MCM_Fan
AK Subscriber
I just encountered a strange tonearm alignment issue on a Technics SL-1401.
Just to be clear this is NOT the typical cartridge alignment issue, it specifically relates to the tonearm and was causing a functional issue.
About a week and a half ago, I picked up an SL-1401 off craigslist. This model has long been on my radar and when one popped up at a decent price less than 4 miles from my office, I couldn't resist. I bought it from a nice couple who had owned it since new, although it hadn't been used in 20 years. It was in good cosmetic shape and had a new Pfansteihl elliptical stylus that had been installed by a local dealer on the Shure V15 Type IV cartridge. They said the old stylus skipped a lot, but it played fine after the new stylus had been installed. I went straight from work, didn't have a record with me and they didn't have one either. I took a chance, the price was right, and took it home.
Once home and attempting to play an album, I immediately noticed that the tonearm would seize up and stop advancing about half way through the album side. I removed the record and tried manually moving the tonearm back and forth manually. I noticed it binding up the closer the tonearm moved toward the center spindle. I figured it just had some dried grease somewhere, or maybe the tonearm wires were catching on something.
This afternoon, I finally got around to opening up the table to see if I could troubleshoot the issue. In ended up completely removing the arm so I could inspect all the levers, cams and springs on the underside, and check that the tonearm wires weren't catching on anything. The bearings seemed fine, as it floated freely in the vertical plane and for the first half of the horizontal plane. I was startihg to really scratch my head, when I noticed this:
For some reason the the bottom half of the gimbal mount seems to be sitting cockeyed in the base. Sure enough, as I manually rotated the arm, the outside surface of the black base would eventually start to rub on the inside surface of the silver well it sits in. What the heck, I've never seen anything like this.
Then, I noticed this:
I turned it over and one of the screws (the one on the right) holding that upright support in place was a bit loose:
Tightening that screw completely relived the binding of the tonearm. I reassembled the table and am listening to my first album now. The first side played without any skipping, binding or other functional issues. It played through from start to finish, the auto-return worked and everything seems fine - 100% functional. The second side is nearing completion now, again with no functional issues.
So, here's my question: visually the gimbal still looks cockeyed in the base and there is still a small gap between the right side of the vertical support and the base it's attached to. Will this cockeyed gimbal cause potential performance issues - specifically in regards to azimuth alignment? If everything is working functionally, with no binding or other issues (tonearm floating freely in both planes), should I be concerned or am I making an mountain out of a molehill?
I really wanted this model table. It's a potential end game for me in a vintage direct drive turntable. It's such an elegant looking table and gets great reviews. It's also pretty uncommon. I suppose the next step is to pull out the test records and check for any mistaking (not hearing any) or azimuth issues. Too bad I don't have any headshells with adjustable azimuth...
Just to be clear this is NOT the typical cartridge alignment issue, it specifically relates to the tonearm and was causing a functional issue.
About a week and a half ago, I picked up an SL-1401 off craigslist. This model has long been on my radar and when one popped up at a decent price less than 4 miles from my office, I couldn't resist. I bought it from a nice couple who had owned it since new, although it hadn't been used in 20 years. It was in good cosmetic shape and had a new Pfansteihl elliptical stylus that had been installed by a local dealer on the Shure V15 Type IV cartridge. They said the old stylus skipped a lot, but it played fine after the new stylus had been installed. I went straight from work, didn't have a record with me and they didn't have one either. I took a chance, the price was right, and took it home.
Once home and attempting to play an album, I immediately noticed that the tonearm would seize up and stop advancing about half way through the album side. I removed the record and tried manually moving the tonearm back and forth manually. I noticed it binding up the closer the tonearm moved toward the center spindle. I figured it just had some dried grease somewhere, or maybe the tonearm wires were catching on something.
This afternoon, I finally got around to opening up the table to see if I could troubleshoot the issue. In ended up completely removing the arm so I could inspect all the levers, cams and springs on the underside, and check that the tonearm wires weren't catching on anything. The bearings seemed fine, as it floated freely in the vertical plane and for the first half of the horizontal plane. I was startihg to really scratch my head, when I noticed this:
For some reason the the bottom half of the gimbal mount seems to be sitting cockeyed in the base. Sure enough, as I manually rotated the arm, the outside surface of the black base would eventually start to rub on the inside surface of the silver well it sits in. What the heck, I've never seen anything like this.
Then, I noticed this:
I turned it over and one of the screws (the one on the right) holding that upright support in place was a bit loose:
Tightening that screw completely relived the binding of the tonearm. I reassembled the table and am listening to my first album now. The first side played without any skipping, binding or other functional issues. It played through from start to finish, the auto-return worked and everything seems fine - 100% functional. The second side is nearing completion now, again with no functional issues.
So, here's my question: visually the gimbal still looks cockeyed in the base and there is still a small gap between the right side of the vertical support and the base it's attached to. Will this cockeyed gimbal cause potential performance issues - specifically in regards to azimuth alignment? If everything is working functionally, with no binding or other issues (tonearm floating freely in both planes), should I be concerned or am I making an mountain out of a molehill?
I really wanted this model table. It's a potential end game for me in a vintage direct drive turntable. It's such an elegant looking table and gets great reviews. It's also pretty uncommon. I suppose the next step is to pull out the test records and check for any mistaking (not hearing any) or azimuth issues. Too bad I don't have any headshells with adjustable azimuth...