it would go, when it wasn't even properly seated in the centre of the bearing. As a result, the point left a dent in the casing, which now prevents the balls from moving freely.

I don't think this will be easily repairable - I have tried to 'pop' the affected part back but it's hard to get anything in there. The very tip of a pin barely squeezes in. And the metal is actually pretty hard, which makes me wonder just how much force was used. Some people really do deserve to have their tools shoved up their..

For now I've left it with a tiny bit of play and it works - I can blow on the arm and it'll float across the platter, although if I leave it to float back, it slows down very noticeably around the 12 in. mark.

If I do this same thing with bias set to 1.2 it'll float back in one smooth stroke - so I guess it could be worse. Still, it's a bummer. I'm thinking of what to do... I even have some bearing cups around from another turntable, but removing the pressure-fit piece (the one with the dent) looks very much impossible.

Bright side (sorta) to this is that I play mostly 45s, and the arm seems to work properly around that area. But I still need to replace the microswitch under the 45 RPM button, as it is gone.

Does anyone know what part I should get - not a 'Technics' branded part as it'll be unnecessarily expensive, those can be had from any major electronics store. I just need to know what to look for.

While I'm at it I'll replace the pop-up bulb (burnt out) with an LED so it won't burn out again.

 

RE: Nice job; I would have left that sticker on, though. )MT(, posted on May 2, 2016 at 12:43:37
mr.bear
Audiophile

Posts: 4167
Joined: November 13, 2001
I'd go all mysterioso and leave off all the lettering. There's not that much... For other users, you could put a photo of the fully-lettered unit in a frame next to the 'table, or print a template on acatate with the scales on it, to lay on the deck!

There may be Pinturas electroestáticaon in Madrid. Something popped up on the mountain bike forum from there. I just suggest that because the places that do bikes will likely handle small jobs, retail.

 

And its thinness explains the exotic new one at 1/2" or so, posted on May 2, 2016 at 15:24:46
richardl
Audiophile

Posts: 3555
Joined: September 5, 2002
It looks good but, what are the age of those caps? The electrolytics will need to be replaced if of great age. The motor is wildly different from the new one as well. I have not looked at the insides of a 1200 since college, interesting.

 

RE: The arm's busted.. partially anyway , posted on May 2, 2016 at 18:50:56
Ugly
Audiophile

Posts: 2912
Location: Des Moines, WA
Joined: August 22, 2006
KAB sells stock arms for $140 and cardas rewired arms for like $250.

Probably want to change the main bearing too. KAB will also sell you one of those. I think the main bearings are quite a bit less spendy than the arms, thankfully, if my memory serves me correctly.

 

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