bangsezmax
Turntable Whisperer
I recently started doing turntable repairs for a local record shop and this past week they gave me two old Panasonics (those are all BSRs units AFAIK) and a Crosley faux-retro Stack-o-matic suitcase. :yuck:
I make it a point not to look down my nose at anyone who brings me a cheap, crappy table for repair. Considering how lousy a lot of MP3s sound, as an audiophile and a music lover, I acknowledge that some people are perfectly happy listening to inferior audio. My place is not to judge, it's to fix. People were perfectly happy listening to crummy tables 30 years ago. Why would it be any different now?
Of course, I would never consider an old BSR changer as a legitimate "listening experience" turntable, and I've felt that way since I bought my first "real" turntable 30+ years ago. But I grew up with those changers (EVERYBODY had one in the 70s). They're part of my world.
And I can tell you having been elbow-deep in two of them -- those crummy BSR changers are remarkable pieces of engineering. The parts are solid enough to keep working as if new after who knows how many hours of use by people who weren't exactly gentle with their gear. Now 30+ years on, you that you can bet that the grease has turned to glue and most will appear not to function. But once you clean off the old caked-on goo and put new lube on it again, I swear it'll run for a few more decades.
On the other hand, the Crosley -- using almost the exact same mechanism -- is truly a piece of junk. Because 1) all the important metal pieces in the BSR (like the cam wheel) were changed to plastic on the Crosley and 2) it's a belt drive, as if a belt is gonna last trying to deliver the proper torque to the mechanism. Dreadful engineering.
So for posterity's sake -- here's the easy way to resurrect an old BSR changer --
Use denatured alcohol or isopropyl alcohol to remove the old lube, and replace it with lithium grease or phonolube. Do this in the following places:
1) Speed control -- the shaft that spring and the plastic stepped piece sit on. Just get as much of the shaft exposed as you can and clean/lube it. Also on the long connector piece that moves the gear.
2) Platter bearing -- if the grease on the ball bearing holder has gone really glue-y, you may have to dig it out with something. Helps to soak it in solvent for a bit. Then relube it well. Also clean and lightly lube the spindle shaft.
3) The cam wheel -- pop the C clamp off, lift the wheel and clean the gunk and relube the underside where the pin travels. Also clean and relube the bearing that the cam sits on.
4) The tonearm travel path -- on the underside of the table near the base of the tonearm , there's a small pin that moves along a curved slot when the tonearm moves. If there's gunked-up lube there, remove it and replace it. You'll know if this isn't done because the tonearm won't move properly and the records will skip.
As with any idler, it's worth your while to clean and/or recondition the idler wheel and clean the inside of the platter where the idler travels. Putting a drop of good machine oil on the motor won't hurt either.
(Edit: I added some more instructions in another post pertaining to very "locked up" changers.)
Do that stuff, and those crappy old changers will run forever. They are truly amazing little machines. If they only sounded better!
I make it a point not to look down my nose at anyone who brings me a cheap, crappy table for repair. Considering how lousy a lot of MP3s sound, as an audiophile and a music lover, I acknowledge that some people are perfectly happy listening to inferior audio. My place is not to judge, it's to fix. People were perfectly happy listening to crummy tables 30 years ago. Why would it be any different now?
Of course, I would never consider an old BSR changer as a legitimate "listening experience" turntable, and I've felt that way since I bought my first "real" turntable 30+ years ago. But I grew up with those changers (EVERYBODY had one in the 70s). They're part of my world.
And I can tell you having been elbow-deep in two of them -- those crummy BSR changers are remarkable pieces of engineering. The parts are solid enough to keep working as if new after who knows how many hours of use by people who weren't exactly gentle with their gear. Now 30+ years on, you that you can bet that the grease has turned to glue and most will appear not to function. But once you clean off the old caked-on goo and put new lube on it again, I swear it'll run for a few more decades.
On the other hand, the Crosley -- using almost the exact same mechanism -- is truly a piece of junk. Because 1) all the important metal pieces in the BSR (like the cam wheel) were changed to plastic on the Crosley and 2) it's a belt drive, as if a belt is gonna last trying to deliver the proper torque to the mechanism. Dreadful engineering.
So for posterity's sake -- here's the easy way to resurrect an old BSR changer --
Use denatured alcohol or isopropyl alcohol to remove the old lube, and replace it with lithium grease or phonolube. Do this in the following places:
1) Speed control -- the shaft that spring and the plastic stepped piece sit on. Just get as much of the shaft exposed as you can and clean/lube it. Also on the long connector piece that moves the gear.
2) Platter bearing -- if the grease on the ball bearing holder has gone really glue-y, you may have to dig it out with something. Helps to soak it in solvent for a bit. Then relube it well. Also clean and lightly lube the spindle shaft.
3) The cam wheel -- pop the C clamp off, lift the wheel and clean the gunk and relube the underside where the pin travels. Also clean and relube the bearing that the cam sits on.
4) The tonearm travel path -- on the underside of the table near the base of the tonearm , there's a small pin that moves along a curved slot when the tonearm moves. If there's gunked-up lube there, remove it and replace it. You'll know if this isn't done because the tonearm won't move properly and the records will skip.
As with any idler, it's worth your while to clean and/or recondition the idler wheel and clean the inside of the platter where the idler travels. Putting a drop of good machine oil on the motor won't hurt either.
(Edit: I added some more instructions in another post pertaining to very "locked up" changers.)
Do that stuff, and those crappy old changers will run forever. They are truly amazing little machines. If they only sounded better!
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