I have really gotten into the world of vintage Technics record players lately. You have probably figured this out due to the vast amount of Technics SL Series articles that have been popping up on the site lately. I recently wrote about the Technics SL – 1400MK2 that I was lucky enough to pick up. It is a fantastic record player and one of the coolest looking vintage record players I have ever had the pleasure to have in my collection. However, in getting it I went on a deep dive of information and found out about the Technics SL-1400 cueing issue that plagues this turntable.
Replacing The Oil
Ok, so I am someone who got very lucky with their SL- 1400MK2 in that my cueing lever was working fine. However, I am in the minority and I would say there is a high chance if you picked one of these up that you would probably end up having the issue that this series is known for. While it tends to be a bit of plastic that snaps which causes the issue, I have done some homework and found that many people have stated that there is oil that keeps this thing running smooth and over time it can dry all up and that can cause major problems.
I found a great forum post talking about the SL – 1400MK2 cueing cam lever issue where many people chime in with ideas on how to fix it, but this was caught my eye. “The dampening oil can firm-up with age causing the cue not to work. There are lots of videos on the internet showing how to remove old oil and replacing it with some new silicon oil” if you are handy enough, you could give this a try and it will only cost you the price of a bottle of silicone oil. To be honest, I am not sure I would be confident enough in trying this myself as this record player has a ton of “complicated” parts once you open it up, but more power to you if you are confident to try it.
Buying A Replacement Part
There is a great market online for replacement Technics SL Series parts that people make themselves on their 3D printers. I came across this particular Cueing Lever for Technics SL 1300 1400 1500 MK2 which I ended up purchasing and keeping for a rainy day just in case. I actually emailed the seller and sent him pictures of my record player and he said that this would be fine for my Technics SL – 1400MK when my cueing lever does eventually break.
In my research, there are plenty of people who make their own parts so be sure to shop around, but I can tell you from personal experience that this guy is legit and will take care of you. Just shoot him any questions you have if you are unsure, that is what I did and I am pretty confident that my record player will be ok when I do eventually have to give it a little bit of work.
Learning From A Pro
I found this fantastic YouTube Video where a guy takes you through the whole process of fixing one of these bad boys. It is a rather long video, but it is well worth checking out as he gives you some great insight into the kind of problems you may come across and he breaks down each step of the way. If anything else, it is just a really interesting video to check out and I highly recommend that you do.
