Was just gifted with a Pioneer PL-41!

[10seventy9]

Follow finnbow's advice & you can't go wrong.

And while you're having one thrust plate made, make a bunch - you will easily find takers on AK (like me...and a half dozen other guys I know) for spares.
BTW - no need to machine a dimple in those plates - just a simple slice of Delrin bar stock & you're good.:thmbsp:

Yeah, I didn't have Josh dimple it. I only had him cut me one for now, although I can have him work up a price if others are interested in picking some up.

I found a cleaner that did a pretty good job on the rubber platter mat today, I remembered I had a bottle of rubber reconditioner from an old TEAC tape deck cleaning kit. Worked pretty well, the mat still doesn't look new, but it's a lot less slick now. I imagine if I had applied it two or three times I could have probably made it look new.

I also finally got all the old rubber from the old belt cleaned off the platter edge, with some Brasso and a little bit of #0000 polish grade steel wool.

Next I have to call a local supplier the repair guy in my shop uses for electronic parts (I own a small music instrument store) and see if they carry PRB belts. If not, there's an electronics repair shop about 30 minutes away that I'm sure will have it.

I am probably going to use the stock cartridge for now, until I get everything else lined out, then I'll pick up a better cart. I am hoping my brother finds the manual and the overhang gauge and his tracking force gauge when he gets back home to South Carolina next week. It will save me having to track those things down.... I am getting pretty close to being ready to go with this table. I still have to clean the motor pulley, I didn't have time to get to that today, I was working on school band instruments for customers most of the day today.... Still, I haven't had it a week and I have most of it about ready to start testing out, not bad considering I've done the work on it during down time between customers at work.

I do want to thank you all for the links to other threads and for all the help, I really appreciate it. Once I get a belt and get my nylon thrust plate installed, I'll take a couple pictures of my PL41 and post them up.

 

[bdp62]

It took awhile to find a local machinist to make a new thrust plate but I finally have that done and installed. I purchased the belt finnbow recommended. I installed it and cleaned the platter and capstan and lubricated the motor. I had to adjust the capstan height to compensate for the increase in platter height. As it were, the belt would not shift between 33 and 45 correctly. It sounds pretty good even with the Shure V15 III cartridge.

I did have a few spare thrust plates made for myself and in case I could help other new owners in need of this part. The thickness isn't perfect (1.0 +- .003) but I figure that is close enough. The few local machine shops I contacted weren't interested in doing such a small job, were booked solid, or had costly rates or prohibitive minimum job costs, but one offered me the name of a few 'garage' machinists that might be willing. I called one who by chance lives down my street and did the work when I came by. Should anyone ever want to get together and have a run of spares made I'm sure he would be willing to do it for a reasonable price.

So , the next step is a replacement cartridge. I've seen the Denon 103 recommended. I also saw someone mention a Stanton 680 or 681. I have two early 80's Stanton cartridges. One is a 681 EEE the other is a Studio EEE. I can find very little information about the latter. Both were used on a Mitsubish DP-5 that I used from 80-92. I never ran them with the stylus brush but do still have it. In the early 90s I got more into CDs and the Mitsubishi developed serious speed problems and my vinyl got safely packed away. Last year I wanted to play my vinyl again and bought a Project Debut III, but that table has some noise and grounding problems. My plan is to get that ground hum fixed and sell the Project. A friend recommended I look for an older table and found this PL41 by chance.

Any advice regarding using either of those Stantons or other replacement options would be appreciated. One thing that is not clear is if replacement stylus for those older cartridges are still available.

 

[TJLitt]

On the Stantons, don't know about the Studio version, but my advice is to use the 680 series, and go to LPGear and grab a ViVid line stylus replacement for that cartridge. I did, and it is a fine sounding cartridge on the PL-41.
I can also second the information given earlier about the Needle Doctor's belts. They work well, I bought a second one, just in case I need it in the future.
Enjoy those 'new' PL-41's, I think you will like the turntable a lot.:yes:

 

[bdp62]

On the Stantons, don't know about the Studio version, but my advice is to use the 680 series, and go to LPGear and grab a ViVid line stylus replacement for that cartridge. I did, and it is a fine sounding cartridge on the PL-41.

Did you mount the Stanton in the original headshell or use a newer aftermarket headshell, e.g., the Stanton HS4?

I'm already enjoying the turntable as is, and am sure I'll enjoy it even more once I find a better cartridge match.

 

[TJLitt]

Did you mount the Stanton in the original headshell or use a newer aftermarket headshell, e.g., the Stanton HS4?

I'm already enjoying the turntable as is, and am sure I'll enjoy it even more once I find a better cartridge match.

I use Tonar headshells, with the capacity to add 2g and 4g extra weight,
which makes up for the heavy weight of the original headshell(counterbalanced by the counterweight). The Stanton would work, I suppose, as well.

 

[boreas]

On the Stantons, don't know about the Studio version, but my advice is to use the 680 series, and go to LPGear and grab a ViVid line stylus replacement for that cartridge. I did, and it is a fine sounding cartridge on the PL-41.

I don't know about the Studio EEE either but I'll definitely second the recommendation to go with the 681 EEE. It's a great match for the PL-41. As to the ViVid, I can only say that it's been getting very good press here. It's the way I intend to go when it's time to replace my styli.

John

 

[bdp62]

I don't know about the Studio EEE either but I'll definitely second the recommendation to go with the 681 EEE. It's a great match for the PL-41. As to the ViVid, I can only say that it's been getting very good press here. It's the way I intend to go when it's time to replace my styli.

John

I'll follow both of your advice and pursue this. That Vivid stylus appears to be the suitable match for the existing EEE S stylus.

What tracking force do you run with the 681? I see different recommendations for the various 681 models and I'm not really sure what model 681 I have. I can read the hand engraved Serial number on the 681 (TS 9046). Would it be possible to find out which model I have using that number?

Most 681s appear to recommend .75 to 1.5 but a few are at 2 to 4. I don't understand the compliance issues, but get the impression from what I've read on the PL41 that cartridges that can run at a higher number (>= 2g) are better.

I still have the case and doc sheet for the Studio EEE and it is recommended at .75 to 1.5 grams. The replacement cartridge is a D65 or D65-2 if that sheds any light?

Thanks,

Brad

 

[10seventy9]

Ok, I haven't revisited this thread in quite a while. My PL-41 is working great. I have another cartridge question... I was going through a box of some stuff of mine and found a Shure/Reaslistic R47EDT, which I am under the impression was Radio Shack's version of the Shure M75. I know there are various stylii available for this cart that are able to track at the heavier tracking weights that the PL-41 is designed for. Do you all think I would hear a noticeable improvement if I switched to this cart? I honestly like the sound of the OEM Pioneer cartridge quite a lot, and I like not having tracking distortion as I get near the center of the record because of the conical stylus, but I have to wonder, since I already have the Shure, if I'd benefit from the switch. I wish I had an extra headshell so I could experiment more easily....