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Some Empire Turntable History

Tagging onto this thread as it may be useful for other owners: 698 armrest repair

Empire 698 armrest reglue?

One of the armrest prongs on my Empire 698 snapped off recently. I initially snapped it off years ago: glued it back together with Krazy glue & it held together until now. But Krazy glue won't put it back together again. Is there another adhesive that works on this type of plastic? Thx!
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The rubber cap on the 698 tonearm lift platform developed a wrinkle, so I thought it would be an easy fix with a dab of contact cement.

Examining it I see there are 2 rubber pegs that fit into holes in the lift platform, to keep it in place. The wrinkle was caused by one of these popping out. But try as I may, I can't get it back into the hole! Plus the rubber strip seems to have stretched & peg doesn't line up with the hole anymore.

I might have to clip off the peg & glue it flat. The other peg doesn't want to come out, either! So I'll leave that end alone.


 
I just wanted to share my 398 restoration with the group (this thread has become one big Empire party!)
About 18 months ago, I had the hare-brained idea of "refreshing" my 398. Give it a quick polish, make it shiny again. No problem...

Big mistake.

I grossly underestimated what I got myself into. After removing the original clear coat on the top plate, I tried polishing around the original logo, but couldn't get a consistent finish. The clear coat I used had a blue hue. Sanding the clear coat smooth between coats ended up damaging parts of the brushed finish. I even looked into getting the top plate re-brushed, but after calling several machine shops in my area, it was clear that no one wanted anything to do with this thing. I was so disgusted with my work on it, as my compounded mistakes had, in my eyes, caused irreversible damage. So it sat for months, in pieces.

Since this is the turntable of my dreams - probably the last one I'll ever own - I had to get this right. I got lucky and found another top plate for sale online. The original finish was in rough shape, so I stripped it off (and original screen printed logo) and painstakingly polished it over the next month and a half, taking my time to preserve the brushing pattern and ensure an even, consistent finish. I lightly polished the platter, tonearm, and hardware, and wiped on a couple coats of Wolfgang Metallwerk Metal Sealant. Additionally, I sourced a place that was able to take the logo and turn it into a borderless sticker. I added O-rings inside the platter for dampening. I ordered a brand new tonearm cable to replace the cracked original. I got a new belt from Esoteric Sound. Finally, I put on my Stanton 681 with a conical stylus. It sounds wonderful, and I'm absolutely thrilled with the result. For the second time in its life, it's brand new.

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basplin said:
I just wanted to share my 398 restoration with the group (this thread has become one big Empire party!)
About 18 months ago, I had the hare-brained idea of "refreshing" my 398. Give it a quick polish, make it shiny again. No problem...

Big mistake.

I grossly underestimated what I got myself into. After removing the original clear coat on the top plate, I tried polishing around the original logo, but couldn't get a consistent finish. The clear coat I used had a blue hue. Sanding the clear coat smooth between coats ended up damaging parts of the brushed finish. I even looked into getting the top plate re-brushed, but after calling several machine shops in my area, it was clear that no one wanted anything to do with this thing. I was so disgusted with my work on it, as my compounded mistakes had, in my eyes, caused irreversible damage. So it sat for months, in pieces.

Since this is the turntable of my dreams - probably the last one I'll ever own - I had to get this right. I got lucky and found a new top plate online. The original finish was in rough shape, so I stripped it off (and original screen printed logo) and painstakingly polished it over the next month and a half, taking my time to preserve the brushing pattern and ensure an even, consistent finish. I lightly polished the platter, tonearm, and hardware, and wiped on a couple coats of Wolfgang Metallwerk Metal Sealant. Additionally, I sourced a place that was able to take the logo and turn it into a borderless sticker. I added O-rings inside the platter for dampening. I ordered a brand new tonearm cable to replace the cracked original. I got a new belt from Esoteric Sound. Finally, I put on my Stanton 681 with a conical stylus. It sounds wonderful, and I'm absolutely thrilled with the result. For the second time in its life, it's brand new.

View attachment 3111416
View attachment 3111412View attachment 3111413View attachment 3111415
View attachment 3111380
Click to expand...
GORGEOUS!!!! :beerchug:
 
basplin said:
I just wanted to share my 398 restoration with the group (this thread has become one big Empire party!)
About 18 months ago, I had the hare-brained idea of "refreshing" my 398. Give it a quick polish, make it shiny again. No problem...

Big mistake.

I grossly underestimated what I got myself into. After removing the original clear coat on the top plate, I tried polishing around the original logo, but couldn't get a consistent finish. The clear coat I used had a blue hue. Sanding the clear coat smooth between coats ended up damaging parts of the brushed finish. I even looked into getting the top plate re-brushed, but after calling several machine shops in my area, it was clear that no one wanted anything to do with this thing. I was so disgusted with my work on it, as my compounded mistakes had, in my eyes, caused irreversible damage. So it sat for months, in pieces.

Since this is the turntable of my dreams - probably the last one I'll ever own - I had to get this right. I got lucky and found another top plate for sale online. The original finish was in rough shape, so I stripped it off (and original screen printed logo) and painstakingly polished it over the next month and a half, taking my time to preserve the brushing pattern and ensure an even, consistent finish. I lightly polished the platter, tonearm, and hardware, and wiped on a couple coats of Wolfgang Metallwerk Metal Sealant. Additionally, I sourced a place that was able to take the logo and turn it into a borderless sticker. I added O-rings inside the platter for dampening. I ordered a brand new tonearm cable to replace the cracked original. I got a new belt from Esoteric Sound. Finally, I put on my Stanton 681 with a conical stylus. It sounds wonderful, and I'm absolutely thrilled with the result. For the second time in its life, it's brand new.

View attachment 3111416
View attachment 3111412View attachment 3111413View attachment 3111415
View attachment 3111380
Click to expand...
Best 398 I've seen! :thumbsup: Looks brand new! :bowdown:
 
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