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Michell TT - Be needin' some help!

revjac

revjac

jac - desperaudio
Greetings - I chanced upon a Michell that's been sitting in a box for 26 years.
The deal is that I have 2 day guarantee that it works to my satisfaction (or parts thereof) and then we can re-negotiate the price if necessary.
What I need is some help to ID the model and get some info on what my initial re-start-up process should be.
I know a fair bit about TTs - just not these!!

So - have a look if you will and flood me with opinions and suggestions!

thanks guys!!
 

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Michell (doesn't look like the "Reference Electronic" to me, look at motor section) with REGA arm. I don't 'get' (or care for) the matless floating record design or use of glass plate. Some folk like them, they are fun to look at but it'd depend on how low the price is IMO.
 
Thats a Keeper! Yes it is a Michell Reference Electronic that someone has done some Major upgrades to. Changed to what looks to be the Orb base and then to a Rega arm. I could be crazy as a loon too. :yes:
 
Is there a fluid bath under the platter around the bearing? (Hydraulic) Though there is no strobe - doubt it would be an Electronic or a Hydraulic.

This looks like the case of the Skeletal (glass?), the platter of a Hydraulic and motor section of a Focus One, but the chassis has me foxed. The more I look at it, the more it could be a Michel chassis. I do know that J A Michel had a room where he kept alot of designs and colours of t/tables that didn't go into production - prototypes - but that were sometimes aired at exhibitions to gauge interest.

I also remember that he made some rarely seen ones for the German market that were known as Transrotor.

It could also be a Transcriptors t/t where Michel made a number of the components, though doubt it.

At the right price, you would have something quite rare I think.

Bill at Michel's would able to tell you I bet, and if spares were available.

I stand corrected, I think you are right, this is an Electronic motor.
 
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It has me a bit baffled as well - I'll send a note to the guys at Michell - but, given the week-end, I don't expect I'll get an answer back within the time frame I have alloted to me.
(Chances are good I'll keep it - it's just a matter of whether it is in working condition.)
 
Info - Update

Found this info on the motor mount plate - Transcriptors - Made in Ireland (see pic)
 

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It appears to be a "Transcriptors Skeleton" (from their web site) 1973-77 with a Rega 300 arm.
Issues are few but one is serious - the wooden ring where the arm board rests is cracked through - top to bottom. I believe repair can be effected with a bit of proper adhesive and some sort of clamp.
Spindle bearing was, of course, totally dry and gunked. Got that cleaned out and lubed.
Lubed the motor a touch and once I figured out how the power switch worked I got that running.
Belt seems to be in decent shape but I'll apply some Re-Nu to get it clean and conditioned - and start looking for a new one.
Of course the whole thing will need to come apart to clean the glass and I'll need to source (at least) a user manual.
 
Glad you found it.
An interesting piece of history to it, and one that cosmetically, looks good.
I would still ask Michel's for a bearing and belt. They are reliable too.
 
Thanks - I will investigate what Michell has.
In the interim, I put the platter back on, without the belt, and gave it a little spin. I'm going to suspect the bearing is still good - that platter kept spinning for a very long time - as long or longer than nearly any platter I've ever tested that way. (crude test application but still gives me a decent idea. I've had good tables with bad bearings that spun for a few seconds).
I've also chased down the info on the (as yet untested) cartridge on that Rega arm. Turns out to be a "Coral 777e" - MC cart. that likely cost the owner around $150some bucks "back in the day". (and thanks to "Vinyl Engine" for the info)
Given its profile I was almost sure it was a newer Ortofon - they look a lot alike.
Found a user's manual with no problem. I see where the Skeleton came with a 'Vestigial' arm originally. Which likely explains the other hole on the arm board.
I've had one of those arms - on a Thorens TD-125. Strange arm indeed. Took a while to figure that one out.
And now, some breakfast and then back into the fray.
 
I guess what I forget about TT/arm design philosophy during this period was the predominance of the "low mass/high compliance" MM/MI carts like the ADC XLM during this period, for which these TTs were suited.
 
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Thnx for the link S..C!
First time I've seen the design philosophy in print tho' I'm still not convinced the platter record support is the best way to go compared to a fully-supporting arrangement or better, a vacuum hold-down on a resonance-dead mass. Seems to me the floating record makes for a good microphone diaphragm for the cartridge, forming a euphonic feedback loop thru the system's loudspeakers and with room reflections included.
 
Sometimes it's just too good to be true. Took the armboard off and the the nice formed ring it sits in is cracked all the way through.
A colleague who has lengthy experience in matters such as this (pattern maker and carpenter) had a look and has suggested it can be fixed with some due care and attention and he'll be coming over with some epoxy later.
We'll stare at it for a while (because them's the rules) and then there'll be clamps and such and we'll bear down.
It's one of those fix-it jobs where you want to get it right the first.
 
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