TECHNICS SP 10 refurbishing

Here some pics from my friend Giorgio AKA Bestgroove about his SP10 refurbishing work.

A reportage with some passages of the restoration of one of the most famous and appreciated vintage turntable ... a job moved by the passion and love for these vintage machines ... a dedication that only a true lover can appreciate ...
Let's start with some steps that Giorgio explained to me:

"Unfortunately the transparent protective coating of aluminium had gone and horrible oxidations are impossible to remove. So I proceeded to dismantle everything, every single screw...not wanting to simulate the aesthetic condition of the original, I started with the laborious sanding work and elimination of the basic brushing in order to return to the aluminium base.

The boards have been disassembled, degreased and cleaned well, replaced a couple of electrolytics, shortened the abundant wiring and remade the welds on colums; regulated voltages and sheathed thermo any welding points where there may be the risks of some contact.

Regarding the power supply, after having removed all the stickers and the original glue with solvents, were raised some small sketches, primer and final painting.

The platter was polished on the edge; it was sanded insistently with the very fine abrasive paper to remove all the anodizing and only then I used the rotating pad with abrasive paste to bring it to the desired polishing. A final pass with wax to nanopolymers should ensure protection to oxidation for long time.

The bottom cover was painted as original in two steps...matt black on the outside and embossed black inside.

Here we are at the start/stop buttons. We have a lot of pieces of small screws and parts, waschers, buttons and more. The start/stop button has been dismantled. Please note the center of the support the finesse of those who designed this turntable: a micro srew allows you to adjust the height (and therefore responsiveness) of the button and a sping (not visible) provides to cushion the stroke.

The  blue polyurethane foam supports have been providential for reassembly process.

The idea and the realization of the wooden support to facilitate assembly unfortunately comes at the end ...anyway will be useful for the Others SP10 waiting for my holy hands ;)

Then we move to the calibration...

...to replacing the neon bulb...

...and the thrust pad...

Finally I decided to give an adequate packaging".

The pictures cartainly speak louder than words...a meticulous work that has given a new life to this glorious TT. Again thank you to my friend Giorgio for sharing everything.

Stay tuned