Hi everyone!
My ST-7 arrived in VG condition yesterday, no shipping damage at all. My dust cover is in VG condition, just needs some polishing to really make it look like new.
The the table needed a thorough tear down to clean outside and inside it completely. It really looks very impressive all cleaned up. The tear down really was not as bad as some may have stated. I am not an electronics technician, just a guy with a mechanical aptitude. It really was a lot easier than I had read it to be. I went straight for the "throat" and took the slide arm assembly apart being careful and attentive to what came from where and so on for the parts, the rails directions and so on. The wheel was the tricky area, being extra careful not to damage the part and the assembly that holds it. Gently prying ever so carefully on the side and using a pair of thin long nose needle pliers it came out with a gentle nudge. I installed a #31 O-ring from Home Depot (10 pack for $3 or so) It was a small battle to get on, but it fits and it works very well. I did have to make some minor adjustments to the arms lift and drop height from the small allen head screw. I did not have the right size allen tool, but I just took the top part off removing two philps screws and then re-installed it after making minor adjustments to get the correct height and drop, I think I got it on the third try.
I did have to make changes to the arms tracking, again trial and error while playing some albums and keeping an eye on the arm and the trailing arm, then looking again at it as it played further into the record. Eventually I got the correct settings and I have played a bunch of albums and am really impressed with the job I have done and the table!
I installed new belts and then started making the fine tuning adjustments. I did have to make an adjustment to the drive motor also. The motor after playing a record on one side started to make some scraping noises. I took the motor out and then made a 1/4 or more on the nylon stop and put it place, spun it some by hand and it was smooth, so it went back in and then I began the final re-assembly. I installed some velcro for the foam that dry rotted away for the two polished top pieces to prevent rattles.
I am waiting for my new lamps and LED'S I ordered to arrive, got notice today they shipped. I got lucky, the touch function lamps all work but the end of record stop light is out. When the new lamps arrive, I will install all fresh and try the LED's to see if they are in the same voltage and amp tolerances to work correctly, I am crossing my fingers!
I also got lucky too that the cartridge and stylus are in great shape ( AT12S and yes it has an OEM ATS12S stylus, it's been cleaned and my albums sound awesome on this table and cartridge combo.
I do have one small problem. My table again has working lamps for the touch controls but it plays 33's on the 45 rpm position. The 33 rpm speed is perfect on the 45 rpm's button, the 33 rpm speed is real slow. I wonder if any one has any thought here how to fix this? I don't own any 45's, so if there is no fix, it won't really matter, I just would like the table to work 100% like it used too.
Rick
