on the subject of TD124 belts
For the past 100 or so Lps I've been listening to a Technics SP10 mkII that I acquired last summer. I have to say that that machine offers a very good listen. However I did reach a point where I became somewhat bored with it and had a desire to hear my TD124 again. I mean, this SP10mkII has perfect pitch and all ya gotta do to get it running is push one button. How fun is that...
But I'll address those thoughts in the thread I started regarding the refurbishment project for the SP10 that I started last summer.
Back to the TD124.
Condition: it has been more than 2 years since its initial refurbishment as documented at my website.
The unit is an early Mk1 with a 4 digit serial number. # 2729 to be exact. I've seen lower serial numbers for this model, but not many. It uses the earliest version of the belt driven stepped pulley. This is the design where the axle shaft is fixed solid to the chassis and the pulley body has the bushings. For the vertical thrust there is a bearing ball that rides at the very top of the axle shaft. Just noting.
After setting the Zeta tonearm up to the TD124 again, (it had been tracking grooves on the SP10 mkII) I gave it a quick listen. Not for long, though. speed pitch issues. Not audible wow or flutter, but the strobe was not rock steady, shall we say.... So I took the 124 down from its plinth and put it on the maintenance jig for a service session.
What I found:
1) Heavy traces of rubber belt residue had built up on both driven and driving pulleys. Remedy was to clean the residue off the pulleys with alcohol Q-tip with motor spinning the pulleys. Lots and lots of residue. And this was the new official Thorens logo belt that was less than 1 year in service!
2) Noise. There was excessive drive train noise that could be heard when putting ear near the running table. A kind of whirring noise that should not have been as prominent.
Reaction: remove motor, disassemble the end caps and examine motor shaft and bushings. Result. No obvious problems. No evidence of wear. Parts were still wet with the lube I had given it 2 years previously. Lube was still clear. Anyway, I replace the motor thrust bearing pad with a new pad, lubed the bushings and felts and reassembled. Then I went through the shaft/bushing alignment process where lowest motor vibes indicate best alignment. End result; adjusted as it had been 2 years previously.
3) Examined the main platter bearing shaft, bushings and thrust pad. The thrust pad had a dimple approximately 1/32 in diameter from carrying the weight of the platter for 2 years. so I replaced it. Just for the heck of it I replaced the oilite shaft bushings with new ones.
4) 'cleaned idler tire driving surface with paper towel. Some considerable residue had built up on the periphery of the tire as was evidenced by how black the paper towel became after wiping down the tire. That is significant, I believe.
Re-Lube the axle bushing and thrust of the idler wheel. Re-assemble the idler wheel to its carrier. Made note of adjustment between tire and stepped pulley. Nothing had changed. Still correct position between pulley and wheel.
5) Careful listening with stethoscope to the operating motor unit. After service, all seems as it should. Nice and quiet as it had been when last re-furbished. Btw, there had not been an increase in motor vibrations within the chassis. Just an airborne noise emanating from the operating TT that was more prominently audible than I had heard before.
Assumtions:
Belt residue accumulation on the driving and driven pulleys. Possibly transferring onto the idler tire driving surface as a result. This resulted in poor speed pitch accuracy. Possibly, it was also a contributor to the noise noted above.
The "authentic" Thorens Belt:
True to Kevin's note about the so-called "authentic" Thorens logo belt being made of a rubber which leaves considerable belt residue after itself, I have to agree. My example does the same. Skid-mark city!!
Even so, of all the belts I've tried this one seems to have the appropriate length and elasticity for the application. Better so than any other belt I've tried. The rest are cross referenced from a different application and tend to be not quite right on the Thorens.
The belt that can be sourced from LP Gear/Elex-Atelier comes in a close 2nd to the "Thorens belt" for length and elasticity. I've had good service with a couple of these. I think the Elex belt doesn't tend to leave traces of itself behind like the Thorens belt. It may not have the same elasticity as the Thorens belt, being a bit tighter and putting slightly greater tension on the motor shaft and its bushings, but I never had any significant speed issues with that belt.
The belt from Roger Turney, Beverly Hills Florida. As reviewed by Keven he sells a pair of belts for $10 or thereabouts. I bought a couple of these and tried them out on 2729 in 2010 sometime. I forget when exactly. But my impressions were that the belts seemed to have correct length but far too much tension.
I decided to get this another try. So I mounted the "Beverly Hills" belt and observed the operating TD124. Speed pitch came up right away upon cold start up, but the strobe refused to hold steady. At least not "rock steady" like I'm used to seeing it. More like it would hold one pitch seemingly ok, but tend to speed or slow the next time I observed the strobe. I thought this might be because there was too much belt tension causing this behavior so I removed the belt and by hand attempted to 'stretch' the belt by hand. I put it in a beaker of boiling water to see if that might 'relax' the belt somewhat. Then tried it again. Result; poor speed stability. maybe after a couple of days run-in the belt might stretch slightly and behave better but I'm not of a mind to allow that. That belt is too 'effing tight.
So, I cleaned the so-called 'authentic Thorens belt', then powdered it in baby powder. Then wiped the belt with a paper towel to rid it of excess powder, then installed the belt. Result. TT comes up to speed pitch within ten seconds or so upon cold start. Speed pitch "locks in" after about 5 minutes or thereabouts and holds rock steady strobe position for the rest of the day.
Thoughts on belts: We need a better alternative. The Authentic Thorens belt offers best size and elasticity but leaves excessive skid marks. This means a routine maintenance of pulley and wheel cleaning periodically. I'm not sure what the period between cleanings is, but consider this to be less than desirable.
The Elex-Atelier belt is a close 2nd to the Thorens belt and the example I have has not given any trouble with speed instability or problems with residue left behind.
Thoughts on the TD124 after having listened to the SP10-II for the past couple of months:
I'm not missing the Technics in any way. Not today anyway. This Thorens is absolute beautiful sounding. A keeper.
I suspect, however, that the Technics will not require nearly so much routine maintenance as does the Thorens with its belt/pulley/idler tire clean-up needs. I don't mind. I'll be happy taking care of this TD124.
-Steve
For the past 100 or so Lps I've been listening to a Technics SP10 mkII that I acquired last summer. I have to say that that machine offers a very good listen. However I did reach a point where I became somewhat bored with it and had a desire to hear my TD124 again. I mean, this SP10mkII has perfect pitch and all ya gotta do to get it running is push one button. How fun is that...
But I'll address those thoughts in the thread I started regarding the refurbishment project for the SP10 that I started last summer.Back to the TD124.
Condition: it has been more than 2 years since its initial refurbishment as documented at my website.
The unit is an early Mk1 with a 4 digit serial number. # 2729 to be exact. I've seen lower serial numbers for this model, but not many. It uses the earliest version of the belt driven stepped pulley. This is the design where the axle shaft is fixed solid to the chassis and the pulley body has the bushings. For the vertical thrust there is a bearing ball that rides at the very top of the axle shaft. Just noting.
After setting the Zeta tonearm up to the TD124 again, (it had been tracking grooves on the SP10 mkII) I gave it a quick listen. Not for long, though. speed pitch issues. Not audible wow or flutter, but the strobe was not rock steady, shall we say....
So I took the 124 down from its plinth and put it on the maintenance jig for a service session.What I found:
1) Heavy traces of rubber belt residue had built up on both driven and driving pulleys. Remedy was to clean the residue off the pulleys with alcohol Q-tip with motor spinning the pulleys. Lots and lots of residue. And this was the new official Thorens logo belt that was less than 1 year in service!
2) Noise. There was excessive drive train noise that could be heard when putting ear near the running table. A kind of whirring noise that should not have been as prominent.
Reaction: remove motor, disassemble the end caps and examine motor shaft and bushings. Result. No obvious problems. No evidence of wear. Parts were still wet with the lube I had given it 2 years previously. Lube was still clear. Anyway, I replace the motor thrust bearing pad with a new pad, lubed the bushings and felts and reassembled. Then I went through the shaft/bushing alignment process where lowest motor vibes indicate best alignment. End result; adjusted as it had been 2 years previously.
3) Examined the main platter bearing shaft, bushings and thrust pad. The thrust pad had a dimple approximately 1/32 in diameter from carrying the weight of the platter for 2 years. so I replaced it. Just for the heck of it I replaced the oilite shaft bushings with new ones.
4) 'cleaned idler tire driving surface with paper towel. Some considerable residue had built up on the periphery of the tire as was evidenced by how black the paper towel became after wiping down the tire. That is significant, I believe.
Re-Lube the axle bushing and thrust of the idler wheel. Re-assemble the idler wheel to its carrier. Made note of adjustment between tire and stepped pulley. Nothing had changed. Still correct position between pulley and wheel.
5) Careful listening with stethoscope to the operating motor unit. After service, all seems as it should. Nice and quiet as it had been when last re-furbished. Btw, there had not been an increase in motor vibrations within the chassis. Just an airborne noise emanating from the operating TT that was more prominently audible than I had heard before.
Assumtions:
Belt residue accumulation on the driving and driven pulleys. Possibly transferring onto the idler tire driving surface as a result. This resulted in poor speed pitch accuracy. Possibly, it was also a contributor to the noise noted above.
The "authentic" Thorens Belt:
True to Kevin's note about the so-called "authentic" Thorens logo belt being made of a rubber which leaves considerable belt residue after itself, I have to agree. My example does the same. Skid-mark city!!
Even so, of all the belts I've tried this one seems to have the appropriate length and elasticity for the application. Better so than any other belt I've tried. The rest are cross referenced from a different application and tend to be not quite right on the Thorens.
The belt that can be sourced from LP Gear/Elex-Atelier comes in a close 2nd to the "Thorens belt" for length and elasticity. I've had good service with a couple of these. I think the Elex belt doesn't tend to leave traces of itself behind like the Thorens belt. It may not have the same elasticity as the Thorens belt, being a bit tighter and putting slightly greater tension on the motor shaft and its bushings, but I never had any significant speed issues with that belt.
The belt from Roger Turney, Beverly Hills Florida. As reviewed by Keven he sells a pair of belts for $10 or thereabouts. I bought a couple of these and tried them out on 2729 in 2010 sometime. I forget when exactly. But my impressions were that the belts seemed to have correct length but far too much tension.
I decided to get this another try. So I mounted the "Beverly Hills" belt and observed the operating TD124. Speed pitch came up right away upon cold start up, but the strobe refused to hold steady. At least not "rock steady" like I'm used to seeing it. More like it would hold one pitch seemingly ok, but tend to speed or slow the next time I observed the strobe. I thought this might be because there was too much belt tension causing this behavior so I removed the belt and by hand attempted to 'stretch' the belt by hand. I put it in a beaker of boiling water to see if that might 'relax' the belt somewhat. Then tried it again. Result; poor speed stability. maybe after a couple of days run-in the belt might stretch slightly and behave better but I'm not of a mind to allow that.
That belt is too 'effing tight.So, I cleaned the so-called 'authentic Thorens belt', then powdered it in baby powder. Then wiped the belt with a paper towel to rid it of excess powder, then installed the belt. Result. TT comes up to speed pitch within ten seconds or so upon cold start. Speed pitch "locks in" after about 5 minutes or thereabouts and holds rock steady strobe position for the rest of the day.
Thoughts on belts: We need a better alternative. The Authentic Thorens belt offers best size and elasticity but leaves excessive skid marks. This means a routine maintenance of pulley and wheel cleaning periodically. I'm not sure what the period between cleanings is, but consider this to be less than desirable.
The Elex-Atelier belt is a close 2nd to the Thorens belt and the example I have has not given any trouble with speed instability or problems with residue left behind.
Thoughts on the TD124 after having listened to the SP10-II for the past couple of months:
I'm not missing the Technics in any way. Not today anyway. This Thorens is absolute beautiful sounding. A keeper.
I suspect, however, that the Technics will not require nearly so much routine maintenance as does the Thorens with its belt/pulley/idler tire clean-up needs. I don't mind. I'll be happy taking care of this TD124.
-Steve
Completely agree... I'm pretty happy with my pair of TD-124* and am using the Florida belts on both at the moment without any problems. They run much cleaner than the current OEM belt from Thorens, but they are both less elastic and noisier than the current belt. I now have several 40+ yr old belts and they are superior in every way to the currently available belts - I don't run them as I consider them too special until one comes along that is equivalent.
* I have a fully restored late TD-124/II and a fairly late TD-124 (later intermediate pulley design) which came to me as a pile of scrap with some TD-121 components installed - couldn't leave it that way and while not finished (still looking for a few parts) it now has a rebuilt TD-124 main bearing, spindle, and the zamac platter off of the II. I am missing just a few parts relating to the knob end of the speed change mechanism, and do not have the top platter. (I'm actually running a glass platter on top of the zamac which seems to damp some of the very audible ringing of this platter - in any event it sounds pretty good.)
The very nasty looking chassis cleaned up beautifully with cleaning and the blanket application of car polish, while not perfect it is not bad either.
Back on the belt thing Thakker now offers their own belt for the TD-124 which sells for about 2/3 the price of the OEM Thorens and might be worth checking out.
* I have a fully restored late TD-124/II and a fairly late TD-124 (later intermediate pulley design) which came to me as a pile of scrap with some TD-121 components installed - couldn't leave it that way and while not finished (still looking for a few parts) it now has a rebuilt TD-124 main bearing, spindle, and the zamac platter off of the II. I am missing just a few parts relating to the knob end of the speed change mechanism, and do not have the top platter. (I'm actually running a glass platter on top of the zamac which seems to damp some of the very audible ringing of this platter - in any event it sounds pretty good.)
The very nasty looking chassis cleaned up beautifully with cleaning and the blanket application of car polish, while not perfect it is not bad either.
Back on the belt thing Thakker now offers their own belt for the TD-124 which sells for about 2/3 the price of the OEM Thorens and might be worth checking out.
Thanks Volken.
I think I'll try one.
Maybe Schopper is in the right place to know people that originally worked on the TD124. Maybe he's got that actual "original" belt. At this point price isn't the issue for me. I just want a proper drive belt for my TD124.
-Steve
I sent them an email. Let's see if they respond to it. I'll post to this thread if they answer, etc.
I'm not sure if we have a North American distributor for Schopper products anymore.
-Steve
Hey Steve- I don't post much but I have used your website as a main source for rebuilding my TD124 and after reading the threads here about the belts I did contact Octave Audio and they do sell the Schopper Thorens belt.
Thanks for that.
I looked up Octave Audio on the web. I was aware that that site was the NA distributor for Schopper products..... but for some reason I had assumed that it had stopped responding to inquiries about a year ago. Not sure why. Today I called the number they have listed for contact on the site and someone picked up to answer.....and confirmed that they do have in stock TD124 belts.
The instruction was to send an email of inquiry about their products and there would be a reply with information on where to send the personal check.
I asked if they did Paypal and the answer was a solid NO.
------------------------
On the other hand, I had emailed Schopper in Switzerland 1/2 day earlier. Today I got a reply from Christine at Schopper. She wrote the following:
"
Given the above info, I suspect that because Schopper/Switzerland will do Paypal I should actually receive the belt quicker than if doing biz with Octave Audio by personal check. Or am I missing something?
Fwiw, I assume price will be the same wherever I buy because it is a dealer/distributor network.
-Steve
I second the opinion that we need better belts.
As others, I have tried a number, and am now praying that my original Thorens belt will last for a few more years (it's 40 years old).
The Florida and other belts I have tried are not speed stable, and the Florida ones are too tight and wide.
Will order one from Schopper, to test.
As others, I have tried a number, and am now praying that my original Thorens belt will last for a few more years (it's 40 years old).
The Florida and other belts I have tried are not speed stable, and the Florida ones are too tight and wide.
Will order one from Schopper, to test.
The Florida belts must be sourced from multiple sources as I have not had much trouble with them other than being a bit too thick, width is very close to my antique belts. The originals are significantly quieter than anything I have tried to date..
Has anyone confirmed that the Schopper sourced belt is definitely unique and not the current Thorens OEM belt? I will order one directly from Schopper if that is the case.
Surprised that Octave does not take credit cards or paypal.
Has anyone confirmed that the Schopper sourced belt is definitely unique and not the current Thorens OEM belt? I will order one directly from Schopper if that is the case.
Surprised that Octave does not take credit cards or paypal.
I did some measurements on the belt tension with some belts I had on hand
Schopper 350 gr.
Ebay German replace.124 425 gr.
other Ebay German repl.124 600 gr !!!
Ebay UK replace. 124 375 gr
Old original worn belt 160 gr.
The old belt slips off the pulley during start up other replacements have to much tension
more noise and pressure on the idler bearings adding more noise !
Schopper 350 gr.
Ebay German replace.124 425 gr.
other Ebay German repl.124 600 gr !!!
Ebay UK replace. 124 375 gr
Old original worn belt 160 gr.
The old belt slips off the pulley during start up other replacements have to much tension
more noise and pressure on the idler bearings adding more noise !
Attachments
I bought three of the Florida-belts (eBay). They were all completely silent compared to the Schopper-belt I got a year ago, but had way too much tension, and the motor developed a whirr after a while, because of the drag from the belt, even when I tried to stretch it as describe above.
Switched to my old Thorens-belt, and got it to be the most silent of all. It's narrower, thinner and has less tension than any of the other belts available to me. But I have only one of them ...
Getting a new Schopper-belt to compare if there's been a change.
Switched to my old Thorens-belt, and got it to be the most silent of all. It's narrower, thinner and has less tension than any of the other belts available to me. But I have only one of them ...
Getting a new Schopper-belt to compare if there's been a change.
I got in touch with Lawrence Blaire at Octave Audio USA and he agreed to forward a belt to me before my check arrived to him. I think he trusts me. Or knows how to find me
In the meantime, I received another reply from Schopper Switzerland. Below is the copy/paste of that communication. From this I gather that Octave Audio-USA is no longer a distributor for Schopper products. But he will have some remaining stock to sell.
Fwiw, I've never had any reason to worry about dealing with Lawrence Blaire.
In the meantime, I received another reply from Schopper Switzerland. Below is the copy/paste of that communication. From this I gather that Octave Audio-USA is no longer a distributor for Schopper products. But he will have some remaining stock to sell.
Fwiw, I've never had any reason to worry about dealing with Lawrence Blaire.
Dear Steve !
This is of course no problem if you buy the belt from Lawrence Blair, if he
still has some Schopper belts.
But since a few month he is not our distributor anymore. In case you need
other parts or help, please do not hesitate to contact us anytime.
Best regards
Christine
-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
Von: Steve Clarke [mailto:td160@theanalogdept.com]
Gesendet: Donnerstag, 19. Januar 2012 16:41
An: Schopper AG
Betreff: Re: AW: AW: TD124 drive belt
Thanks Christine.
I managed to get in touch with Lawrence Blaire
at Octave Audio-USA. He's going to supply me
with a Schopper belt.
I'm sorry to waste your time. I had forgotten
that we had a NA distributor for Schopper parts.
I hope you don't mind.
-Steve
The Analog Dept.
On 1/19/2012 7:18 AM, Schopper AG wrote:
> > Dear Steve !
> >
> > Please send CHF 40.-- by Paypal to info@schopper.ch
> >
> > Best regards
> > Christine
> >
> >
> >
> > -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
> > Von: Steve Clarke [mailto:td160@theanalogdept.com]
> > Gesendet: Dienstag, 17. Januar 2012 22:17
> > An: Schopper AG
> > Betreff: Re: AW: TD124 drive belt
> >
> > Hi Christine.
> > Thanks for your reply.
> > Paypal is convenient for me.
> >
> > -Steve
> >
> >
> >
> > On 1/17/2012 7:38 AM, Schopper AG wrote:
>> >> Dear Steve !
>> >>
>> >> Thank you for your request.
>> >>
>> >> 1 Drive Belt for TD 124, CHF 35.--
>> >> Priority Shipping (without tracking number) to USA, CHF 5.--
>> >>
>> >> Total amount: CHF 40.--
>> >>
>> >> For payment we accept Paypal or credit cards. Please let us know what you
>> >> prefer and we will give you further instructions.
>> >>
>> >> Best regards from Switzerland
>> >> SCHOPPER AG
>> >> Christine
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
>> >> Von: Steve Clarke [mailto:td160@theanalogdept.com]
>> >> Gesendet: Dienstag, 17. Januar 2012 04:07
>> >> An: info@schopper.ch
>> >> Betreff: TD124 drive belt
>> >>
>> >> Hello.
>> >> Steve Clarke here from The Analog Dept. in
>> >> Seattle area. Can I purchase one of your
>> >> replacement drive belts for my TD124?
>> >>
>> >> tia,
>> >> -Steve
>> >> The Analog Dept.
>> >>
>> >>
Hi Kevin,
Why can't someone make a OEM-like belt? Seems pretty easy.
I've got my original, (small diameter, thin, but cracked) and a Thakker belt. The Thakker belt is ok, but not as good as I would like. There has been someone on Ebay lately selling a supposedly OEM Thorens belt. Any comments?
Gene
Why can't someone make a OEM-like belt? Seems pretty easy.
I've got my original, (small diameter, thin, but cracked) and a Thakker belt. The Thakker belt is ok, but not as good as I would like. There has been someone on Ebay lately selling a supposedly OEM Thorens belt. Any comments?
Gene
Had not checked this thread in quite some time. Interesting to see the experiences of various posters, regarding the belts that have been tried.
I, myself, have bought several different belts from various sellers on eBay and from Schopper.
The quietest of them all, in my experience, is the "Thakkar" belt that he sells on eBay for about $25. I have been curious about whether anyone else has used this belt.
Anyway, just wanted to relate my story on belts.
I, myself, have bought several different belts from various sellers on eBay and from Schopper.
The quietest of them all, in my experience, is the "Thakkar" belt that he sells on eBay for about $25. I have been curious about whether anyone else has used this belt.
Anyway, just wanted to relate my story on belts.
and now a really dumb suggestion/question...
Guys:
seeing as I do not own a single Thorens table (but I had one in the past and would love to get an old Thorens "hybrid"---TD 124 or similar), this might seem like me just "butting" in, but I do have a few questions (and I am jealous of any who have a GOOD idler or idler/belt "hybrid").
I'm sure most, if not all of you, know that some tables use 1/4" audio tape or 1/2" videotape as a drive belt. Is there any reason that 1/4" tape could not be used? Tension would be high, but the tape belt would need to be precision cut with a splicer and (as there is very little stretch ) the tape length/splice would need to be experimented with until a satisfactory result could be attained.
Regarding another alternative, why not have a belt made as per the Thorens one, but perhaps with a silicon based material. I only suggest this as I have a few "rubber bands" that are not rubber of any sort---they're silicon. Nuforce supplies one with their portable mobile Icon hp amp/DAC. If something suitable could be produced, would it not prove to be quite and long lasting?
Another thought might be to modify the Thorens (slightly) by adding a belt tensioner "idler, such as those found in automotive applications. Basically adjust the tensioner until the desired tension is attained.
Guys, forgive me in my ignorance. I know there are other practical considerations that I may be completely unaware of as far as actually fitting a tension idler or using a tape style belt. So please, none need to suggest I don't know what I am talking about. I'm aware of that .
Guys:
seeing as I do not own a single Thorens table (but I had one in the past and would love to get an old Thorens "hybrid"---TD 124 or similar), this might seem like me just "butting" in, but I do have a few questions (and I am jealous of any who have a GOOD idler or idler/belt "hybrid").
I'm sure most, if not all of you, know that some tables use 1/4" audio tape or 1/2" videotape as a drive belt. Is there any reason that 1/4" tape could not be used? Tension would be high, but the tape belt would need to be precision cut with a splicer and (as there is very little stretch ) the tape length/splice would need to be experimented with until a satisfactory result could be attained.
Regarding another alternative, why not have a belt made as per the Thorens one, but perhaps with a silicon based material. I only suggest this as I have a few "rubber bands" that are not rubber of any sort---they're silicon. Nuforce supplies one with their portable mobile Icon hp amp/DAC. If something suitable could be produced, would it not prove to be quite and long lasting?
Another thought might be to modify the Thorens (slightly) by adding a belt tensioner "idler, such as those found in automotive applications. Basically adjust the tensioner until the desired tension is attained.
Guys, forgive me in my ignorance. I know there are other practical considerations that I may be completely unaware of as far as actually fitting a tension idler or using a tape style belt. So please, none need to suggest I don't know what I am talking about. I'm aware of that
.
Guys:
seeing as I do not own a single Thorens table (but I had one in the past and would love to get an old Thorens "hybrid"---TD 124 or similar), this might seem like me just "butting" in, but I do have a few questions (and I am jealous of any who have a GOOD idler or idler/belt "hybrid").
I'm sure most, if not all of you, know that some tables use 1/4" audio tape or 1/2" videotape as a drive belt. Is there any reason that 1/4" tape could not be used? Tension would be high, but the tape belt would need to be precision cut with a splicer and (as there is very little stretch ) the tape length/splice would need to be experimented with until a satisfactory result could be attained.
Regarding another alternative, why not have a belt made as per the Thorens one, but perhaps with a silicon based material. I only suggest this as I have a few "rubber bands" that are not rubber of any sort---they're silicon. Nuforce supplies one with their portable mobile Icon hp amp/DAC. If something suitable could be produced, would it not prove to be quite and long lasting?
Another thought might be to modify the Thorens (slightly) by adding a belt tensioner "idler, such as those found in automotive applications. Basically adjust the tensioner until the desired tension is attained.
Guys, forgive me in my ignorance. I know there are other practical considerations that I may be completely unaware of as far as actually fitting a tension idler or using a tape style belt. So please, none need to suggest I don't know what I am talking about. I'm aware of that
Firstly, in order to use a "rigid belt" (like recording tape or mylar) on any turntable it becomes necessary to include an adjustable means of tensioning the belt. For instance, an external motor pod that stands separate from the turntable plinth, like Teres/Galibier/Redpoint, some VPIs and others.
Without that ability to adjust tension, rigid belts are impossible.
So to incorporate a rigid belt, like recording tape or mylar, onto a TD124 you'd have to include a belt tensioner pulley. This is because the motor is mounted onto the TT chassis and offers no means of adjusting the motor position relative to the driven step pulley. I can almost envision a system for this, given the complication of the Thorens drive train. I'd imagine someone could accomplish that.
But then the question becomes; what is to be gained by such a modification?
Answer: if the tensioner pulley is functioning well, you probably gain optimal belt tension while reducing belt stretch. But in exchange for all this effort you lose the effect that the elastic belt has, the ability to dampen motor cogging. It's not quite known how much motor cogging is absorbed by the Thorens eddy brake pulley, likely some, and how much motor cogging is absorbed/damped by the idler/rim interface, likely some.
My take; the Thorens E-50 motor is the real limitation here. It is a somewhat crude motor that is fussy to give maintenance to and then in return it asks for that maintenance on a periodic basis. I'm not yet sure what that period is, but given the history of these turntables, there is an interval between maintenance sessions to be dealt with. Maybe it is just the lube evaporating out of the felts, or maybe the flimsy construction at the bushing housings and that thin little thrust cap.....
So my solution for the TD124 would be, firstly, to find a smoother running motor to replace the E-50. Perhaps the Papst replacement motor that Thorens itself provided in the seventies, a true 3-phase motor with rotating flywheel housing, is the answer here. But it needs a 3-phase motor controller to get the best from it. The hack that Thorens included, use of a capacitor to trick the motor into operating like a 2-phase motor, limits that Pabst's potential and pretty much eliminates it from consideration.....unless you can manage a 3-phase motor controller.
Then, I suspect we would view belt issues in a very different light.
Actually, I never considered the use of a rigid belt on the TD124. Even in light of the fact that I had owned a Teres 145 for a number of years and had spliced together many tape and mylar belts to keep that thing spinning. The TD124 just doesn't seem like an easy candidate for such a mod.
-Steve