General Service

Many turntables can be made to work smoothly with a general service costing $70-150. Turntable designs vary in different ways than amp designs so what is done depends on the model. Here’s some common things I check and address.

  • clean old dried up grease and apply new grease
  • change hard wired RCA cables if needed
  • check speed and clean speed controls
  • center speed control range with internal trimpots (sometimes the correct speed drifts outside the range of the speed controls)
  • check cartridge alignment
  • inspect stylus
  • set counterweight and anti skate (note I recommend learning how to do this yourself as well)

Recapping Turntables

Turntables can be recapped just like amps if they have electronic circuits inside. In the case of turntables it is done for long term reliability as there is no circuitry in the signal path, just wires. Electronics in vintage turntables are for controlling the motor and functions. Some turntables have only a basic circuit, and some have a lot of circuity so I can’t quote this without knowing the turntable in question.

Dual Turntables

1970s Dual brand turntables are a special case as they have a very unique design. They have a fully automatic mechanism that uses all mechanical parts. They are very solid tables once working correctly, but usually need a few routine things to get them working well. There is only the one level of service for most of these and it normally costs around $150-200 depending on the model. Dual turntables from the 80s are more like other turntables, but there are still some things that are unique about them. Here are things I do when servicing these.

  • clean old dried up grease and apply new grease
  • disassemble and oil motor
  • replace steuerpimpel if applicable (this is a little rubber nub some models have, it deteriorates and arm doesn’t move)
  • other applicable things from generic list above

Computer Drive Turntables

In the late 1970s and early 80s big fancy turntables were popular. They featured direct drive motors and fully automatic mechanisms, all driven by circuitry. These can be hit and miss when the electronics are malfunctioning. Often there are easy fixes. However, beyond the simple stuff there are many unobtainable IC chips specific to individual makes and models, and complex designs that vary greatly from one model to the next. Some have sensors that can fail and are difficult to replace. When I rule out the simple stuff, I often don’t put a lot of extra time into these. It could take me all day to figure out how a specific model works and there is a significant risk I could find I’m unable to fix it even after diagnosis. Currently, I still work on most of these though I may eventually be forced to reconsider.
If these are working, it is a good idea to replace electrolytic capacitors to ensure the unobtainable IC chips are getting good clean power.