Pitch Adjustment on SL-1500

[schulzr]

Greetings from Upstate NY.

I am going to (try to) resurrect my 30 yr old Technics SL-1500 which has sat idle for about 15 yrs. I am missing the headshell and cartridge and will need to buy new.

Also the pitch seems adjustable on 45 speed but turns too slow when trying to adjust on 33.

What are first and obvious things to do? What do I need to be careful of? .........Don't have schematic either......

Any affordable mods out there?

Roland

 

[Netlist]

I still have one of those collecting dust on one of the shelves.
They are good turntables in terms of robustness.
The pitch pots will need at least a good cleaning, and the motor a few drops of oil.
If it has been sitting in a garage, let it accommodate to the living room temp for a few days as well.
Try finding a good original headshell.

/Hugo

 

[schulzr]

I removed the platten, gave 3 drops of oil. I didn't have any contact cleaner for the pots so I put unit back together (I had taken the bottom cover off).

She behaved the same way but I tweaked the coarse pot a tiny bit and now she spins fine!

I was going to have it serviced, but now I just have to get the headshell and cartridge. I also noticed the isolation pads were worn and I should replace those too.

BTW, with some of the cartridge alignment tools I've seen on the web, are there any tips you can give me on that?

THANKS for help!

Roland

 

[Netlist]

Have a look here: http://www.vinylengine.com/manuals_technics.shtml
The deck I have on the shelve is the SL1800 and the overhang is adjusted with a gauge. I can't see the manual for the SL1500, only the MKII version so I don't know if the arm is the same.
Anyway, if it is, the gauge which I have aligns the cartridge back of the shell to top of the needle as 51.5mm.
Furthermore, clean the contacts of the arm where the cartridge enters.

I just noticed that the overhang is 15mm for the SL1500 as described in the brochure. That is the distance from centre spindle to top of needle.
Hope this helps.

/Hugo

 

[schulzr]

Thanks again.

So I guess I have 2 ways I can adjust this(?)

1. Make myself a gauge similar to the one you have.
(Maybe you can take a couple of measurements for
me, the hole diameter and the hole location from the
the perpindicular surface at the point of stylus)

2. Mark off 15mm radius circle on a discarded record,
place on turntable, move tonearm (with headshell and
cartridge mounted) towards spindle, and adjust. (a little
cruder but gets it done?)

Thank you again!

Roland

 

[Netlist]

I'd go for option two.
Here's an advanced explanation of how to do it. Since there is not too much you can adjust on the SL1500, I'd only care for the overhang and azimuth. A small mirror comes in handy for that.
Put the mirror on the turntable and let the needle gently rest on it. Now you will notice very well if the cartridge is mounted correctly. The picture tends to show a bad azimuth but of course I blame the lens of the camera.

/Hugo

 

[MosfetOwner]

BTW, with some of the cartridge alignment tools I've seen on the web, are there any tips you can give me on that?

The above answers point you towards how to align your cartridge. On the http://www.vinylengine.com/manuals_tonearm_protractors.shtml website, you can download one of their protractors, and print it out on a printer, glue it to a piece of cardboard or thin, rigid plastic, make some holes, and you have a free tonearm setup protractor. Then just follow the instructions for the protractor (see previous answers). The first (stupid protractor!) for the Baerwald & Loefgren B methods, is the most widely used one. There's also a good, simple description of how to use the protractor at http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/vinyl/messages/51464.html .

 

[fantasia]

technics Sl-1500

This is a very underated turntable VERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYYYY

Well i have actually seen this moded with a new arm board and a rega
arm. The Arm board is removable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i modded one myself my brother still has it i ,first put a Grace 707 on it Yes you did read that right. stable as a tank the grace would track like a leech with a nice cartridge ie shure m-91 worked well then a Grace F-8L. Nice sound
determined by what you put on it as to arm and cartridge.

AS I said my brother still has it it has an SME 3009 Mk2 track beautifly and eats the original performance it had with the stock arm.

I bought the SL-1500 in 1977 it cost $280 Australian then given its age a bargin no CD player would go that long

Fantasia

 

[bobby1]

SL 1500 transformer

Hi to All:

Was handed down an SL1500, 120V. Its still a thing of beauty. However, was advised that it was carelessly plugged in a 220V outlet.

I would like to convert the TT to 220V. Can i have the transformer rewired to 220Volts. Is it possible? What would be the consequenses?

Need Help

Thanx in advance

Bobby

 

[vanmeter]

I have three Technics tables, and used to align with the Turntable Basics protractor, tried the Stevenson alignment, etc., and finally realized that going with what Technics recommended seems to be far easier and gives me seemingly the same or better results as far as listening goes. They say just to mount the cartridge in the headshell with the stylus tip exactly 52mm from the point at which the headshell would butt against the tonearm insert, and then just make sure the cartridge is square in the headshell.

Just my two cents worth...