Servicing me decks...myself

[djperkins]

Right, both my decks are in need of attention, so as me mixer is away being fixed I thought I'd get on with it.
1st job is replacing both the sound leads, only one has a prob (volume is low on left side) but as I have 2 leads (followed Franks advice and bought a good quality phono lead and cut it in half) I may as well do both...I mean, how hard can it be?
Brewed up a pot of coffee, sat down and looked up viperfrank's guide on YouTube, there was also a guide by a Canadian fella which included modifying the earth lead so it was soldered inside the deck and not in need of attaching to a mixer, this sounded quite trick so I watched it and decided I would do this also.
Brewed another pot of coffee, plugged my soldering iron in and got to work. Even though old nob tickler is a bit awkward with his presentation, you gotta give it to him...everything you need to know unfolds right before your eyes and it wasn't long before I was ready to solder, all the screws are the same diameter but some have washers included in their design, it was a pipe of peace to strip down and even though my decks are 10 years + they fell apart..lol..came apart easy to reveal the gubbins. The existing lead came off very easily, much quicker than I expected (haven't soldered for about ???? years, had to change the plug from round pin to square!) and I could see it being easy to damage the PCB with excessive heat. Everything old helmet boy says is spot on, follow his guide and you really can't go wrong...2nd time around this is a 10 minute job, MAX.
I decided against the earth lead modification...only because It seemed unnecessary and it's easy to go back to...do newer decks still have the earth worm?
2nd job is replacing the pitch sliders...got 2 options here...1-buy the unit complete for £50 from the Big Girls DJ Store and simply plug n play or 2-be a man and buy the slider for £15 and get jiggy with me soldering iron...the only thing that I'm unsure about it how to release the old one from the board, it is solid and has multiple joints to unsolder all at once, but I shall find out how to do it today cos I would obv rather pay £30 than a Oner.
Both decks are working as sweet as the proverbials, checked 'em out with my USB souncard and they're spot on

 

[siman91]

A job I want to do for 4 decks. My original 89 pair are already on their 2nd leads and simply want to improve the quality of cable. Regarding the lead used, I was thinking of the kit from flea bay as includes earth wire?

S

 

[djperkins]

I would say that the earth wire replacement steps it up from defcon 2 to defcon 3...simply because you have to remove the small PCB and absolutely make sure...that you don't hamper the tonearm...I aways take pics with my phone as I go with stuff like this now..better than a generic ref guide..may well do this too...Im sure that Technics would've changed the design if it was better to not have them, so new is deffo the way forward.

 

[Jiglo]

Sounds worthwhile if you have the time and patience Dave

I got mine serviced by Pimp My Decks and they did a great job removing the earth wire as I often had noise in the setup through an imperfect connection and the mod finally removed that for good and it's made a big difference to my happiness when using the decks

 

[djperkins]

Sweeeet...thats what I wanted to hear...right then...said fekkin grub is comin' off later and I shall do the earth mod...tbh...it's actually easier to connect the earth internally than attach a new one...done deal..cheers Jim

 

[djperkins]

I did as suggested and purchased a decent quality phono lead from Maplins and cut it in half..I opted for a 1.5m cable to trim down the length a bit..dunno bout uz but my decks are never that far away from my mixer...well they are now.cos its being fixed but u know what Im sayin.
There was quite a difference in both the thickness of cable and the insulation , the newer lead was much thinner and possibly a bit cheap looking compared to the Technics OEM ones, but there is no denying that the sound is mint, I also did the earth worm snip cos it's so easy to do and a tried and tested modification.
I would suggest that anyone who can mix can easily do this, if your a soldering novice, have a gander on youtube and practise a bit of tinning, you'll soon be up to speed.
Next is the pitch sliders, gonna do the slider only...cheaper and more hands on
After that...ball bearing turbo and forged pistons...or I might do a Jackson Pollock on them...same as on the Stone Roses Remix Album

 

[Benny-Digital]

Good on yer Davross! I'd love to get rid of the 0 pitch click and the earth wires! they drive me insane!

 

[djperkins]

The sound quality after replacing the sound leads and earth wire mod...is fantastic, much better, clearer and virtually no finger rumble