Turntables in the worst condition you’ve seen?

[Madeline12]

Working on a Dual 1009 right now. Boyfriend’s buddy found a bunch of TT’s behind a closed radio/record store that were thrown out. Reject works, cueing lever needs some time. But I decided to do some simple cleaning to ensure it’s longevity, and, well.... it was rough. Black grease everywhere, and I MEAN everywhere. Got to cleaning and this was the result:



Came with a gold ADC cartridge though, which is nice. Obviously, not the biggest detriment to the turntable. But this had to be the grossest one I’ve work on by quite a bit. Which got me curious, what’s the worst looking turntable you’ve seen? Any that stand out at you that were an absolute pain and needed a little TLC? Pics appreciated

 

[twiiii]

We had some old Grey and Fairchild tables at the radio Station that we replaced with QRK in the late 60's. We were remodeling the recording studio, too. So here was all this old junk out side in a pile next to at solid metal door rusting and getting dirty. Someone was supposed to come by and haul it off. A few of the other station people came by and removed some motors but that was about it. We saved all the VU meters and most of the power supplies. We did pull the tubes and put them in a separate 55 gallon drum. We didn't even bother saving the old phono cartridges. Microphones were saved and mounting hardware. The consoles for the tables were saved and modified for the new tables. Pile of good junk for sure.

At the Hifi shop the repair techs had shelving stacked with everything they thought they could scrounge a good part from. It didn't matter if was a tape deck they could steal heads from or motors, turntables with bent arms that were not worth fixing were a great source of parts.

 

[Wolfie62]

My worst. It was warehoused for 37 years.

 

[Chubba]

Nice!

 

[Montycat]

I've had lots but this one was pretty bad.

https://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/from-nasty-to-nice.507718/

 

[A/D/Slover]

This one was a recent roadside rescue.....It was raining and setting on top of a double cassette deck in the mud ....literally ........I prob would have gotten back in my truck if I didn’t see the Bubble in the Dust cover.

 

[Blue Shadow]

It isn't even dirty if you can clean it with q-tips.

 

[Nashou66]

 

[Montycat]

And I turned the SL-150 in this thread https://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/tonearm-id.684624/

Into this:

 

[onwardjames]

There was a thread here about an old SL1200 in .....Czechoslovakia, maybe?? Cracked plinth, just all kinds of effed up.

Dude eventually not only got it running, but presentable. Immediately what I thought of when I saw this thread.

I had, but sold, a Technics SL-1301 that was beyond filthy, and a lube and a clean later, played just fine.

 

[Wolfie62]

Then there’s this one. The box started disintegrating during shipping. I made a claim against the seller. Got a refund, seller didn’t want it back.




Inside were peanuts and leaves for protection.


Dust cover took a nasty hit.


Motor didn’t turn. I got all that fixed but I haven’t done any cosmetic work on it. Has scratches down to the metal on the plinth. Replaced the diodes, replaced several opamps, recapped the boards and PSU, checked triggers on the oscilloscope. Runs perfectly now.

 

[cafe latte]

One of my rescue turntables
https://www.vinylengine.com/turntable_forum/viewtopic.php?t=34547
Chris

 

[Wolfie62]

Good thing that Commonwealth wasn’t a semi or full automatic.

 

[fiddlefye]

Worst I've ever seen was my Thorens TD-125 after a fire at the house. It was thrown across the room by a fireman and broken, even the circuit board. Then it was covered in wet insulation and sooty filth. I've since restored it...

 

[vwestlife]

Another roadside find:

 

[Wolfie62]

Not a turntable, but this was a rescue from Northern California wildfires. Smoke and water damage. I got it 3 years after the damage.

 

[Beobloke]

May I refer you to my Yamaha GT-2000 thread?!

https://audiokarma.org/forums/index...2000-owner-at-last-but-theres-a-catch.808996/

 

[jcidave]

This was my worst one. Thorens TD 124 with Sony PUA 237 arm just as it came from the estate sale wharehouse. Then later up and running.

 

[Max cando]

Nice Stories.
Love 70s Sony Turntables because are solid good performers,lovely Modernist design,and were created in the boom of the record playing.Not intererested in other motor-bikes turned into turntables or UFOs look like to just playing a record.
I bought this Sony PS-2250 in NY in 2016, with no dust cover and PUA.As There were no any Original PUA on the market and after 4 years of waiting i made my move,
I bought a Sony PS-X6 TT and this is what happened.1-Made a bigger hole to accomodate the x6 PUA,2-cut the base of the PS-x6 ,3-prepare the base and screwed on the Plinth and glued too.4-Listo ! 5- sold on Ebay:$500.
Max
The Sony Guy

 

[Madeline12]

Gorgeous makeovers you guys have done. I haven’t gotten one as bad as you guys, but the one I posted was definitely the nastiest I PERSONALLY have seen. Yuck