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Project - Technics SL1200 MKII-A - Mods

sxty8goats said:
I knew there would be a ground jumper I missed. :) Thanks.

Nice to talk with you as well. It is good to have other nuts, ummm enthusiasts, in the area besides myself. I try to talk about this stuff with friends and co-workers and their eyes glaze over.
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You may not need the "jumper". I just like to be extra thorough. The arm may ground itself plenty fine once re-bolted to the body. Try that first- it may be all you need. If you have any hum, do my trick.:thmbsp:
 
Jack Gilvey said:
Wow...nice work and great photos. I wouldn't even think about doing that myself. I even suck at playing "Operation".
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Thanks, I was never that good at operation myself...

The trick is to not rush it and think aesthetically. If it works good and looks good, chances are it is good. I wish I had my camera while I was rewiring the arm. Part of the reason for this thread was I couldn't find a specific thread that had info on what to do. I've sort of failed there by missing out on the pics. Plus it is sort of cool to see it all apart.

If you can make a good solder joint and know enough to tin a wire before attempting to make that joint, you can do this.
 
It lives!



Still waiting on my stylus. It came in the mail yesterday but they wouldn't leave it and I wasn't home. So I get to stop at the Post Office on the way to work Monday and then look at in on my desk all day... :)

The pop up light seemed to pop up too high and stick. Looking at the stem on the inside I saw witness marks and a groove that seemed to indicate that there was a stop of some kind missing. I cut a piece of plastic and installed it around the shaft to make a new stop. No longer sticks. :)
 
There is a bit of noise at the top 1/4 of the volume knob, nothing like there was before. It is subtle enough that it may be the phono stage in the amp, sort of a hiss more than a hum. If I switch the amp to "Aux" the the noise stops. I have to play around with it a bit to see. I'll pop the Technics over to the other amp to see if the sound moves with the table. The motor hum that I got from the Project is definitely not there with the 1200.

I did run the ground to the screw before I closed it up. Better to get it done. I also cleaned the contacts on the cartridge.
 
sxty8goats said:
There is a bit of noise at the top 1/4 of the volume knob, nothing like there was before. It is subtle enough that it may be the phono stage in the amp, sort of a hiss more than a hum....
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Yes- you've cured the grounding issues. What you're hearing isn't abnormal.
:banana:
 
The JICO is on the table and the table is excellent. :) Thanks go out to Thedelihaus and Beatcomber for the suggestions and help.

I installed a JICO 681EEE-S Shibata in my Stanton 680EL cart. Very nice to my ears. The bass is tight and defined. The highs are clear and honestly could use a touch of mellowing. Hopefully this will happen a bit as it breaks in. It is noticeably quieter on the couple recordings I played. Both a bit crackly and familiarly so. Much less crackly on both.

The table is truly done. :) Now I can simply enjoy it for a month or two until I get the tinkering bug again.
 
sxty8goats said:
The JICO is on the table and the table is excellent. :) Thanks go out to Thedelihaus and Beatcomber for the suggestions and help.

I installed a JICO 681EEE-S Shibata in my Stanton 680EL cart. Very nice to my ears. The bass is tight and defined. The highs are clear and honestly could use a touch of mellowing. Hopefully this will happen a bit as it breaks in. It is noticeably quieter on the couple recordings I played. Both a bit crackly and familiarly so. Much less crackly on both.

The table is truly done. :) Now I can simply enjoy it for a month or two until I get the tinkering bug again.
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One of my next projects!:thmbsp:

Thedelihaus and Beatcomber

I paid attention to their postings!!!:ntwrthy:
 
sxty8goats said:
...until I get the tinkering bug again.
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When you do, you might find a parts unit or just the base that you could and maintain the one you have stock...have your deck and the color you want.:yes: I seem to remember Kevin(KAB) saying that there were bases available and that he was going to refurbish tables with new bases...maybe he might be able to source you a base that he won't be using in a rehab:scratch2:.

Good to hear that all your work, time and effort not to mention the $$$ have paid off and your TT is sounding good. Preston
 
pjsjr said:
When you do, you might find a parts unit or just the base that you could and maintain the one you have stock...have your deck and the color you want.:yes: I seem to remember Kevin(KAB) saying that there were bases available and that he was going to refurbish tables with new bases...maybe he might be able to source you a base that he won't be using in a rehab:scratch2:.

Good to hear that all your work, time and effort not to mention the $$$ have paid off and your TT is sounding good. Preston
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All in all, I figure I'm @ 20 hours and $500 into the table. Including the purchase of the used table and the $150 for the stylus. My original plan was to use a Shure/SAS combo but the Stanton/Shibata was a ton cheeper as I had the 680EL cart. The final bit to go on will be the dust cover. It is on back order until late May. Very happy with what I have for what I spent. :)
 
Just spent a little time playing with VTA. Woot. Took a the harshness I was hearing in the top end out and really opened up the sound stage. :) On a 180 gram record, I'm just a scooch above 3mm.
 
SL 1200 MK2 Crystal Frequency Change?

Hi! Not sure if this is an appropriate place for my first post, but here goes...

I have just bought one of the last new 1200s I could get hold of, and want to modify it to 78 rpm. Now I know Kabusa can do it, but as I am in the UK sending the board, being charged customs etc. are all issues.

So I was wondering what would happen if the crystal was replaced with one of a higher frequency. Would changing it to, say, 78/45*4.19328=7.26835 MHz, work? Would the pitch control still swing + and - the new frequency? Would the strobe work?

If so getting a frequency cut is rather cheaper than sending it off for modding!

Thanks in advance

Simon
 
I know this thread is a little old but I just relocated the power supply on mine to an external box (cigar box). It was a cheap mod and sounds great. The pics show the wires hanging out the back. That was before I installed a 5-pin DIN and used sprinkler cable from Home Depot. I think the whole project cost about $15.

I'm currently in the process of installing an SPST on my box to handle master power so that I can use the micro switch on the power turret for the strobe.

From my research those two plus the tonearm wire that you've already done are the best mods for the SL-1200.
 
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