So I've taken a step forward and backward, and got myself a pair...

1210 Mk2's!

To say I'm excited is... Well, a gross understatement.

They're both working, but they've been in storage for a while without a shred of daylight or usage (around 2 or 3 years). No cartridges on them either, but so far everything is working swimmingly, platters are steady, no drift on the pitch fader.

I can't see anything wrong with them at all, and I'm planning to get in Shure M44-7's because I plan to use them for actual vinyl, timecode vinyl, scratching and mixing and from what I understand, the Shures are the best all round needle.

Is there any hidden problem I can check for to see if I need to send them to be serviced? I do know they were serviced roughly a month before being placed into storage and then never saw the light of day since then. Does any aspect of them degrade over time?

Also, there's a target light out on one. Standard.

Congrats man! One of the best purchases I've made.

Sounds like they should be good to go, and I use the M44-7's as well, although I planned on getting into scratching and still haven't yet.

target lights can be replaced with LEDs and the pitch fader stop at 0 and the quartz lock can be disabled on MK2s. It's useful because when that light is on the table is at 0 even though it lights before and after the actual notch.

Congrats, I will say I like ortofons over the M44-7s.

i cant wait to get my hands on a pair. i miss the feeling of wax. started djing with gemini xl-500ii back in the golden days.

I've had a pair going 20 years! They never stop....