Non-linear fader on SL-1200 MK2

Non-linear fader on SL-1200 MK2

Hello guys,

bought 2x 1200 MK2’s recently, calibrated BOTH to make the TOP row stationary at 6%. And here comes the problem :
while my first turntable has the second row at 3.3% stationary (as desired), the second one does NOT. 2nd row dots stop somewhere at 2.4%. Moreover, between 2.3-2.8% the fader is overly sensitive (at 2.3%, dots are moving significantly backwards, while at 2.6%, the platter accelerates as if I added 1% or more). On the contrary, between 5-8% range sensitivity is decreasing, so the turntable can not reach the 8% maximum (it does like 6.8-7%, when calibrated to have real 6%).

my question is simple : do I need to replace the fader potentiometer ? or is it possible to tune it somehow ?

thanks a lot !

I’ve never gone into that much detail with them, but I’ve noticed on every 1200 I’ve owned there are 2 dead spots/not so responsive spots (that I’ve noticed). Im almost sure that it’s not completely linear

You’re never going to get it exactly accurate, it’s not a digital piece of hardware. Replacing the pitch fader may help improve it a bit, but the rule of thumb should be…if you don’t have a double zero and the dots are fairly close to accurate, your table is fine.

Quite a greenhorn with turntables (owning my SL-1200s just one week) … didn’t know that, thanks guys ! :slight_smile: