You don't really find quality brand stereo equipment in brick and mortar thrift stores anymore. Anything halfway decent goes online to the highest bidder (curse you, shopgoodwill.com). So, I was surprised to find a Technics SL-B2 sitting on an ottoman in the Ankeny Goodwill.
I wasn't the first person to check out the turntable. I could tell it had already been inspected and rejected by some earlier shoppers. There were segments of a broken motor belt lying on top of the platter mat, and the broken stylus had been puled out of the cartridge and left next to the strips of belt. I don't think the cracked plastic lid impressed anyone. Also, the shell ring securing the headshell to the tonearm wouldn't budge. But probably the Technics' worst offense was how dirty it was. I wish I would have taken "before" pictures, but sometimes that doesn't really do the filth justice.
It wasn't just dusty. There was layer of what happens to dust when dust dies. My best description is that it was covered with a light brown grime. It wasn't sticky, but I was sure to not let the turntable touch my clothes as I carried it to the cashier where I ran my card to pay the tidy sum of $11 (I rounded up a penny). The clerk said, "Keep this," when she handed me the receipt, "You'll need it when you return that. You've got seven days." She nodded her head in disapproval when she said "that" and looked at my purchase as if it had given her the finger.
"That" made me smile. Sure, the Technics needed work. But I had a hunch that this turntable was going to play music again.
And I was right.
The first thing I did when I got it home was to check the power cord for damage. It looked okay. I then removed the rubber mat and the platter so I could see the motor. I plugged in the cord, released the tonearm, and swung it towards the spindle. Using my finger, I could feel that the motor's capstan was spinning. I could also feel a change in speed when I switched from 33 to 45 rpms. Good news. The motor appeared to work. That's when I tossed the receipt.
I wasn't being cocky. I ordered a new motor belt from Amazon, and the predicted delivery date was beyond a week. I was officially into a new thrift store project, and it was a first! I hadn't rescued a turntable before.
The first "repair" was to remove the headshell. I carefully worked the shell ring back and forth using a pliers when my fingers couldn't do the job. I probably should have used a cloth to protect the ring, but it worked out fine. Once I got the ring to move a bit, I added a drop of Tri-Flow and worked that into the threads. Even though I got the ring to turn freely, the headshell was still stuck. It took some prying and wiggling to get the tonearm to release its grip. I can easily remove the headshell now, but it took a lot of passes with a q-tip dipped in isopropyl alcohol to get the end of the tonearm fully cleaned out.
The next item on my list was finding the right stylus for this cartridge.
According to the manual I found online (love that I can do that), this isn't the stock cartridge that came with the Technics SL-B2 when it was new in 1979 or 1980. A previous owner had installed this AT13EX instead. Let's call it an upgrade. I ordered a replacement stylus from LP Gear.
I got busy cleaning while I waited for the belt and the stylus to arrive in the mail.
The base of TT' came first. I tried to remove the grime with some isopropyl alcohol, but surprisingly that didn't make a dent. What really saved the day were these cleaning wipes that I bought a couple of years ago at Hy-Vee. They were selling them four for a buck since Covid was mostly in the rearview mirror. I bought 6 packs, and they have come in handy many times. I'll be sad when I eventually use all of the last pack.
Cleaning a vintage item is rewarding for me. I get immediate results, and it doesn't take any talent or research. All I need is time, patience, and elbow grease. I spent about 90 minutes cleaning the base.
What was left of the rubber belt had hardened and adhered to the surface under the platter. I soaked it with a Q-tip dipped in isopropyl alcohol. That softened it up enough to peel it off. It did take some of the plastic's color with it. You can see the strip of damage the belt left behind.
You can clean out years of debris from tight edges and corners with cleaner, Q-tips, and toothpicks.
Up next was the plastic dust cover. A shard of plastic jutted out awkwardly where it was cracked. I was able to pop it back in place with a little encouragement. It's lucky that the tab that inserts into the hinge is intact.
Novus cleaners/ polishers 1 and 2 did a decent job of removing a lot of the small scratches. Overall, the cover looks a lot more presentable. I don't love the cracks, but cover works as it should.
The parts arrived in the mail around this time. Installing the belt is a snap. Just wrap it around the outside of the inner edge of the platter, put the platter on the spindle, and pull the belt onto the motor's capstan.
The new stylus just snaps into place.
Then it was time to finally take a test drive, and.... eh.
I made a few discoveries when I played a record for the first time.
1) I could hear music. Yay! But the music was really faint. I had to turn the receiver way up just to hear it. Boo.
2) I could adjust the speed of turntable's platter. Yay! But the needed strobe light didn't turn on. Boo.
3) I could play a record all the way through one side. Yay! But the tonearm didn't lift and auto-return to the cradle. Boo.
That's kind of disappointing, but the solutions were pretty straightforward.
1) The problem with the faint volume was caused by me. I hadn't pushed the stylus all the way into the cartridge. The cartridge is sun-faded from age, and there was a bright strip of white that should have been covered by the sides of the new stylus. I'll admit this took well over an hour to discover. I should have used Occam's razor and traced my own steps first.
2) Here's the deal with the strobe light: it's supposed to flash rapidly at the rotating dots that are on the side of the platter. You can move the pitch or speed adjust dial to get the dots to appear as if they are going to the left (too fast) or to the right (too slow). When you get the dots to appear as if they're standing still, you're platter is set to the right speed, and you're hearing the music as intended.
When the tonearm is moved inward, a power switch turns on both the motor (the platter starts spinning) and the strobe light. When the tonearm returns to the cradle, the switch turns both off. I figured the fuse was okay and that the strobe was bad since the motor would turn on and off, but the strobe wouldn't. So, I went to my friend eBay and found a used replacement. This solution worked, but there could have been other causes.
Here's the non-working strobe light that I removed.
And here is where the "new" working one is installed. It's beneath that square circuit board above the round motor. I was in a hurry to see if this solution would work, so I'm using twist caps wire connectors for now. We'll see if I go back in to solder them... (Shhh. I probably won't).
3) Okay, now we're on to the solution for the non-working auto-return. Turns out that this is a common problem, and the cause is a broken gear on the center spindle. I ordered a new 3D printed gear from an eBay seller who included instructions and a 3D printed tool to assist me getting the gear into the right position.
Here's the installed gear.
Here's the old gear and the tool guide.
I think it's cool that we live in a time when what used to be a really hard part to find can now be 3D printed and easily purchased. The auto-return now works as it should. Yay progress!
The seller also threw in a 3D printed 45 adapter, which was very cool since this turntable was missing one.
Finally, I used a cartridge protractor to make sure the cartridge and its stylus are aligned with the grooves of the record. I also set the tracking force to 1.5 grams.
Parting shots:
Parting thoughts:
No, this is no longer an $11 record player. Projects like these are like pet adoptions. The initial cost doesn't matter at all. It's all the vet bills that come later. I spent about $125 on parts and shipping. Half of that was spent on the stylus, but that's as it should be. Buying a new belt and stylus for a used TT is a no-brainer.
I really like the idea that this 45-year-old turntable is getting a new lease on life.
I still have a few things left to do, so I plan on writing one more blog post about this guy.
