Turntables

My previous article about wow & flutter lead me to this weeks article.

The turntable.

When I started the DJ hobby I knew I needed speed control. But as I didn't live in 'the big city' it was a bit of a challenge to find the right tool for the job. First I found a used Lenco turntable from a local pirate radio station that had upgraded their stuff.
At leasts it served dishes yet it was a bit of a headache as it had an automatic arm homing mechanism and it was made to be build (hung) in a table. Yeah fancy pro-radio 'design'

Then a friend who I met at the local radio station who was also into mixing told me about the Technics SL-BD22. And that turned out to be a real life saver as all the pro turntables were well out of reach for the piggybank in those days.

The 'ledgendary' Technics SL-BD22

Wonkey as hell, and highly unstable, but with a lot of patience it got the job done.
Later on I replaced the horrible pitch control with two external potentiometers.
One to course and the other for fine control. Not ideal at all but at least it was stable and the fine control actually made a big difference even though the 2 pots always happened to be in the wrong position.

Then I was lucky to find a Technics SL-1300

Technics SL-1300

This also needed some modification as id ALSO had a automatic arm-homing feature just like the Lenco, but it was very easy to disable so that was solved quick enough. And as I was at it I also made a breakout jack for the pitch potentiometers. The SL-1300 had separate pitch controls for 33 and 45 RPM. Again not ideal...

Eventually, many moons later, I also found a battered Technics SL-1200, ...with a broken axe bearing. I really started to get used to take these machines apart and to source spare parts that tuned out to be a good advantage several years later.

The 'industry standard' Technics SL-1200 MKII that everyone knows.

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Previous articles in this series:

My First Drum Machine [Alesis HR-16:B]
MIDI that 5 pin mystery
Editing on a cassettedeck
When belt wow and tape flutter where just part of the music
Turntables