BUYING A USED TURNTABLE...WHAT 2 LOOK FOR....????

what up..
I found a Technics SL-12 at a local Swap meat for $ 60 and asked the guy to hold it for me. Anyway hes selling it "as is" with NO REFUND. So basically i want to know what to look for to tell if its in usable condition. I basically just want it to sample from. But how can i tell if its in good working condition. i dont know SHIT about turntables so some one help me out PLEASE. How i can i tell if the needle/cartridge are good?? I wount be able to hear it in action because he has no speakers in his booth..but i can probably get him to plug it in..so what should i look for and check???ANy tips would help!

An SL-12? Is that some really old model? If it was one of the classic SL-1200s I'd be a bit suspicious that it is as cheap as $60.

Does it look clean & well looked after?

As long as the platter spins ok & the arm doesn't feel loose don't worry too much about the state of the cartridge & stylus as you can easily get a replacement for those from somewhere that sells DJ equipment.

By the way, it is good to see a new post from you. I think a lot of us were starting to worry that you had been electrocuted in Hong Kong after your posts a while back....

check to see if the weight is still on the back of the tone arm, make sure when you turn it on,look at the pitch to see if it jumps around(knowhatimean) plug it in and turn iton and look at the pitch spots on the platter to see if they make sudden moves.

see if you can connect it to a receiver and take some head phones with you to check it to hear if the wires are messed up,

thats abig problem with old tables.

and as for the needle and cartridge they that can be replaced but check the wires on the cartridge to seeif there still there, try pulling the cart.off tosee if the connections on the inside are not oxidized.

for $ 60 bucks thats grip for that i bought one for $5 bucks at a garage sale, working!! that was the third table to my set up.


good luck with that

turntabletech.com has an article on buying used technics in the knowledge section. the tonearm and the cables are probably the most important. I got one and there was a short in one of the wires but I replaced them with some heavyduty gold plated rcas.