Disable Quartz Lock on the 1200

[bigbeatzz]

I installed MK3 faders on my MKII, they do not have a center click and make it very nice to use while mixing.

[Nicadraus]

I installed MK3 faders on my MKII, they do not have a center click and make it very nice to use while mixing.

You probably meant MK3D/M3D pitch controls. Because the MK3 (Japan market only release) has the same pitch as the MK2 does. Also, the MK3D/M3D have the same exact (bearing-less) pitch control as the MK5 and MK6.

[jimbrowski00]

Thank you for some of the clarification Panotaker!

I think I would appreciate this mod because I often pinch the spindle or rub the side of the platter when i need a slight adjustment, but I also worry that I would grow accustomed to this mod and struggle with tables that don't have the mod.

[Patch]

I installed MK3 faders on my MKII

Interesting - tell me more. How easy was this?

[paulie.phonic]

yes this has nothing to do with the center spot on the pitch fader, this has to do with touching the platter- the quartz lock makes it try to catch back up. And you can see this in the Stroboscope- press your finger on the platter with the table on and running and you will notice the balls on the platter lit by the stroboscope will be jerking around- this is whats called fighting the quartz

[DjZzeless]

Keep in mind that back in 1978, it was the Disco era, and that means that the music was made with a live drummer. Which means that the beat was very inconsistent.

Nice, I tell other dj's that when mixing disco/high energy...........they're like 'huh?'.

[paulie.phonic]

No its not

[paulie.phonic]

What's to gain by modifying?
Put your unmodified turntable's pitch control in the center and start it rotating. Look at the big row of strobe dots in front of the red light emitted below the power switch and notice how they are standing still. Now touch your finger to the platter very gently to shift the position of the dots by no more than one dot's width. Remove your finger and notice how the dot slid back to its original position. If you are doing very accurate beat mixing, and touch your finger to the platter to slow down a record who's beat is slightly ahead of the other, you will correct it as long as your finger is on the platter, but as soon as you remove your finger, the song's beat will be ahead again when the turntable slides the dots ahead. The same thing applies inversely to pushing the record ahead. This is what many good DJs refer to as "The Quartz Fighting the Mix." Making the modification disables the turntable's abiltity to fight the mix.

Why does it "Fight The Mix?"
The turntable has a three-phase motor, similar in concept to the stepper motors used in intelligent lighting fixtures. The full 360 degree rotation is broken up into fractional degree increments refered to as steps. Let's say that the turntable's motor had 360 steps in one rotation, therefore it would have one degree per step. Actually, it seems that two of the large dots are about one step. As it spins, the motor is staying in the middle of a step. If you slow the platter down and fight its position within the width of half of one step, it will recenter in the step once you remove your finger. If you fight its position beyond one-half of a step, the motor will jump into the next step. This is a result of the turntable's phase detection system, which can be disabled.

[djproben]

Is there any place you can get these mods done in LA for a reasonable price? The place I get work done charges $75 just to open the turntable. Not sure I want to bother but if I do I'm probably not going to want to do it myself.

[jimbrowski00]

Is there any place you can get these mods done in LA for a reasonable price? The place I get work done charges $75 just to open the turntable. Not sure I want to bother but if I do I'm probably not going to want to do it myself.

I think there's some dudes that advertise on craigslist... I had also seen some youtube vids from some guy that was doing these crazy ghost graphics that showed up with black light and some tacky neon tonearms but I think he was in Lancaster...