1970’s Hi-Fi Vintage Automatic Turntable Revival | Vintage Hifi Revival

This is a Modular Component Systems 8602 Automatic Turntable; I got it from the local vintage electronics store for $50, which I think is quite a bit for a broken turntable, however when there they informed me that they had already replaced the belt, so that's something I don't need to replace.
The functional part of the repair was extremely straight forward and almost too easy - the cosmetic fixes of the other hand were much more involved. So, I hope you enjoy this Hifi repair/restoration.

[@thomaslytle5519]

I had one of these a few years ago. Really good sounding unit with the right cartridge! I just got tired of having to readjust the pitch every couple weeks. So I gave it to a techie friend of mine. He repaired it and gave it to his teenage Daughter. She loves it. Good job man

[@peepers4763]

$50 for a non-working turntable with broken cover hinge seamed too much but dang, you make it work. 👏👏👏

[@nhand42]

Great repair. Breathing life into vintage equipment deserves applause. I'm glad you're saving these things rather than letting them go into landfill.

[@HifiJelly]

Thanks!

[@59Beatlefan]

Still has to be rewarding to see your hard work, patience and persistence pay off

[@demons500]

You can bring that dust cover back to like new condition with any Headlight Restoration kit. I've had great success using Mother's Nulens kit. Great job sir.

[@HifiJelly]

Thanks! I’ll have to give it a try.

[@dennisduran8500]

I remember my first stereo, MCS. Looking thru the catalog I couldn't afford the more expensive MCS. My friend bought the higher end MCS system. It was all black and brand new. Awesome!

[@branhicks]

My turntable cover got the corner destroyed in shipping. Luckily it's tinted so the cracks aren't very visible but I used super glue. It's been rock solid for 3 years now

[@michaelhance8402]

I have this turntable, I modified it. It's now got a straight tone arm and I wired it for a fully manual turntable I also added a switch to the stroboscope so I can turn it on and off without the turntable running.

[@richardcline1337]

The generic replacement stylus (needle) is a 697-D7 made by Phanstiel. It uses a tracking force of 1 to 3 grams, 1.5 being optimal. If you are going to continue to repair these kinds of turntables I would highly recommend purchasing a digital cartridge turntable stylus force scale, preferably the kind that uses internal calibration and not the ones that have to be calibrated with a seperate weight that is placed on the scale. I haven't had much luck with the longevity of those. If that counterweight on the back of the tonearm gets moved in any way then it HAS to be recalibrated or you could get distortion or even vinyl damage. If, like me, you have more than one SME headshell with different cartridges mounted on them then this is an absolute MUST HAVE tool.

[@HifiJelly]

Thanks for the tips!

[@dennisdunkel6731]

I use auto polishing compound on my plastic covers. It works fine.

[@richardcline1337]

Back before my shoulders finally waved the white flag to arthritis, I used to repair and refurbish older turntables. To refinish the dust covers I used a product called Formula 1 Scratch & Swirl Remover. Almost any automotive parts store carries it. It comes in a 7 oz. yellow plastic bottle. What @demons500 recommended may well be a variant of this but this is used mainly on car bodies. You use a microfiber cloth slightly dampened to apply small amounts of it over the damaged areas then let it dry to a haze. Using a dry microfiber cloth just lightly buff it off. This will take a bit of time, depending on how badly the dust cover is damaged, and several applications, but with time, and patience, you can bring a dust cover almost back to looking like it was brand new.

[@cmddelete2169]

Came for the repair, stayed strong jazz fusion vibes.

[@jimvid5183]

Nice save with the modified hinge! A toothbrush with long bristles works great for getting into those recessed corners.

[@HifiJelly]

Thanks! Great tip!

[@xray111xxx]

Very cool Technics was a huge OEM house. MCS of the JC Penney probably sold a ton of these hifi products. Nice work bringing this back alive. I was a kid when this was made. Very fun to watch. I want a turntable but not sure how I will go about it. I am a tape guy anyway. Much easier to live with than records. Much more robust too.

[@seansands424]

He knows he got a bargain he is just bullshitting c;nt

[@benyaneff2023]

I appreciate the addendum and commend you on another beautiful piece of work. Verily I say, we continue to watch your videos with great interest.

[@citydude59]

Well done

[@aftertheendtimes]

Great work, =) and thank you for music suggestion,...💚😄

[@HifiJelly]

Thanks! and you're welcome!

[@KevinIntensity]

great vid, and excellent work bringing it back to life. Particularly enjoyed the hinge trial & errors. Marvellous viewing.

[@HifiJelly]

Thank you!

[@ryanjones2021]

Definitely enjoying the sound quality on this video.... I cant believe cleaning switches fixed this but also enjoyed the detour on 3D printing I know nothing of it so it was nice.

[@HifiJelly]

Great to hear! (haha)

[@trippmoore]

You'd be surprised at how many "for parts, sold as is" units I've got working again for next to nothing with not much more effort than the liberal applicatpn of DeOxit then twisting and/or switching 50+ times.

[@ladronsiman1471]

To get back working an old piece of gear gives a satisfaction like no other..I bet you will wake up in the middle of the nigh to check if is still working ..heheh

[@JEEPSTR78]

Great Job 👏

[@HifiJelly]

Thanks!

[@TorontoJon]

LIKE 500 because 500 is better than 499. Another great video, Hifi Jam! :)

[@HifiJelly]

Thanks!

[@Silent-Lucidity]

Novus 3 step plastic polish will clean up the turn table covers very nice.

[@peterjmcgee4680]

The K ITS that they use for the headlights usually work pretty good

[@Off-gridPA]

Mothers Plastic Polish? Have used it to clean clear plastic even headlight lenses on vehicles. Works really well!

[@defaultroute]

I was entertained. This was a good day :-)

[@HifiJelly]

Thanks! Glad to hear that!

[@waynepollard6879]

Invest in some nut drivers ! Decent turntable !

[@manamoth]

JC Penney is still around. There is one right down the street from me.

[@michaelcharach]

Loved this video. Having 3D printed many things around the home I doubt that they will hold up, unless perhaps they were printed with a more exotic filament. PLA or TPU just won’t last unless you figured out a way to reduce the pressure from the spring.

[@HifiJelly]

Thank you! I am curious about this myself, I used PLA for the parts. So far it seems to be holding up well, especially that since the lid is closed the vast majority of the time and it’s under the maximum amount of tension in that state. I suppose time will tell.

[@Xantylon74]

25:30 drilling this hole was the right idea!

[@RaymondReeves-db8dr]

Hi you ask about how to address the scratches on the acrylic plinth cover. Think of it as a modern car headlight. You can get various remedy kits online.. Or you can first use the finest grade ( 1500-2000) wet and dry grit paper on the worst of the scratches. Followed by using a mop attached to a drill with a paint renovating compound . Finally to make it shine , believe or not toothpaste with a damp cloth..

[@keithturner3580]

We used to bond acrylic with a solvent cement specified for fixing or repairing acrylic I think it was acetone based or something similar.

[@miata350]

I wish I could get my MCS turntable fixed. I have three turntables and if it worked it would be my favorite one. The problem is, the left channel occasionally cuts out. I've replaced the cartridge, the headshell, cleaned the connections and calibrated the tonearm. It has a nice cartridge and sounds fantastic until the left channel still cuts out and I don't know what else to do with it.

[@Mac__Tonight]

Very calming video..... i preferred ur narration in this more then ur cassette deck video with no talking. also dont oil the spindle part that touches the platter!! u want it to stay in place, not move around haghahahaha

[@TurntableGuy]

That table is a Technics SL-23 clone. The only way to fix those hinge tabs is to remove them and replace them with metal, screwed-in replacements. I have a video showing the process.

[@InquisiitorWH44K]

Nice work. Your final hinge solution should have been the original, but I supposed they cheeped out to keep the cost down. Lot's of stress at those hinge points.

[@RuneRandom]

Super video!! i`m thinking that the motor was stuck, giving it 24v unstock it.. i would have spinded it by hand, taken it apart and lubricates the brass bearing at cleaned the brush and commutator inside.. great job by the way.. now a subscriber

[@HifiJelly]

Thanks! I’ll keep that in mind for the future. I’d be concerned about not being able to get the motor back together, but if it’s already broke it’s worth a shot!

[@Anachronos1]

Next time when you have to glue acrylic use Dichlorethan. Yes is dangerous but melt any plastic and vaporize easy. Do not use it in closed room or if you use it make sure that you have fresh air or well working ventilation system.

[@FortyTwoAnswerToEverything]

JB Weld ftw. I use it to keep the gasoline from leaking out of my gas tank in my truck. I've prolonged my life by not getting blown up sooner

[@branhicks]

I suspect something in the motor wasn't right and when you dumped all of that voltage into it it cleaned it up

[@bunkie2100]

I don’t know if you addressed this off-camera, but all of these automatic and semi-automatic turntables eventually need cleaning and lubrication of the trigger mechanism. How they work is that there is a lever connected to the underside of the tonearm that engages a small sliding or pivoting piece that triggers the cam (that’s the large gear). What usually happens is that the pivoting/sliding trigger gets gummed up and manifests itself as resistance to the free movement of the tone arm causing skpping on the last track of an LP.

[@HifiJelly]

I did clean and add some new lubricant to the automatic return, they are really cool mechanisms too; all mechanical with levers and cams. Now a days It’d be done with some microswitch and a servo.

[@bunkie2100]

@@HifiJelly - I figured that you had done that. I serviced a lot of automatic turntables in my day and thought it needed mentioning.

[@forrestmcelfresh521]

If MCS=Techniques, then MCS parts source is Matsushita. Matsushita manufacturing is the parent company of National(domestic Japan), Panasonic(international video), and Techniques( international audio) consumer brands.

[@theotherchannel2279]

Brasso. If you want to remove scratches use the liquid it does an amazing job.

[@HifiJelly]

I have some of the liquid brasso, so I’ll give it a try thanks!

[@barryp9463]

enjoyed that but what was the LP you were playing?

[@HifiJelly]

Flashing by Himiko Kikuchi

[@clee6746]

That's a low-end belt driven Technics turntable.

[@80lab38]

if the lid is acrylic you could try acetone to glue the crack.

[@HifiJelly]

Thanks! I'll keep that in mind for next time.

[@dandinhofer9240]

Am I being given the business? These words of limited experience, unfamiliarity and general novice capacities just doesn't jive with the visuals... 1) Expertise with pcb diagnostics, 2) excellent assessment skills and whoa!!! 3) a 3-D printer fabricator. And finally, 4) perfect video production is beguiling. Just kidding! Please make more shows :-)

[@macavree9464]

What was the deal with the loose/disconnected black wire?

[@HifiJelly]

I fixed it after the video, or at least I think I did. My theory is that it’s a grounding wire for the cartridge, since near to the wire was a blob of solder on the chassis with nothing connected to it. I’m guessing when it was first built they forgot to solder it at the factory, and nothing changed when I connected it so that’s probably why it went unnoticed for so long.

[@dogmilker360]

best stuff to get rid of scratches on plastics is polywatch....its for resurfacing watch faces

[@jmgraydz]

This is an old video but with acrylic next time look up Weldon

[@ibrahimkocaalioglu]

50 is too much compared to your pioneer system in your previous video.

[@errol8000]

Just use metal polish.

[@joeyjustin6895]

The ones that were made by technics were MADE BY TECHNICS. NOT CLONE. Also They Used Sanyo And Hitachi Through the 70s. That might be why you called this s clone because the guts of this look like sanyo

[@robertdavis5714]

25-50 Price for a low end turn table, MCS and JVC are things I run-away from.

[@trevor245]

50 bucks is expensive, especially in this condition. But they are still quite nice and definitely worth more if in decent condition.

[@groenendiek]

Nice video, but terrible way of pushing your voice low al the time that kinda sucks really, I'm sorry to say that ticks me off so a friendly hint - just don't, you don't need it to sound serious or mature, in stead it just sounds like you put too much emphasis on that. Again sorry I don't want to embarrass you, it is definitely me because I'm probably more sensitive than most to those little things. Video is really nice.

[@Pelo1969]

You paid too much for it