Thorens td150 restore armboard and faceplate help

[Alfmonster]

Hi! I recently acquired a Thorens TD150 m1 and was wondering if anyone had restored the original armboard.

Has anyone stripped, sanded, and repainted the armboard? And if so, any advice on black paint that has produced favorable results?

I’m hoping to maybe get a Jelco 850s fitted on it at some point.

Also, does anyone have any recommendations for cleaning the aluminum faceplate of the turntable?

 

[ctjetta]

@Alfmonster Wow! No one responded in all this time. Got any updates?

 

[Alfmonster]

@Alfmonster Wow! No one responded in all this time. Got any updates?

Ha! Completely forgot about this. The TD150 ended up becoming my daily driver.

For a while, I paired the 150 with an SME 3009 but ended going back to the stock TP13 arm and used the 3009 for another turntable. I did hardwire RCA jacks to the plinth and went with a Shure v15iii / Jico SAS combo with the stock arm.

Now thinking of it, I had a herbies turntable mat but then I ended up changing it back to the original Thorens Mat which surprisingly sounded and looked a lot better. I even had installed new springs but changed them back to the originals as well. It might just be my problem but the original springs (which ended up not being worn out) allowed me to achieve the correct bounce.

It’s kind of funny that my journey of changing this and that over the last few years with this turntable ended up at staying mostly stock with the turntable.

 

[ctjetta]

Good to hear you stayed with it. Interesting that you reverted to the stock springs. Seems many opt for Linn springs. I'm still undecided on what to do with my unit in that regard. Currently in the parts acquisition stage.

 

[gadget73]

The Linn springs are stiffer, and unless you add a fair bit of mass to the suspended part they don't have the right mechanical resonance so it won't end up working as intended.

 

[ctjetta]

The Linn springs are stiffer, and unless you add a fair bit of mass to the suspended part they don't have the right mechanical resonance so it won't end up working as intended.

As much as there may be good reasons to add mass it seems it would also complicate proper suspension set up.

 

[Alfmonster]

Good to hear you stayed with it. Interesting that you reverted to the stock springs. Seems many opt for Linn springs. I'm still undecided on what to do with my unit in that regard. Currently in the parts acquisition stage.

To be honest, I had gotten stiffer springs so that I could use a bren record clamp - then got annoyed with having to use a weight everytime as the springs had to be premanently adjusted for the extra mass. So instead of getting a new set of springs, I just tried the old ones and changed to a Mitchell-R Clamp. And to my surprise, I got close to the bounce that was supposed to occur and the sound quality imrproved. The most unexpected improvement was when I switched back to the original record mat.

Although the TP13 not as nice as the SME 3009, I was also surprised at how much I've found myself enjoying the TP13 both in sound and design. No Anti-Skate. Oddly it seems to balance itself quite nicely when I tested on the blank side of the record in its present setup. I was initially skeptical as I had read so many negative reviews on it. But paired with the Shure v15iii/Jico SAS, its quite nice.

But please take all of my reports from my experiments with a grain of salt - there are so many here who are so far beyond my own in experience and advice for the restoration of these beautiful turntables.

 

[ctjetta]

"But please take all of my reports from my experiments with a grain of salt - there are so many here who are so far beyond my own in experience and advice for the restoration of these beautiful turntables."
All opinions are valid until proven otherwise.