Technics 3

Frequently Asked Questions

Setting up the Tonearm section

There are three things that have to be adjusted before you start using your Technics turntable: the balance arm (=stylus pressure), anti-skating and the tonearm height. When I first used mine I didn't really see the importance of precise adjustment, but as soon as you progress you will definitaly notice the difference. Especially if you're into scratching records these things are a must to adjust!

Adjusting the balance and setting the stylus pressure:
Make sure the balance weight is on right and take the arm out of the safety catch.
Hold the arm on your finger and turn the weight until the arm is balanced horizontal.
Now refasten the arm and set the stylus pressure ring (it's the one mounted on the weight) to zero (align the zero with the groove on the tonearm).
Turn the balance weight clockwise until the pressure ring is at the desired amount (follow the cartridge manufacturer's recommendation).
I use a ORTOFON Concorde PRO which has a stylus pressure range of 3.0-5.0 grams and the manufacturer advises to use 4 grams. I therefore would turn the balance until it made one full rotation which is exactly 4 grams.

Adjusting the anti-skating control:
Set the anti-skating ring to the same value as the stylus pressure. If you have used a pressure higher than 3 then you should turn the ring to its maximum value of 3.

Adjusting the tonearm height:
You can set the tonearm height up to 6mm high. Use the following table to figure out how high you need to put it:

Height of cartridge (mm)
Scale on height adjust ring

15
0

16
1

17
2

18
3

19
4

20
5

21
6

The height of the cartridge is measured from the tip of the diamond to the roof of the stylus. My Concorde PRO for example is about 29mm high and therefore I just put my height adjust ring on 6. Remember to lock the ring after you're done adjusting the tonearm height.

Isolating your turntables from vibrations

The 1200 and the 1210 are made to withstand heavy vibrations caused by high decibels. The sound dampening construction (as described earlier) make these turntables probably the most solid turntables in the industry, but in environments with very high sound vibrations there is always the danger of rumble. This rumble can be compared with the "scream" of a microphone when held close to a speaker.

What happens with the microphone is that the sound it amplifies travels through the speakers back into the microphone therefore creating a loop. The turntables have a similar problem amplifying the grooves in a record and picking up the tremendous vibrations (i.e. bass and people dancing) through the surface they are put on which then creates a loop resulting in a low rumbling sound.

This problem is most common in clubs and at raves where sound levels get close to 120dB (115dB is the usual limit). There are many ways of eliminating this rumble. They include simple rubber bands or bungy-cords and big investments like building a shaft all the way down to the foundation of the building. It all comes down to eliminating direct contact between the turntables and the vibrations.

Here's how I do it: take a long rectangular box (made from any material you like) on which at least two turntables can be placed and with at least a 3in. depth. The box has to have an open top so you can fill it up with sand. The sand should be of fine grain and also make sure it is clean (don't go to the beach, buy it at a shop). Then all you have to do is put a sheet of fabric over the top so it looks good and no sand gets into your equipment. Place your tables firmly on top and your all set!
It's very cheap and very efficient. Just make sure the turntables are on the sand and not on the box, because the sand will absorb ALL vibrations. It speaks for itself that this is for permanent systems and not for mobile systems!

Getting rid of the static buzz

One of the things that many beginning DJ's are troubled with is the 'static' buzz that you hear during play and the cracking sound when touching parts of the turntable. This is because the turntable is not adequately grounded. The actual "hum" sound comes from the power source.

If your turntable has a cable with ground than make sure you plug it into an outlet that's grounded. This will not only help eliminate the buzz a little bit, but it will also keep the electronics inside the turntable from frying when there is a shortcut.
Although this helps a bit, you should also make sure you hook up the two little cables that come out of the turntable (the ones besides the power cable and the RCA plugs, or Cinch-cables as they are called in Europe) to something that is grounded by contact. The best thing to do is to attach them to your mixer or amplifier by unscrewing a random screw on the console and to tighten the two cables underneath it.
Because the mixer is usually grounded itself and because it is grounded by you touching it all the time, the buzz generated by your SL1200 or SL1210 will be eliminated!

Opening the top

This is just a little section on how to remove the platter from the turntable. I noticed that many people enjoy opening them often and this without any care for the magnet. The magnet is what drives the platter and it is quite a strong one, that's why the SL1200 is so good! Here's what to do:

If you want to be absolutely sure nothing goes wrong during this procedure you should unplug the power supply of the turntable. This is to ensure you don't accidentally turn it on after you took off the platter as this will result in a blowout of the motor.
Remove the slipmat and put each of your index fingers in the two holes in the platter
Jerk the platter off the spindle in a strait up move and with equal force on both fingers. Since the magnet is so strong it can help you damage the spindle, maybe even bending it a little, so be cautious!
Now you can grab a Philips screwdriver and take those five screws around the plastic cover out.
Here comes the most important part. When putting the platter back on the spindle DON'T DROP IT, very slowly lower it down or else you could damage the magnet which is under the platter.
Keep this procedure in mind whenever opening the top of your SL1200/1210mkII.

Adjusting the pitch amount

In this section you will finally know what those "pitch circles" are on the side of the platter! Before you start opening your SL1200, make sure you know how to properly open the tuntable by reading the section above.

If you just noticed how dirty your turntable is on the inside while opening it, then clean it. Now we can go on to adjusting the pitch and this is where the neat pitch speed graph comes in handy. It is marked next to the power button and this is what it represents:

o +6%
Top layer of circles is standing still; the speed of the platter is 6% above the zero position

o +3.3%
Second layer is still; the platter is spinning 3.3% faster

O 0%
The biggest circles are still. If your pitch slider is in the zero position right now, then you're ok. If you notice the circles standing still in two different spots on the slider then you're not ok

o -3.3%
Bottom layer is still

All the way in the top right corner of the circuit board is a blue plastic switch which has the label "PITCH", this is pot VR301. (marked on the right) By turning this one in different directions you will adjust the speed.

For maximum speed turn the pot all the way clockwise and for minimum speed turn it counter clockwise. Remember that you will loose precision with the pitch control when doing this!

To adjust it so that it actually turns at +6%, +3.3%, 0% or -3.3% when that's where the pitch control slider is (calibration) then I recommend the following procedure:

First open the turntable as described above.
Put the platter back on WITHOUT replacing the plastic cover underneath it. This will make the rest very easy and a lot faster.
Now you should be able to reach the VR301 pot with a screwdriver through one of the two holes in the platter.
Put the pitch control slider at +3.3% and press play.
You can now determine whether it's going too fast or too slow by looking at the circles on the side of the platter..
Press stop and increase the amount of pitch if it was going too slow or visa versa.
Repeat this procedure until you've got it at the speed you like and try to get it as close as it can get to all of +6%,+3.3%,0% and -3.3%. Don't worry if you have to compromise, I never managed to get all of them right at the same time on mine.

Some people ask me if fiddling around with the pitch can harm the turntable. My opinion is that it doesn't as long as you don't do it a hundred times a day. When you just bought your turntable(s) it's probably best not to adjust the pitch unless you really want that extra speed. There are two reasons for this:

It will be a lot harder to make accurate pitch adjustments (with the fader) while mixing when the pitch is pushed to 12%!
Once you changed the pitch from it's original factory settings it is hard to get the pitch exactly back to those settings.
So think twice before you adjust the pitch! Adjusting the brake amount

This one is easy if you managed adjusting the pitch amount in the section above. Read "Opening the top" if you have never opened the turntable before!

Also in the top right corner of the circuit board is a (metal) switch labeled "BRAKE" and this is pot VR201. It even shows which way to turn it to make it tighter.

I recommend following the same procedure as above with only a few extra details:

Set your turntable up as described in sections 1 to 3.
This time you should put a slipmat and a record on the platter too when testing the brake amount, because it is affected by their weight and by the friction of the needle on the record.
Put the needle on the record and press play. Let it fully get up to speed and then press stop to see how it brakes.
Take of the needle, record and slipmat and adjust the brake to your liking. Making it tighter (turn the pot clockwise) will make it stop quicker and visa versa.
You can make the record slowly turn to a halt, make it stop on the spot or even make it spin backwards when you press stop. Turntable calibration

When you have two turntables and are seriously into mixing then calibrating them is a very handy thing. You don't want one turntable to turn at regular speed when the other one has a faster pitch, because it is annoying when mixing. If for example one of them is running on maximum pitch, then you want to adjust the pitch of the other one so that it too runs at maximum capacity.

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