Technics SL-1200 mk2: Nightmare Turntable! 

1200's are are built like absolute tanks. I know DJ's that have been using the same ones for a couple decades without any maintenance and they still work great. Iconic for sure.

Great instructor. Felt like I was actually in your shop pearing over your shoulder while you worked and chatted about what we were discovering.. and how to proceed. Thanks for posting.

The longer video was worth it. Learned so much. Great job!

Someone seems to have spilled a beer on this thing.

Very interesting video. Having never attempted anything so delicate or intricate, I am thrilled to put this into my cache of YT vids for future reference. Thank you for the detailed look at the disassembly of a 1200mk2.

All this great info AND a money shot!! ;-) Great tutorial. I'm in the middle of the same thing myself so this is valuable to me.

Love your videos,learning alot!

Why would you not take all the components out and clean them before doing any work on them?

Ive been racking my brain trying to figure out how they got like this. My conclusions are: One, they were used at an outdoor rave that unexpectedly rained and then they were stored in a garage/shed outside (or inside but the damage was already done). Two, they were used in the outside part of a club and got rained on and then stored in a shed/garage (or inside but the damage was already done). Three, they used to be fine, but the owner stopped DJ'ing and thought "no one plays vinyl anymore, these are worthless", and stored them in a leaky shed/garage. Only to find out ten to fifteen years later they actually are worth money. Four, they were stored in a non-climate controlled storage shed (where moisture got in), the owner kept paying the storage fees for years, then quit paying, and someone bought the unit. Five, these were left or were confiscated by a homeowner whos tenant owed rent, who then stored them in a shed/garage/storage unit, only to find out they were worth money years later. Six, and ex lover of someone took these as payment for some kind of money owed and stored them incorrectly, only to find out they were worth money years later. Seven, someone heard these were "built like tanks" and decided to do an experiment to see if they would keeping running even after being left to the elements (this scenario is highly unlikely).

My 1200s came from a friend who bought them in the early 90's second hand and they were already about 15 years old when he bought them, still going fine.

Viper Frank , Deck Tech from the UK. And DJ Legion have the best vids out there. On how to. Thx for sharing. There is not vid on how to recap this board would be nice if you make a vid on how to and which type of capacitors to use. I think it'll help the community thanks for sharing.

When you have steel screws into aluminum heat is your best bet it will save you braking screws off or striping heads..

I had tonearm height adjustment seized too on both decks. I remember that when I was fixing them, WD40 wasn't really helpful, but I had to use heat gun to heat the metal rings so that the grease and gunk melted down to the point where i could unscrew the rings. This corrosion, on your deck, looks absolutely nasty (not to mention the work you had to put on) and I could only imagine it was a real nightmare to work on it.

Excellent video, never been able to find any info on repairing the spindle. Is it possible to fix that part on newer models (2001ish) which dont have the bearing just the metal clip?

looks like Sponge Bob was using this Turntable for the past 13 years at Bikini bottom.....dam you got Sponge Bob's Turntable...nice!

I'm waiting for this gentleman to start doing hand stands on the platter

Absolutely fantastico to watch, awesome video. 👍👍

1:05:25 Looked like you accidentally crazy glue the brass ring and aluminium base too.

These are the working horse of the industry. All that is fixable. Love these turntable. I've revived a couple. There is some great vids from Viper and Dj Legion from the UK. It's amazing how much info they provide I will not replace my mk 2's for. Anything else. If you want a really smooth pitch slider then replace it with the ZFDZ122N11-3 you'll love it. The light won't come on. At 0 position That's it.

So sad to see a 1200 in that kind of shape

Brake can be adjusted to make it work better. It's the variable resistor on the right above the plug.

Great video, very well explained, and good clear video. Thank you for showing me how it comes apart in these areas. Very helpful information to know. I feel 100% confident as towards doing everything you did if needed. Question: on your tonearm leveling ring that you glued back on, was there a calibration mark to align this plastic ring with other other half you glued it to so the height marks are calibrated correctly? Your thoughts on clipping and grounding the turntable ground at one of the rca ground shield points? I was told as long as my external amp I’m using has the chassis ground thumb screw is connected directly to the ground shields of the amps chassis jacks this method is fine. Other people have said its best to leave the original external ground wire to keep the turntable OEM, and worth more, as well as the external ground makes the turntable more cross-compatible with older amps or pre-amp gear that may not have the rca’s ground attached to the amps main metal cabinet chassis ground lug. I ordered a new RCA cables with pcb board already attached for my SL1200MK2, only the cartridge wires need soldered, the seller says the board is designed to be internally grounded and doesn’t require the extra ground wire. I was thinking on running the original ground wire out anyways if it attaches elsewhere inside the turntable other that the tonearm board. Maybe I should just leave my oem tonearm board in place and just remove the rca cables from his custom pcb and solder them to my stock tonearm pcb, since I know they are thin enough to fit under the stock strain relief clamp, and leave the stock ground wire untouched. Your thoughts on this please. Best sound quality, versatility would be top priority, keeping stock for resale value would be of a secondary concern, for I never plan on selling this great turntable. Thanks again my friend, great job.

i have got technics sl q3 it is an automatic turntable , please tell me how to change/clean the micro switch under the tonearm. I tried to clean it and works for sometime but again it starts spinning the plater even when the tonearm is in its place.

Small rotary tool and fine relatively soft wire brush for the corrosion maybe? I've used this method and it worked out just fine for me. I also agree with the people talking about WD40 as a cleaning agent and corrosion inhibitor

Rust inhibitor? Possibly an Ultrasonic Cleaner. Did they use pot metal?

My technics 1200mk2 has never given me a single problem and I bought in 1984 brand new

The spindle you can take it a part and get it going.

It is very distressing to see such a fine turntable in such critical condition. Apparently, its previous owner managed it very badly. I have been dealing with this model of turntables for more than 30 years, but I have never seen anyone with such an attitude towards the technique. I hope it is now in good condition and serving its current owner faithfully.

Looks like it was salvaged from the Titanic

There is a RU-vidr named viperfrank from a few years ago that did many videos on the 1200. Yours is good, too.

I do find it funny that you are utterly disgusted by the corrosion. I’ve seen so many restoration videos now that I’m not the slightest bit phased, especially for a piece of equipment like this where it is every bit worth a full restoration

Had mine since 90 and still perfect. There aint nothin i can,t mix. Carl Cox lookout 🤣

Great video! Can you please let me know what lube you used? Also, if you need suggestions, I'd love to see a HK T60 vid!

Nice vid. Thx for sharing. That spindle can be cleaned and lubed. What brand of caps would you recommend to use for these 1200's? Thx

There's probably a video of a Cambodian guy who would wire brush it, rattle can it and then get 4M views.

Hi, the VTA on my Technics 1200mk2 is frozen and a friend has opened it up to try to fix it. Wondering what grease to use? Ideally would be something I could pick up tomorrow at Home Depot or an automotive store. Thanks in advance!

Did you forget this is the working horse of the industry? Once you clean and lube the spindle it will back in business. Would be nice if you make a vid replacing all the caps. Thanks for sharing

When did the mark 2 start using a nylon shim.? Yes a bit worn that shim that's good to use the silicone grease but try and get silicon carbon grease Try finding a fine leather belt a stick you can wrap the belt around and around the piece of wood and rotate to free it up

What is the technical description of a fuzzy capacitor? Did somebody find this turntable in the river?

Any recommendation for taking corrosion off of a tonearm on one of those? Just wd-40 and some elbow grease?

Doesn’t anyone know the components necessary for a working motor, platter and pitch control? No need for tonearm or any audio cables

"Dust on the mantl, dust on the chair, dust on the table she could not bear".

Hello, great video and very informative. Can anybody recommend a product to clean a platter of a mk5 that has some dark corrosion? I've already used dish soap, alcohol which worked on some pieces, not the metal on the platter. I read somewhere that they used a different alloy on that platter, and not the standard aluminum, but I'm not sure. I've own/owned an mk2, two mk3D's and never had any issues, except for this 1210mk5. I had it in a road case for a few years after buying and it formed some wicked corrosion on most of the metal, especially the platter (which checks out as an original). I've never seen anything like it, there were white crystals on the metal that I had to wipe off first and now I can't get it back to normal. Thanks!

hello i have the same mk 1200 there is no sound in left speaker

What year is the turntable, Sir?

Are you Canadian?

Well - you could have had this much much easier: Just open the "lock-lever" when trying to change the tonearm height :-) ....oh boy! But anyways: Good effort, good result

you need to replace all the capacitors with such a unit, they's all shitty, you just don't see it.

I can't believe you left all that corrosion around the transformer.

Deck is owned my a DJ and is covered in white powder, must be corrosion,,,,,righto

For a home table, that's the one turntable I'd never buy. They have been in smoky sweaty bars. I'm sure a drink or two have been spilled in or on them. The switches and sliders get worn out too. The 1200 especially were a lot of times were beaten up and abused.. For a Technics home table an SL-Q2 or SL-Q3 are really nice. They were built like tanks too, with the same S -arm, platter, and quarts speed lock as the 1200 tables.. In Technics turntables, the model ending with a two are semi automatic and ending with a three are the automatic tables. I prefer semi automatic.

Very interesting video, shame tho it was reassembled looking so rusty and scruffy? I would not feel satisfied rebuilding it and having the final result as that. Poor Turntable......

Not that it would be for just anyone, but I would probably gut it, do something like one guy on youtube sanded and polished the plenth to a mirror shine, and basically replace the whole board and electronics.. This thing is hosed otherwise. It's quite unfortunate. It's even more terrible to think someone left these outside.. It's the only explanation for all the corrosion. I was thinking drinks were spilled on it but..I think if that were the case there would be a lot of solid buildup everywhere. Glad it's working.. I wouldn't trust it in it's current state though..

Neuen Lappen benutzen 😂😂😂

Wipe the backside,!!! we use toilet paper for that

Tec 12s are for wrecking 🌚 I prefer the audio technica AT LP 1240s now.

Treat with disrespect in the past. To be honest they are one of the ugliest decks ever made.