Buying a pair of turntables

[Eljosh]

Yea, I want to do a bit of and scratching, and such. Basically everything. Is there any particular way to check to see if the arm is straight? or can I see if it is or not when I play a record? and how bad is it if there is corrosion on the headshell connector? is it that it just needs to be cleaned? or can it lead to deeper stuff. And how much does the Dust cover and 45 adapter effect the price? or are those more cosmetic? Because I got him down to 375 with two sets of needles two ortofon and two stantons.

[dripstep]

Too much corrosion and the sound will suck. A little corrosion can be cleaned out, I've seen everything from alcohol to toothpaste on a q-tip in a drill lol. At the very least, get the guy to spin some tracks for you if you don't have much experience, or (better yet) spin some yourself, and listen for audio issues. Phasing left and right, dropouts, distortion etc. And check what the dudes above have posted. But, like it has been said, if the decks aren't all mashed up like girltalk, they are probably in good working shape.

[djproben]

Dust cover and 45 adapter are irrelevant; you can always buy replacements if you think you need them. It's good to have them around but not a dealbreaker. To buy replacements figure $40 for a dustcover and $10 for the adapter tops.

[Eljosh]

Yea, I'm meeting him at his house, and I'm going to get him to play some records on them, so I can test to speeds and pitch fader and such.

[Bassline Brine]

Honestly just set your total cost of what you're willing to pay for them to be completely 100% working. Personally, I wouldn't spend more than $300 a pop for each for a MK2, and that's in complete working order.

Even they aren't fully working, if you are willing to take them to a shop (most big cities have at least one place that can repair/fix 1200's easily) and take that into account for your pricing.

You can still find good deals on 1200's, but sometimes they won't be in perfect cosmetic condition. Some people are crazy particular about that, I know I'm not though. As long as something works 100% I don't care what it looks like. That's something to keep in mind too.

Hope that helps at least. I'd say go for it. That sounds like a pretty solid deal if they are in well working order, esp with carts included.

[Nesquigs]

^^ Happy 1k dood!

[Eljosh]

Yea, As long as they aren't beat to death, i'm ok with it. you can always get a cover thing for them.

[Quenepas]

I'll be subscribing to this thread...Cant get it out of my head to use the S4 with 2 Technics and a innofader :P.

I've seen them around but quite pricey. $850 a pair :X.

[Eljosh]

I got them, they look good now, that I've clean the years of dust off them, they came with a set of stanton 500 needles that ended up being broken, and a pair of ortofon pro s, which work good. The only thing is that I only have one dust cover. Which no big deal. But I have a question about dust covers, the cover I do have has different hinges than the one that does not. The one that does have it has a square slot for the cover, and other one has more a slit for the cover. did he try and put a different cover on it or what?

[HighTopFade]

Some models have hinges (square slot), some don't. Sometimes the hinges are removed to make fit into a case or closer to the mixer. Whether you want hinges or hingeless, those parts should be compatible with all MK2 and higher.