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DJBOJAN
03-27-2012, 05:57 PM
Hey everyone,

When looking at the option of going the CDJ route or the old school turntable, I just feel in love with the Techincs, the way they feel, the look, everything about them. So I just recently purchased a set of MK2's. They are in really good shape and work really well. I will be replacing the RCA's cable to premium gold plated ones. Grounding internally. Replacing all lights to Blue LED's and painting the cover to an undecided color, most likely leaning towards a black, graphite gray sorta part of the spectrum. I wanted to give u a pic of what the look like in original form and will update the thread as work moves along.

Thanks for tuning in.

298

DJBOJAN
03-29-2012, 08:10 PM
Received my new RCA Gold Plated cables to replace the original ones, big difference :) Next step is to order my Shure M44-7 or Whitelabel.

Jakes
03-30-2012, 02:22 AM
Looking forward to it - i'm so regretting selling my 1210's :freak:

Mahatma Coat
03-30-2012, 09:53 AM
Should have just got some 1210s dude :shrug:


Nah, sorry just being an internet dick.


:zany:



Nice project man, keep us updated, it'll be nice to see how it progresses.

Someone did something similar on DJF1.0, it was a really good read.

With you on the 1210 experience too, everything about them works for me too. Intuitive stylish units.

Good luck chief!

DJBOJAN
03-30-2012, 12:03 PM
lol, thanks, I will post some pics next week

Guest One
03-30-2012, 01:25 PM
Many of my friends dj with different types of equipment but nothing copares to the Technics 1200's & 1210's. They are irreplaceable! A slick black finish could look killer on your tables & the Shure M447's are the needle to get. The stick in the groove very well and punch out excellent sound!

I got original gold technics plugs like these
http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-67261-24966-0/2?ipn=psmain&icep_vectorid=263602&mtid=691&kwid=1&crlp=1_263602&icep_item_id=380419673477&itemid=380419673477&icep_meta_categ_id=619&icep_etrs=N&icep_epid=-999&icep_ctlg=-999&icep_cond=New&icep_cbt=n&icep_msku_flag=n at http://qualityelectronics.net/ for about $20. Much nicer than the ones my 1210's came with.

DJBOJAN
03-31-2012, 11:36 AM
Thanks for all the feedback! I went to pick the color today, it is going to be done by a professional shop, and the color is going to be like a graphite gray. Its being painted next week. And I was thinking of going with either the whitelabel of M44s, def gonna go for the M44s. Great reviews and ratings for scratch/club.

DJBOJAN
04-01-2012, 07:44 PM
Check it out guys, I took apart the 1200s today, will be taking the faceplates to get painted tmrw! In the meantimes everything is going to be cleaned...dust and etc build up over the years. I will be doing the RCA cable replacement, internal ground and LEDs in the meantime as well.

DJ CirKutCision
04-01-2012, 11:42 PM
Good man, nice to see you're not afraid to take apart your decks. You save loads of money doing mods yourself.

DJBOJAN
04-02-2012, 05:10 AM
Thank you, it was was a great learning experience.

Guest One
04-02-2012, 11:45 AM
Which LED kit did you purchase?

DJBOJAN
04-02-2012, 01:35 PM
I went with an Ice Cold Customs blue LED kit.

DJBOJAN
04-05-2012, 10:09 AM
Fresh from paint...i wanted to give you guys a preview of what the paint looks like..still have to clean up tape in the pitch fader area...but check it out..i will take better pics when put together..too bad for the file size restriction..i had to make it small..but nonetheless..

djlotus
04-05-2012, 10:42 AM
Looks great so far! :slayer:

Mark_Spit
04-05-2012, 10:47 AM
:eek:.....that is all

DJBOJAN
04-05-2012, 12:42 PM
Thanks guys, I updated the picture with a better one taken in the sun....

DJBOJAN
04-06-2012, 04:16 PM
Some better pics:

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/t454/DJBOJAN1/photo-54.jpg

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/t454/DJBOJAN1/photo-50.jpg

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/t454/DJBOJAN1/photo-51.jpg

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/t454/DJBOJAN1/photo-53.jpg

DTR
04-06-2012, 04:19 PM
Looking good :tup:

DJBOJAN
04-06-2012, 04:21 PM
Thank you so much :)

ben mills
04-06-2012, 04:26 PM
Are you removing the quartz lock at 0% while you are at it?

Them shits gonna run like new when you're done.

djlotus
04-06-2012, 04:29 PM
Looking good. Did you think about replacing the pitch decals with black ones?

DJBOJAN
04-06-2012, 04:36 PM
Ben, I am unfamiliar with the quartz lock..will have to search more about it or if you don't mind describing it to me. Djlotus..I ordered white ones..i just realized i think i made a mistake not ordering black ones....

djlotus
04-06-2012, 04:41 PM
They still look great.

DJBOJAN
04-06-2012, 04:42 PM
that means a lot..thank you.. and maybe i can return the white ones and exchange for black :/ cause i think the black will flow better, the white may be too contrasting..

DJBOJAN
04-06-2012, 04:53 PM
Lotus..clean your inbox :) I wanna send you a message!

djlotus
04-06-2012, 04:57 PM
Done.

djlotus
04-06-2012, 05:29 PM
You may have trouble with the paint if you try to remove them now.

ben mills
04-06-2012, 06:38 PM
Quartz lock is the click when the slider is at zero percent. It is garbage and a hassle. Definitely don't want it.

DTR
04-07-2012, 04:19 AM
Are you removing the quartz lock at 0% while you are at it?

Them shits gonna run like new when you're done.


Quartz lock is the click when the slider is at zero percent. It is garbage and a hassle. Definitely don't want it.

This is a common misconception. The entire pitch range is quartz locked and that's not something you want to tamper with. On Mk2s there is a click and a separate 0% bypass circuit at the zero position. Either one can be disabled without affecting the other. The click can be removed by taking out the ball bearing on the fader slider. The 0% bypass can be disabled by cutting the orange wire on the pitch PCB. Both mods are worth doing.

DJBOJAN
04-07-2012, 10:40 AM
Can you send me a detailed step by step instructions on how to do this DTR, I would sincerely appreciate it? Im just trying to see the advantage of doing this.. Thanks!

DTR
04-07-2012, 03:52 PM
I can assume you're already happy taking your decks apart. To remove the click, take out the pitch fader PCB. If you look at the pitch fader itself, you will see that the metal casing is held onto the base by little tabs that fold under the bottom:

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t63/davetherave_11/Tech%20modding%202/pitch.jpg

Using a small flat screwdriver, prize open those tabs and lift the metal casing off. Remove the white fader wiper (the bit with the stem attached, where the knob goes). As you remove the wiper, the spring loaded ball bearing will ping out at great speed never to be seen again. That's the click removed. Now put the fader back together.

Mk2s have a 0% bypass circuit that can also cause problems. The fader itself goes from -8% to +8%, so roughly half way between those points there will be a zero position. When the fader is at the click position a circuit switches in that forces the deck to run at 0%. Unfortunately those two positions aren't necessarily in the same place, so it's possible to have 0% in two places. This is why calibration is so important on Mk2s; on the M3D / Mk5 / Mk6 it's not so important. You can get round this by cutting the orange wire on the pitch fader PCB. This will disable the bypass circuit so there will only ever be one zero position, no matter how bad the calibration is. It will also make a perfectly calibrated deck slightly more accurate around zero because the bypass circuit kicks in slightly either side of zero, giving a dead zone. Just cut the orange wire and tape up / insulate both ends. Done.

Hope this helps.

DJBOJAN
04-09-2012, 01:00 PM
Thank you DTR! Putting it together tonight, pictures will be posted!

DJBOJAN
04-09-2012, 11:00 PM
Quick Update..better pics soon!

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/t454/DJBOJAN1/photo-1.jpg

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/t454/DJBOJAN1/photo.jpg

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/t454/DJBOJAN1/photo-2.jpg

djlotus
04-09-2012, 11:07 PM
Looks incredible. Great job!

DJBOJAN
04-10-2012, 08:42 AM
Thanks! better pics soon

DJBOJAN
04-10-2012, 04:38 PM
Some more pics...

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/t454/DJBOJAN1/photo-7.jpg

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/t454/DJBOJAN1/photo-4.jpg

Pavin
04-10-2012, 05:19 PM
@DJBOJAN: Thats not by chance Gunmetal? Same color as my rims hahaha :P

Nice job!

DJBOJAN
04-10-2012, 06:09 PM
Pavin lol, gunmetal was sort of my inspiration for this color. This is a graphite grey with a custom black mixed in.

djlotus
04-10-2012, 06:56 PM
P-i-m-p

DJBOJAN
04-10-2012, 07:04 PM
Lotus, what do you have in the works? I like the last one with the flake in it..

DennisBdrmDJ 2.0
04-10-2012, 07:15 PM
Great job,DJBOJAN.:tup: inspirational!

djlotus
04-10-2012, 07:18 PM
I have a pair of M3Ds which I have already installed blue LEDs in; which I am thinking of painting. They are my personal ones for now so they are in tip top shape. I have a few plans which I don't want to jinx by putting it out there before it happens, but I may be painting my M3Ds and selling them very shortly.

I have been thinking about trying some mods on some CDJs. I'm floating some ideas in my head. I am also brainstorming a way to add an NI sound card to my Rane TTM 56, and also add between 4 and 8 assignable buttons per channel to my mixer or possibly my turntables. There isn't much room in my mixer so I may have to just replace the LEDs and pick one or the other, in which case I would add the buttons so I didn't restrict myself to Traktor.

DJBOJAN
04-10-2012, 07:22 PM
This is all fantastic...I really enjoyed working on these turntables..I may be doing a couple more and creating a custom series.. and thank you Dennis, I really appreciate that.

djlotus
04-10-2012, 07:44 PM
Where are you at in North Carolina?

DJBOJAN
04-11-2012, 03:46 PM
I installed the decals and calibrated the Shure Needles today. I also took some pictures outside so you can see the color a litle bit better. Check out the transformation:

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/t454/DJBOJAN1/photo-28.jpg
http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/t454/DJBOJAN1/photo-40.jpg
http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/t454/DJBOJAN1/photo-54.jpg
http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/t454/DJBOJAN1/photo-24.jpg
http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/t454/DJBOJAN1/photo-20-1.jpg
http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/t454/DJBOJAN1/photo-23.jpg
http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/t454/DJBOJAN1/photo-5.jpg
http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/t454/DJBOJAN1/photo-6.jpg
http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/t454/DJBOJAN1/photo-11.jpg

ben mills
04-11-2012, 04:13 PM
This is a common misconception. The entire pitch range is quartz locked and that's not something you want to tamper with. On Mk2s there is a click and a separate 0% bypass circuit at the zero position. Either one can be disabled without affecting the other. The click can be removed by taking out the ball bearing on the fader slider. The 0% bypass can be disabled by cutting the orange wire on the pitch PCB. Both mods are worth doing.

Thanks for the clarification on that. I'm not a 1200s techie - I just know I hate playing on MK2s with the click at 0% and that it can be removed.

Saw the final pics...sweet. Great job.

DJBOJAN
04-11-2012, 06:00 PM
Thank You!

DJBOJAN
04-22-2012, 11:23 AM
Never to late! Thank you!

Guest One
04-24-2012, 02:02 PM
WOW!!!!! Sexy turntables. Well done!

Ver Jaina
04-26-2012, 08:03 AM
wow this one is awesome!

kurisu
04-29-2012, 05:41 PM
Nice paint job :D

sobi
05-06-2012, 04:15 PM
Fresh looking job man. One critique though... I'd suggest taking them back apart and doing an internal ground. No sense in having an unnecessary outer ground wire clutter up those beautiful decks.

DJBOJAN
05-06-2012, 05:26 PM
Thanks for the nice compliment, but upon further research, and on the opinion of the Serato Tech's, they recommend against internal grounding, thus why i just replaced the ground with new ones and kept it external, cause i have a 57SL.

Nicadraus
05-06-2012, 10:47 PM
Thanks for the nice compliment, but upon further research, and on the opinion of the Serato Tech's, they recommend against internal grounding, thus why i just replaced the ground with new ones and kept it external, cause i have a 57SL.

Well whoever that person is, against the internal grounding when used for Serato (or Traktor Scratch) doesn't know what he's saying. :uhoh:

About 60% of the turntables I've done for my clients are used in either Serato, TSP and some Torq. All of those decks have internal grounding. None of them have complained. My personal decks are internally grounded as well and I am using it with TSP.

Cryder
05-07-2012, 08:36 AM
About 60% of the turntables I've done for my clients are used in either Serato, TSP and some Torq. All of those decks have internal grounding. None of them have complained. My personal decks are internally grounded as well and I am using it with TSP.

Using TSP on M3D's with internal grounding too, did the mod myself. No changes in sound quality, noise floor, or timecode signal/tracking here!

Love, LOVE the paint on those decks though, OP. I was going to do something similar but decided on the carbon vinyl instead.

VjQue
05-07-2012, 02:03 PM
where you get the stickers done at.

ccabungcal
05-08-2012, 12:01 AM
Looks awesome man. Great job! Thinking of doing some mods too but I'm scared I might destroy my techs as I have a bunch of gigs coming up. But dayum is this thread ever inspirational. Was changing the RCAs a tough job? Thinking of changing mine to gold plated as well.

DJBOJAN
05-08-2012, 03:27 AM
VjQue, Decals were purchased on Ebay. CCabungcal, It takes some time, but it's doable, It can get a a little tricky if the cables are a a bit thicker. So try to find something in the middle and you will be good to go! :)

DJBOJAN
05-08-2012, 09:08 PM
Posted in the For Sale section, ready to do a new custom set of 1200s!