got a technics 1200 turntable
 

but i discovered there was no cartridge included! so i ordered a stanton 500AL cartridge. i'm afraid i'll discover that there is no needle in the cartridge!

besides that, the turntable was actually pretty difficult to set up, considering i've never had a real turntable before. any tips to help me set it up? all i've done so far is to hook it up, and then i put the platter and slipmat on, and then i put the weights on the tonearm. the instructions aren't really too clear. so i have a couple of questions:

1. will i need anything else besides a cartridge for my turntable to work?? i sure hope not.

2. can y'all give me simple instructions on how to balance the tonearm once i get the cartridge on there?

3. before i get the cartridge on there, there seem to be some odd extra parts. one is a small metal plate with two holes in it, it looks like it may be for the cartridge. the other item(s) is a small piece of wrapping paper that is taped up and has small nuts and bolts in it. what am i supposed to do with these?

Re: got a technics 1200 turntable
 

what are you plugging it into? a stereo or do you have a dj mixer setup? if you don't have a stereo with a phono input, and you don't have a dj mixer, you will need a preamp of some sort. the cheapest way to get a preamp may be to buy a mixer!

to balance the tonearm, put the cartridge on and twiddle the weight until the thing balances. on the weight there is a movable ring. you want to twist that ring so that the weight stays put and the 0 on the ring lines up with the line on the post. now twiddle the weight until the recommended weight for the needle is attained.

the small metal plate with two holes in it is a headshell. that is what your cartridge attaches to

Re: got a technics 1200 turntable
 

1. first off..connecting it thru a line-in will NOT work..turntables needs extra power in order to be heard. get a preamp/tuner or something that has a phono input. dj mixers are a good start (stanton makes a nice cheap one).

2. trash the 500's. sound quality isnt good and they'll fuck up your records in the long term. they are GREAT for scratching..but you're not planning on touring with the invisble skratch piklz right?. go for 890EL. more expensive but better sound quality. or ortofon concord's..at least they're all in one (you need a cartridge handle for the 500's..i dont think they come already connected..then again i bought mine in 1994 when i started djin..so who knows?!?!??!

3. balance your weight based on the weight on the cartridge. the booklet tells you how much you need to measure. the weight and the scale are seperate..match the line weight to the top center of the tonearm..then move the scale so the line on the weight meets the zero on the scale. then add cartridge, then SPIN the weight (not the scale) to the suggested weight in the book.. 500's are heavy cartridges..usually at 3. if you scratch on it, take it to 4...OR keep it at three, and put a quarter on the top of the cartridge handle just like the good ol days :)

4. expect large breasted women to make mad passionate love to you, for 1200's are proven to bring a lot of punany to one's life. but if you're ugly..you're s.o.l. :D

Re: got a technics 1200 turntable
 

ah mother fuck..mkb beat me to it..well at least the large breasted women part is a little extra advice.. so start packin them jimmies!!!

Re: got a technics 1200 turntable
 

*buys a pair of 1200's*

Re: got a technics 1200 turntable
 

*buys 3 pairs of 1200's*

3 times as much big brested women??
i hope so!

Re: got a technics 1200 turntable
 

A mixer is not necessarily the cheapest way to get a pre-amp. I have a little NAD pre-amp that I got for 20 quid, and I think they cost little more new. However, if you intend to start DJing at any point then you will obviously need a mixer.

Are you in the UK? If so head down to your nearest Richer Sounds and they will help you out.

Re: got a technics 1200 turntable
 

i'm plugging it into a reciever with a phono input and a ground, so i'm good with that (i've been through that before- a couple of years ago i had no reciever and i tried to plug my speakers directly up to the turntable. needless to say, this didn't work, so i had to return the turntable!)

so i put the small metal plate between the thing with the wires and the cartridge?

it looks like this (ASCII drawings are ghetto)
,____________,
|...................|
|....O......O.....|
|____________|


what do you mean i need a handle for the 500AL?
except the corners are rounded and the holes are a bit bigger.

Re: got a technics 1200 turntable
 

bump - what the hell is a cartridge handle?? and do i need it?
*prays that i don't*

Re: got a technics 1200 turntable
 

I guess that explains my situation :( :( :(

Re: got a technics 1200 turntable
 

also, what is the difference in a white 500AL and a dark blue 500AL? i bought the white because it said to on this website for 1200 turntables.

Re: got a technics 1200 turntable
 

The little thing you've drawn is an additonal weight for the cartridge. The nuts and bolts are for attaching the cartridge to the headshell.

You know how somebody suggested putting a quarter on the headshell for scratching? That plate is a screw-down quarter. When you're putting on your cartridge and you put the bolts through the cartridge into the headshell, if you need more weight you can put that plate in between the cartridge and the headshell. That's what the holes or for...the same bolts that mount the cartridge run through the plate.

I'd try it without, though, first. Basically, more weight = more wear on your records, so what you want to do is try and get away with the minimum amount of weight you can that doesn't skip when you scratch.

That's what the weight is for on the back of the arm, but in applications where you need more weight (scratching as opposed to mixing), sometimes you run out of room to move the weight around on the back of the tone arm. So you put more weight on the cartridge end via the plate, and that allows you to reposition the weight on the back of the arm. I don't think I explained that very well. Let me try again.

The further the weight on the back of the arm is from the cartridge, the less weight is on the cartridge. Sometimes you need more weight than you can get from the weight on the back, because you screw it forward as far as it'll go, and it runs out of room, and you're still skipping.

So then you put on the headshell weight, and then you've got more weight on the stylus, so you can back the weight on the back of the arm off from what it was backing into, giving you the room you need to play with that weight's position again.

But, again, you want as little weight as possible to avoid skipping, but minimize the wear on your record...so try it without the headshell weight, or any quarters, first, and if it is still skipping, try and develop as light a touch as you can before you increase the weight.

That way you can tell the ladies you're nice with your hands, like the RZA. Well, the RZA told Bill Murray that. You can tell Bill Murray, and the ladies. Whatever floats your boat.

Re: got a technics 1200 turntable
 

*feels really embarrased cos i'm not DJing or scratching, just playing records*

every time i try to do a remix of something on my computer, it sounds really good in my head, but i can't do it on the computer. so maybe i might do some remix or something sometime.

so when i balance the tonearm, do i have the switch (that lowers the tonearm) up or down? i was going to put it up, because i guess it should drop when i put it down, right?

Re: got a technics 1200 turntable
 

You have the switch down, as if you got the needle on a record. You need to be careful with it, I suggest putting an old record on your turntable so when you accidentaly drop the needle, at least it falls on a record and probably won't be damaged.
Then balance it out by twisting the counterweight until the tonearm stays balanced in a horizontal position (without you holding it). This is the 0 (zero) position, so you now have to twist the small dial in front of the counterweight (the one with the numbers) so it reads 0 (Remember, only twist the small dial, not the counterweight itself).
Then twist the whole counterweight until it reads the weight in grams, as specified by the cartridge manual. After that, set the anti-skating to the same number as the counterweight, if your anti-skating doesn't go that far then just put it to maximum.

Re: got a technics 1200 turntable
 

thank you so much! you've described it so now i know exactly what to do when i get the cartridge in the mail. everyone else and the manual were saying "twist the thing until it balances then twist the little dial to 0 then twist the weight again" and it left me confused, because i didn't know what to do after i twisted it to 0. but now i know that i have to set it to the weight of the cartridge. that makes a lot more sense now. thanks!

Re: got a technics 1200 turntable
 

Not the weight of the cartridge, but the "Tracking Force" as specified in the Stanton 500 manual, according to mine, it's 2 - 5 grams, so set it to 4 and you'll be safe.

Re: got a technics 1200 turntable
 

mine stops at 3.5

Re: got a technics 1200 turntable
 

that's what i was saying...then you put on the headshell weight, that allows you to back off the tone arm weight, and then you'll be able to screw it past 3.5.

Re: got a technics 1200 turntable
 

oh, alright. i hope it comes tomorrow, because i can't wait to listen to my records!
all i've had is this 1980s small multi funtion stereo (tape, FM/AM, turntable) but it plays it wobbly and at the wrong speed. now i've got these nice speakers and this nice reciever, it should blow my CDs away!

Re: got a technics 1200 turntable
 

probably not (imo). records sounds warm compared to cds, not as accurate

Re: got a technics 1200 turntable
 

sounds better to me. just played 'seconds out' by genesis, and for once the drums sound live. they've never sounded like that on the cd.

Re: got a technics 1200 turntable
 

i think i balanced it correctly. you're supposed to move it towards the turntable to raise the weight (ie: turn it clockwise), right? it skips if i run in front of it, that might be a problem. should i re-balance it? i had trouble balancing it because if it wasn't horizontal, it would've been laying on the record. so i made it balance the best i could, switched the dial to zero, and then twisted it around to 2.5 (a full turn takes it around to zero, but is equivilant to 4 i suppose) and it skipped whenever someone farted down the street, so i pushed it all the way around to zero. plus, when i was installing the cartridge onto the headshell, i screwed one screw in all the way, but the other, i had one more round to go, but it was so damned hard to screw it in, i couldn't do it, so i just put it on there. it goes back and forth, but only if you push it, not wobbly.

Re: got a technics 1200 turntable
 

so today i decided to put the headshell weight on (but this time i was able to screw it on all the way), cos my brother runs by it and it skips. i balanced it and everything, i set the weight to 3, and it still skipped, so i set it to 5 and it just popped. at 6 it did the same as 5, but lesser so. but i was scared i was letting it press down too hard on the record, so i set it back to 5. and then i set the anti skating to 0, cos i've heard setting the anti skating really high makes it skip. but i don't know.

Re: got a technics 1200 turntable
 

http://www.djdepot.com/technics1200faq.html

there is some info which may help.