DRBILL Posted April 30, 2006 Share Posted April 30, 2006 I'm way out of my element here so don't think you are going to offend me by oversimplification. I have a REC-O-CUT N33H that I inherited from the estate of an old friend. It had previously seen many years service in a Dallas, Texas FM station. We are talking maybe forty years ago. It is built like a tank. HEAVY cast metal turntable, with a belt drive and a motor that could run a small washing machine. It has quality written all over it and is in pristine shape. Except for the arm. The gimbal bearings are wallowed out and one of the internal ground wires is open. There is no way to get to it to replace it. My question: is there a source for arms alone, independent of the turntable. What should I look for? What should I avoid. Any help would be appreciated. I have upgraded several preamps for some of my regulars lately, and they have been particularly anxious about the phono section with the new-found interest in vinyl. I have no way to test other than bench instruments. It would be nice to give a good listen. And besides, I have four feet of vinyl on a shelf that I haven't heard in perhaps three decades. It would be fun to see what I thought was important between 1957 and 1965. Anyone? DRBILL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScorpsFan Posted May 1, 2006 Share Posted May 1, 2006 Dr Bill, A photo, if possible, would be helpful. I have found several photos of other models from that company which used Shure tone arms, so it should be possible to find something similar even if not exact to vintage, which would work and look like it matches. In the meantime, here is a link for belts for that turntable: http://www.lpgear.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=LG&Product_Code=N2 and a link to a company which has brought back the brand: http://www.esotericsound.com/turntable1.htm as well as a turntable forum, which has access to a tonearm manual here: http://vinylengine.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=3001&highlight=rekocut Best of Luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverSport Posted May 1, 2006 Share Posted May 1, 2006 very cool...Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DRBILL Posted May 2, 2006 Author Share Posted May 2, 2006 Thanks, Scorpsfan, In my case, we are talking industrial. This thing is a beast sitting on a heavy walnut base. No spring mountings. It relies on mass for that function. However, the arm shape and configuration on the new-issues look the same as mine. I'm really grateful that you went to the trouble to research this. I have made the appropriate bookmarks. Best, Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScorpsFan Posted May 3, 2006 Share Posted May 3, 2006 Dr Bill, It was my pleasure, I was able to learn something new and that's never a bad thing. Good luck with your restoration! Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DRBILL Posted May 5, 2006 Author Share Posted May 5, 2006 It is hard to say what went on here. There is either major apathy toward vinyl and vinyl accessories (don't think propane) or not enough experience/knowledge about the subject to make a commitment. Actually, I would rather have it this way. It is, at least, honest, rather than the uninformed pontifications we often see here. WIn/lose/draw, I bought an OLSON HF-171 professional stereo tone arm(NOS). It is supposed to be a drop-in for my turntable. It has all the bells and whistles we read so much about --viscose damping, anti skating, corn-popping wonders. When I have time to "drop it in" I'll recount my experience and the results. Surely I'm not the only person on the forum that has this interest. Or maybe I am! Perhaps most just bought something off the shelf. If that's the case, what are you going to do when it gets old and doesn't perform? Toss it? Or make it right? I have a jewel just waiting to sparkle. Stay tuned. DRBILL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DizRotus Posted May 5, 2006 Share Posted May 5, 2006 DRBILL, That Olson should do the trick. I missed this post originally. My experience adding an SME arm to an AR turntable tells me that you should have no trouble getting your Rec-O-Cut back into service. Please share your results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DRBILL Posted May 5, 2006 Author Share Posted May 5, 2006 Thanks, Diz. I thought I was the only one left after the "rapture"! Just kidding. I would hate to offend anyone's metaphysical constructs. DRBILL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScorpsFan Posted May 8, 2006 Share Posted May 8, 2006 Dr. Bill, Glad to see you found a suitable replacement tonearm, waiting to "hear" how everything works out for you, please keep us up to date! Best of Luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverSport Posted May 8, 2006 Share Posted May 8, 2006 Excellent...I look forward to this as well...Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DRBILL Posted May 8, 2006 Author Share Posted May 8, 2006 Im sorry Im so tardy with this. It seems like it has been days since I was able to log on to the Forum. Why do you suppose this always happens on the week-end? But I digress. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> The first thing I did was to remove the old arm and associated wiring taking care to make notes as to where everything went. I had a new SHURE M97xE on the shelf so I fitted it to the shell using jewelers tools and a large lens. The wiring was easier than I had expected. Almost any brain surgeon could have done it. The pins on the cartridge had color coded plastic collars at the base so you just matched the color of the wire to the color of the collar. Here is the scheme: White=Left, Blue=Left Ground, Red=Right, Green=Right Ground, Black=Chassis Ground (Earth). I used miniature needle-nose pliers to push the connectors on the pins. It was as I had been told. This arm assembly was a drop in component. It was just like dropping dimes in a coke bottle from the roof of the house. It took two trips to Ace Hardware to get the right spacer washers to bring the arm to the proper height of the cast turntable (1 3/8 including the rubber mat.). My wife was kind enough to hold the arm in place while I threaded everything together and made sure that the fine little wires all came through unharmed. (Ill help you if you will just tell me what to do and stop making those grunting sounds! Im no mind reader!) The wires that emerge from the arm under the chassis could easily be mistaken for spider webs. Imagine stripping insulation off of spider webs. Im an old geezer. I wear trifocals. I suffer from RA. My medicines make my hands shake. But I cut those little wires to length and stripped the tips. That turned out to be the easy part. The little strands were so fine that they wouldnt stay twisted around the solder lugs. Instead, I tinned them and heated solder onto the lugs and before it solidified I touched the little wires to them. I checked them with the ohm meter and all was well. I now feel qualified to perform vasectomies on fleas. I hooked it up to the power strip and to the preamp, set the tracking force to 1.25g, popped a disk in place, and it was wonderful. It was worth all the aggravation. The vinyl lobby is on to something. And the old engineering worked. The great weight and mass and inertia solved most of the problems that haunt modern turntables. Now, Ive got a lot of catching up to do. DRBILL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverSport Posted May 8, 2006 Share Posted May 8, 2006 Excellent...enjoy...after that you certainly deserve it...I have never found anything listed as "drop in" to be drop in...I should break out my turntable and give her a spin...Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DizRotus Posted May 8, 2006 Share Posted May 8, 2006 Great description! I'm glad you got it working and are enjoying the results. Now while you're reacquainting yourself with vinyl, how about jotting down some notes regarding how and when you discovered Klipsch the man and Klipsch the speakers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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