technics Turntables - HONEST opinions required!!!

[paulmac]

at the end of the day, they dont do anything different to a standard pair do they? i bought 1 1210mk2 for £215 which is like brand new, came with the rubber mat on it, original lid, not a mark on it and works like new. My other one i bought for £100, i have put a new pitch fader in complete with board, new power cable, all new ic chips and its been fully serviced and that comes to a total of £210 also has lid with it, and now that one is like new. So £425 compared to £700 and they do the exact same thing. I would never paint mine, as people said your narrowing your market down then, i like the white ones but i would only ever use the face plates to achieve that look.

[Daily Crisis]

I would love these if I had a spare £700 lying around.

[kindaFAST]

Absolutely not trying to jack the thread...don't even want to sell anything but I'm curious. I have a pair of PRISTINE 1200 mk2's, original boxes, dust covers, never opened up (the tech's themselves, not the boxes), zero mods, no stickers, kept in flight cases since day one. I dunno, maybe 200 hours of use. I completely understand the modification mentality. I track cars and understand fully that I'll never see that money back during resale but cars and turntables are really two completely different things. Patch's mods have improved the equipment and made it better for everyday use where as putting a bigger turbo on a motor certainly isn't going to prolong the life of a car. Patch's mod do just that...keep the older equipment up to date and preforming better. My question is, would people be willing to pay more, less or the same as what Patch is asking for what I have? Again, not selling, just interested.

[Patch]

Good condition originals are fetching good money. People tend to hold on to Tech's that are in good condition, and a lot of the ones that are available on ebay, etc, are usually quite bashed about from years of use. (Chips/scratches, etc...)

And everyone knows that Silver MKII's are the greatest Turntable ever made by anybody.

[botstein]

Hey Patch - These look very close to my own custom white 1200s. In the states, the going rate for a reasonable-condition pair is basically $600 (USD). Since you've customized them, you're asking for almost double that. A lot of pros have their 1200s already, and a lot of the kids on techtools can't really afford paying double.

[astromech]

Yeah, I bought a pair of 1210s (individually) for a total of £380. One of them was resprayed, replacement RCAs and has cardas wire in the tonearm. I had to buy a lid and braces for one of them too. I don't think anyone can dispute the value of the ones you're selling, but when people can pick up a perfectly good pair for nearly half that, and do some mods themselves, it looks a lot less attractive. Try flogging them on djforums.com. Might be a better market for them.

[Irrational Fear]

Absolutely not trying to jack the thread...don't even want to sell anything but I'm curious. I have a pair of PRISTINE 1200 mk2's, original boxes, dust covers, never opened up (the tech's themselves, not the boxes), zero mods, no stickers, kept in flight cases since day one. I dunno, maybe 200 hours of use. I completely understand the modification mentality. I track cars and understand fully that I'll never see that money back during resale but cars and turntables are really two completely different things. Patch's mods have improved the equipment and made it better for everyday use where as putting a bigger turbo on a motor certainly isn't going to prolong the life of a car. Patch's mod do just that...keep the older equipment up to date and preforming better. My question is, would people be willing to pay more, less or the same as what Patch is asking for what I have? Again, not selling, just interested.

Interesting point- to take it back to the car analogy it's like when you see an ultra-low mileage 25yr old classic car come up for sale at a high price. The only person willing to pay a big premium for it will be a collector who will wrap it up and basically keep it as a time capsule- because as soon as you started using it (adding mileage), the exclusivity (and hence value) falls.

As for your 1210s that analogy would probably only be true of a pair that were still in sealed boxes (as new). You would probably get a higher price for yours I would have thought, but maybe not a big premium. Hang onto them in that condition for a few years though and who knows?

I recently purchased a Mk2 here in the UK in similar condition (had apparently been purchased as a spare and hence only used a handful of times, totally original, kept in a flightcase and left in a cupboard for around 7 years)- I had no real way of proving the provenance beyond the usual 1210 checks but it certainly suggested it had lived a quiet life and was essentially immaculate- I purchased it for £240 here in the UK.

As for Patch's, I think they look fantastic. As for pricing, it is a difficult one. I don't tend to see 1210s hanging around for very long at all in any of the classifieds that I follow, which at the most basic level suggests yours are a touch on the expensive side- however as has been stated the colour will certainly limit the appeal and therefore you'd expect them to take longer to sell than a regular set.

If I had the money (and didn't already have 5 TTs!) I don't think I'd have a problem paying £700 for them- like I said I think they look fantastic and all the replacement parts would certainly give peace of mind. Not to mention Bristol is easy driving distance for me!

I guess it's a case of do you continue to hold out for the right buyer who badly wants a pair of excellent condition 1210s in White (knowing you are appealing to a much smaller market), or do you drop the price further (widening your market) until someone else who is just after a pair of great 1210s decides they are willing to pay what you are asking and doesn't mind the cosmetics.

[Kwal]

In the states, the going rate for a reasonable-condition pair is basically $600 (USD).

I haven't seen any for this low, yet I haven't really searched too hard either. That's a nice price.

[ImNotDedYet]

I haven't seen any for this low, yet I haven't really searched too hard either. That's a nice price.

I looked for a while and $600 for a pair is a really good price for good ones. Based on my searching, $700 - $800 is a more typical price that I've seen, but that's not too much of a difference. I paid $850 from guitar center for my pair of 1210 MK II's, but they're in really good condition, and I like the piece of mind of having the 30 day return period in case anything is wrong. I know I could have gotten some in similar condition cheaper, but the peace of mind is what sold me on them. As it stands, I'd say it was one of the better investments I've made.

Regarding OP's post...customized or not, that's a hefty price and it's going to be tough as others have said to sell them because a non-customized set can be had for so much cheaper. Trust for used gear that's been customized to hell being sold on the Internet is not easily obtained and in many cases not worth the risk to pay so much more for most people.

[3heads]

I don't think you can really compare European and US 2nd hand prices. In Germany a pair of 1210s is usually around the 700€ mark