New Base For An Old Turntable

[Julie Moriarty]

Is a turntable a musical instrument? Maybe...

Somehow I got myself into another project, bringing an old Dual 1229, I bought in 1972, back to working order.The fix was replacing a couple of small parts and then cleaning and lubricating. The grease tends to goop up over the years. I'm just waiting on some 500,000 weight silicone grease and I should be spinning soon. (No comments about the abandoned bass - I'm holding out to see if my SO, the one with electron microscope eyes, will finish the inlay work.)


I took a piece of 4/4 cocobolo that's been sitting in the shop a while and decided to make a turntable base out of it. I copied the original exactly so I had to resaw it and plane it down to 1/2" thickness. But it looked kind of bland. I was thinking of strips of ebony inlay until I saw this:


This is the original, which is what I have. The platter on mine is also the same as below, and has no metal inner ring on it like the one above.

The only difference is, on mine, there is a metal "United Audio" placard over the black band on the right side. The black band feels like some sort of rubber/plastic material. It could even be caulk.

I took a piece of scrap cocobolo and routed two 1/4" dados. I had some strips of 1/4" wide quilted maple that I glued into place. The fit was a little sloppy but I just wanted to see how the combination looked. I'm thinking recessing the maple might add some character.

This is after 3 coats of gloss spray can lacquer. I didn't apply any color to it (dye, stain, shellac or oil). Maybe if I applied some BLO over it before the lacquer the maple would pop more. If this is what I decide on, I'll run some tests with the BLO later.

At a website called Vinyl Engine, I noticed they called the turntable base a "plinth". A turntable wasn't in the images that popped into my mind when seeing that word. So I looked it up and I guess the idea is the turntable base should be heavy and provide stability, as plinths are designed to be. Cocobolo is heavy but by planing it to 1/2" it lost a lot of its weight. But the cocobolo is probably twice the weight of the original factory made base.

Still a lot of mental imagery work and testing left to do.

[Shawn Pixley]

Beautiful! I rememeber the Dual series. Not quite a Thoren, but very good. Your base is beautiful. My old good turntable died a few years back. So now I have a great cartridge in a average turntable.

I like what you have done dressing things up.

[Keith Outten]

I had a Dual 1219 turntable when I was young. These days I have an old Yamaha P-450 that rests in the closet, can't seem to get rid of it because I still have a fair size vinyl record collection.
.

[Julie Moriarty]

I was really surprised how easy it's been (so far) to bring my turntable back to life. You'd turn it on and it was like trying to wake the dead. It would start up very slowly, wouldn't keep a consistent speed and the motor was making funny sounds. The automatic cueing didn't work. All that would happen was the arm would lift, then pause, then sit back right back down and turn off. And I couldn't change the speeds.

At Vinyl Engine I found several PDF service, repair and maintenance files, all free downloads. It's about as good a site for turntables as this is for woodworking.

I followed the guides and ended up taking the motor apart and cleaning and oiling it. It runs smoothly and silently now. I replaced a rubber ring that had cracked in half and what is called a steuerpimple, both are related to the automatic cueing and should solve that problem. From there all I had to do was clean off the old grease and lubricate with new. The speed changer works now and those things that were stuck or dragged seem to operate well. I'll know once the damping grease gets here and I get it all back together.

The guy I bought the rubber ring and pimple from included turntable grease with the order. The only thing I had to find on my own was the 500,000 weight silicone grease (for damping). Turns out that's used in RC racers as a differential grease. All in all, it cost me about $40 and a few hours time. Oh, and another $75 for a new Shure cartridge. The one I had was garbage.

If you guys had the desire, you could probably get the old machines up and running smoothly. There's something magical about taking out those old LPs and listening to them (I've only imagined that so far). I unboxed mine and put them on their old shelf. Just seeing the albums and the songs started a flood of memories. I felt young again.

[Mike Hollingsworth]

What are you going to do about the plastic dust cover? They are all broken on the 1229.
(and I'll take one of these over a Thorens any day.)

[Shawn Pixley]

I liked the linear tracking and the low mass tonearm of the Thorens. To each their own.

If I had the money to buy a high end turntable today, I'd get a Wilson Benesch.

[Shawn Pixley]

Nice job fixing it up. The damping would probably be the hardest thing to renew. It looks great!

[Keith Outten]

What are you using for an amplifier?

I think we discussed this awhile back but I can't remember what people said they were using to power up their turntables these days. I haven't seen a stereo amp in a very long time.

[Julie Moriarty]

What are you using for an amplifier?

I think we discussed this awhile back but I can't remember what people said they were using to power up their turntables these days. I haven't seen a stereo amp in a very long time.

Right now, what I have is a Pioneer VSX-39. It's a home theater receiver. I don't think I've ever heard the turntable on it but it sounds decent with the radio and CDs. But I also have my old Sansui QR-6500. It needs more TLC than the Dual did and may be beyond my abilities to fix it up. The AM-FM doesn't work and the pots and switches are in serious need of cleaning. I asked on a vintage audio forum if it's worth it to restore it and the answers were mixed.

What are you going to do about the plastic dust cover? They are all broken on the 1229.

Still have mine. It's scratched and has seen better days but there are no cracks or broken off pieces.

I'm embarrassed to admit that at one time I used it for an aquarium sump.

[David Falkner]

I have a Garrard Zero 92 with the wood-look vinyl over particle board base and have thought about pulling it back out. I bought it new in about '71, maybe '72. It needs a little attention but works and I still have about 115 albums. I think the drive for me to reinvigorate mine is seeing yours - cool look with the Cocobolo and Maple!

[Julie Moriarty]

When I was cutting the side panels, I had the right dimensions but cut the width panels 1/4" too short. It matters because the dust cover would overhang on the sides. So I regrouped and came up with installing feet at the corners. I have seen some custom bases made that way.


These are about 1-1/2" square at the base. The black is Gabon ebony.


I realized making the ebony on the top flush with the cocobolo/maple panels didn't look right, so I added a slice of maple to the bottom. I'm thinking I'll bevel the bottoms after gluing everything together. The piece of maple on the inside was a thought I had about making the top perimeter edge look a little more robust. Now I'm thinking it needs to be strips of maple and cocobolo with cocobolo being the last piece added.

But if I go in this direction, the original dust cover wouldn't look right. So there's that to attend to also.

[Julie Moriarty]

I glued up the foot pieces (background) then the unexpected happened with the turntable repair - the auto still didn't work! I got everything else working and I can lift the tonearm manually to play records but that wasn't my goal. I wanted it to work like it used to. The brain trust at Vinyl Engine seems to think I'll have to dismantle it further and clean the old grease off the parts I couldn't get to on the first run. And they also insisted if I was to take this on I needed to make a repair stand. So I did.


I took an old 1x12 piece of pine that used to be a shop shelf. Vinyl Engine has downloadable plans for a universal stand but that meant I had to buy parts. Since this was hopefully going to be the only time I would repair a turntable, I decided to make it specifically for my turntable.


The top hole is the pivot point, the bottom is for... well, you'll see. I used 1/4" shelf pin inserts in the holes.


The plans called for press in threaded inserts at the pivot holes but as I was building it, I went in a different direction.


The pivot wheels are glued to maple blocks that have been cut to accept the sides on the turntable base plate. The one on the right will utilize the hold down screws used when the turntable is moved. They keep the turntable secured to the base. On the left, I installed a 8-32 threaded insert. On the left side of the base plate, there is a small hole. To secure the turntable to the stand, I'll install a 8-32 screw with a rubber washer and screw it into the wheel/block assembly.


The bottom holes are used to secure the wheels in place.


I glued in a couple of small pieces of hardwood on the underside of the washer so the washer would sit flush when tightened


8-32 securing the left side, factory screw securing the right.


This is one of those projects that evolved. I didn't know what it was going to end up looking like until I was almost done. But it works and holds the turntable firmly in place.

Now I either have to find a taller seat or shorter table. I'm working on this in the family room because the basement has been taken over by all my other projects.

[Shawn Pixley]

Julie, Wow you are ambitious and diligent about making the jig. If I wasn't doing a lot of those, I would have scabbed together something and put it in my vise with the ability to turn 90 degrees. Impressive!

[Julie Moriarty]

Wait until you're retired. You'll be looking for things to keep you from crawling the walls!

I now have the turntable almost completely dismantled. I hope I took enough pictures to get it back together correctly. One thing I am learning from this, you almost need a PhD in lubricants, and quite a lubricant collection, to clean up an old turntable. I have to run out and find another particular kind of lubricant, something called Molykote paste G. Wish me luck. I think I'll need it.

[Mike Sherman]

Nice job on the repair stand, Julie! I foresee many wayward turntables following you home in your future.