How To Rewire a Technics SL-1200 Tonearm

First and last time for me.

Remove rubber turntable base and metal plate under the tonearm. This exposes the tonearm circuit card wiring and RCA cable.


Unsolder the RCA cable and 4 tonearm wires. The black tonearm wire is the ground. I would leave this black ground alone. I unsoldered it but never figured out where it was connected to the tonearm.


Remove the sub-plinth to reveal the 3 tonearm screws. Remove the arm.


Solder a wire to the tonearm wires. My first attempt was with a 32 gauge Teflon coated wire. I figured the Teflon would glide smoothly. The solder joint was too big and I could not get it though the base. It was stuck somewhere! Luckly, I got it back out the way I came. I abandoned the Teflon coated wire and then soldered a guitar E string 0.010” to the wires. The photo has the Teflon wire.



Now find where the tonearm wires leave the base and enters the arm tube.



Make a hook and gently tug up with the hook while feeding the wires up through the base. Your solder joint must be small and smooth and strong! Never pull hard. Do not pull so hard that you break the solder joint or wires.


The wires are out of the base and now ready to be pulled out the arm tube.


View of the guide wire up through the base.



Here are the set screws for the head shell-connector. Leave the headshell on. Remove screws and carefully, slowly slide out with tiny, tiny twists. Make sure the wires feed in freely from the other end.



Partially out.


4 wires are connected here but 5 entered the arm tube back at the base. I could not figure out where the black ground terminated inside the arm tube. So, I unsoldered the black from my guide wire and left it dangling at the base.


Feed the wires in with the guide wire (guitar string) as you slowly pull out with the head connectors. Do not tug hard on a snag. Slowly try to work and manipulate the guide wire in. By the time I was through, 2 wires had broken off the solder joint to the guide wire. I barely made it.

Now the guide wire is from the base through to the head connector area. Now I put some heat shrink on the arm to help dampen it a bit.


I simply unsolder the existing wires from the head connectors. I did not remove the clips on the pins. I used a heat sink on the pins to prevent melting the white Nylon base. I then soldered on the new Cardas cryo treat wires onto the pin connectors while they were still on the pins. I practiced stripping the Cardas wires to find a workable method. I think heated wire strippers are needed but I don’t have one. Run a soldering tip about a 1/8 inch back from a cut tip around in a circle to melt the insulation. Gently pull off insulation. Tin the bare wires. I was disappointed that 2 of the 4 different colored Cardas wires were fairly oxidized. A more active flux would have helped.

With all 4 new wires soldered on the head pins, I soldered the other ends on my guide wire. This has to be done perfectly. If you lose one wire you have to start all over. This time my solder joint held all 4 wires going back through the way I came. I use the same procedure by going through the arm only first. Now I re-solder my black ground wire which I never should have pulled through anyway.

Then go through the base. Do not try to pull the wires through the arm tube and base at the same time. I soldered the new wires onto a KAB turret strip (which replaces the circuit card) and then onto a low cap Blue Jean phono cable.

Took me all day and into the night to finish. I just wanted to share the experience but I don't recommend doing this. Don't do what I do, do what I say!

 

I would just like to add, where there are two small phillips screws on the tonearm near the headshell (picture 9), there are also two more identical screws on the bottom side near the back of the tonearm (where it meets the lock latch). Unscrew these and you will see where the ground cable it soldered to. Also it makes the job easier to route the tonearm wires when you remove this.

Good job. How do you like the sound? It makes a big improvement IMO.

- Sushimaster

 

Why would you go through all this trouble? What kind of magic wire are you putting back in?

 

To get better sound out of the table while keeping cost down to a minimum, as opposed to having to pay someone else do it.

He stated that he is using cardas cryo treated wires in the tonearm and bluejeans interconnects.

- Sushimaster

 

Thanks for sharing!! I'm about to repair a technics tonearm and this helped clear up a few small questions I had...

 

I did it right out of the box. I think it sounds really great. I've loaded an AT150MLX cart on it. I'll be testing it this weekend with the Cardas test record.

 

AT150MLX and the Technics is an excellent matchup

 

Wow!, hey that's a highly technical procedure. Perhaps now that you've taught yourself the proper technics you can volunteer to rewire all the 1200's that belong to the forum members here for the price of the wire alone.
Great photography by the way.

 

Nice use of the Lester Bangs anthology! I have a Microseki dd24 that needs a tonearm rewire, I am kind of afraid to do it myself, as I am not the most technical person walking the face of the earth,ahha

 

Wonderful tutorial, thanks for posting.

Having said that, I'll definitely be paying Kevin Barrett to do mine when the time comes.

 

Just to echo what VinylSoul said - excellent photography. Tripod and strong back lighting? Off camera flash unit? More details please.

 

The photos are from a 5.1 megapixel Sony DSC-W5 compact camera (2006) using the close-up mode. Some shots are the camera's internal flash unit and some just the ceiling room light. All hand held. I take about 6-7 shots per pic because of hand shaking and throw the shaky ones out. I usually try to avoid flash when I can.

http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/W5/W5A.HTM

 

Good job. Thanks for the follow up.

 

Those are some really great shots. FYI, I am working on some DIY repair videos, and I cover the Technics SL1200MK2 (and all it's variations - MK3/M3D, MK5, M5G, LTD, etc). Finishing up the tonearm replacement video, and working on mod videos such as tonearm re-wire, 78rpm inclusion, reverse function, proper disassembly, RCA replacement, painting, and external power supply placement/re-wire.

As you can imagine, it's going to be a lot of stuff. But the hard part now is the editing... oh what joy!

(background, if anyone cares)... I've been servicing 1200s for the past 18 years, and am the only East Coast Technics authorized service tech left. Panasonic did not renew Technics certified technicians contracts once they discontinued the line. So everyone got bunched up with the Panasonic service certification... except me. I was lucky enough to establish and maintain a very good relationship with the head of Technics USA, and he still helps me out whenever he can. He now serves as COO of Panasonic USA, so it helps to know the people at the top.

So, if you have any suggestions or questions, I'm all ears. I'm always curious to find how other users work and modified their 1200s or for that matter other turntables. Or if you get stuck doing something, feel free to ask for some help.

I just discovered this forum, and hope to contribute where I can. Here is the URL to the video site - still a work in progress, and so far, with the first batch, I already have to redo some of the videos - sorry, I'm a tech, not a teacher.

Thanks again.

- OPTiC.

 

FYI, I know that finances were a consideration here. But another option is to install tonearm used on the SL1210M5G ($125). That tonearm has a satin titanium finish on the wand and features OFC copper wiring. The standard tonearm has tin plated strands, so the sound is average. Good for DJ use, but if you want to step it up, this is the way to go.

If you want to step it up another notch, then I would suggest an Origin Live or Rega RB250 / RB300 - the only issue you would face is the mounting (yes, a major issue), but we can special order the mounting plates, and I've seen them on ebay every now and then. If your in the UK, you can get them pretty much anywhere. This mod would be much more expensive, running in the $350-500 range for all the parts (tonearm and mounting plate). Price is based on where you source the tonearm. Rega brand tonearm are getting harder and harder to come by here in the states, but plenty abound in the UK. Many on ebay, but they are pricey. Origin Live is a new company that has their tonearms manufactured by Rega, and are excellent quality.

Just thought I'd inject some alternative options.



- OPTiC.

 

I'll be using 1210M5G arm on a SL1800MKII I'm modding. Upgraded cables new paint job on plinth and platter strobe ring
Great post
Thanks..

 

Good work, great pics, congrats! nt

.

 

I'm glad to have so many knowledgeable people here to help us keep our 1200s (and other gear) optimized! Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

 

What do you for VTA when you add a Rega arm? Do you add one of the adapters currently out there for Rega VTA? A friend has two 1200 mk2's, and one has a hum in the arm. He thought about upgrading the arm, but told him that as much as I like my Rega, I needed to use an adaptor for this, and one of the best things about the 1200's arm is the easy to use VTA adjustment. Maybe he'd be better off getting a mk5 arm to replace his, instead of rewiring his current one (even with better wire)?

 

i have a slightly off-topic question. i recently had to have my 1200's tonearm replaced (dead in one channel, a rewire would have sufficed but *shrug*) and now my anti-skate dial's calibration is a little off.

normally, the correct setting should be about the same as the counterweight, correct? this is the way it was before. now, for my tracking weight of 1.4 grams (at440mla), the correct setting on my dial is basically all the way at the maximum end of the dial. it works, so i didn't especially feel like taking it back and making them do it again, especially since my warranty expired like, the day after i took it in. but it'd be nice for it to be right, and for me have some wiggle room on the other end. is there a way to reset the calibration, without dismantling the turntable?

they changed the height of the bumper that raises the tonearm when you move the cue lever too, but i was able to figure that one out on my own.

 

Just wanted to say "great job" on the rewire step-by-step, Koptapad...having clear, detailed photos is always a plus when doing projects that you're not familiar with. Your contribution will certainly help out others with the same task at hand do a better job, I'm sure.

And welcome, OPTiC to the SH forums! Your knowledge on repair work for SL-1200s and their variants will certainly come in handy...good luck with your future repair videos (great site, BTW). I have a '79 SL-1700MK2 whose right channel cuts out (I assume the original soldered-in patch cords are to blame), so I will want to replace them with decent/affordable RCA interconnects in the near future. Your video instructions will certainly be guiding my way since I'm not a DIY solder-slinger...should be interesting to say the least!

 

Thanks for sharing a great tutorial Koptapad-excellent photos too!

I won't be attempting a project like this any time soon, but still enjoyed reading how you did it anyway.

 

Who did this spectacular job?

 

heh, it's actually a longer and more complicated story than that. the first place i took it to was massively incompetant, didn't listen to me when i told them where the problem was, never called me back, and took forever. and when they did fix it, they replaced the tonearm with a new one of the wrong color, and broke the anti-skate in the process.

the second place i took it to was rather apalled at all that, and mostly made everything right. just the numbers on the dial don't read right any more.