Soulsides

More words of vinyl wisdom . @ Mods Please move this if its in the wrong section of the forum. First time I've started a thread on here so hopefully it's in the right place.

@ JoeSoap Sorry to hear you're having problems with the Technics deck,this probably sounds obvious but is the cartridge that your using correctly fitted to the decks tonearm ? ..if the alignment is even remotely off this can cause problems with buzzing . The SL-1200 also has three problems with its power supply and regulator a) the transformer mechanically hums and this is audible through the cartridge, b) the transformer has an electromagnetic field also audible though the cartridge, and c) the existing power supply dips on some motor demands giving variable and poor dynamics to the feedback system. You can buy external PSU's which are custom made for the Technics 1200/10 which will definitely improve the turntables overall performance, its a very simple modification that requires the removal of the platter and the plastic plate underneath then you just solder the one wire on.Very straightforward. I've not done this particular mod myself but I have quite a few DJ mates who've been modding and upgrading their Tech's for years who have told me that using the external PSU is a big improvement. I'd also suggest trying another turntable with your amp if you can get hold of one to borrow as it could just be an issue with the amplifier that needs rectifying. If you need any extra info regarding PSU's or mods etc let me know and i'll do all I can to help.

Here it is.

RIP I was only posting on here a couple of days ago about the time I saw Hugh Masekela play live...the man completely captivated the entire audience with his performance..stunning stuff indeed.

Really like this one from The Third Coast Kings released in 2010

Really liking this...that's a very nice track in my opinion. Thanks for posting !

Yeah,it definitely is based upon my own personal listening experience and not just an opinion. My Dad's mate has a very high end set up that close to around 50 K in money has been spent on all in all . Don't get me wrong, the system is beautiful and sounds amazing and the man is also the sort of bloke who will pay hundreds of pounds for rare classical music lp's recorded in the 1950's when the earliest English stereo issues on Decca (and a couple of other good labels) were expensive at the time and a special order to boot. These are from around '58 ish and bear in mind that most music didn't accept stereo as the norm until about '67. These first Decca stereo LPs though, are generally considered about some of the best vinyl pressings ever, if you can find them in perfect condition of course. So yeah, , if you're into hifi and classical music then these are killer. These records also were recorded during something of a 'sweet spot' where many great performers were still alive and the recording techniques were that golden analogue period where they were finally clear enough but not too clinical, etc. Decca made their own custom gear to record, mix and master these in fact. So for many these records are the pinnacle in playing, recording and vinyl mixing, mastering and pressing. Just recently. he has invested in a hand cut plinth for his turntable which is made from milled aluminium billet at a cost of around 6 grand and he invited me and the old man to come over and have a look and listen to this latest addition to the set up,he'd also bought some new connector cables to use with the stereo at a cost of around, although not quite as expensive as the Naim ones at £1600 that you mentioned which were used at the demo of the system you and your son attended. I'm being totally honest here when I say that the money he'd spent on the deck plinth was something of a folly in my opinion, because I truthfully couldn't hear any real major difference after the plinth had been incorporated into the stereo's set up....I didn't say that to my Dad's friend directly because I wouldn't want to hurt the man's feelings but in my mind I was thinking he'd somewhat been taken for a ride regarding the large amount of cash he'd spent on it ,absolutely. I'm also not saying that buying connector cables from somewhere like Argos that cost a couple of pounds are going to be as nice sounding as something you would pay say £50 for , they wont. I'm a recording musician myself and I've invested in some nice quality cables that were fairly pricey because I want to be able to hear the recordings I've made sound as good as possible when I listen back to them,which is the same reason why I use a very nice pair of B&W 620 speakers and Yamaha NS-10's for monitoring and playback. I just believe that a lot of audiophiles ( I'm not including yourself here in any way ) can get totally blindsided when it comes to these 'high end' products and the ridiculous cost of what the manufacturer's can get away with charging for their goods somehow then make those costs justifiable , be it for tube amps,turntables cables or whatever .

I think this is something of a misconception,personally. The Technics MK 1 1200 was originally designed as a Hi Fi turntable for high quality playback of vinyl but the reason that these decks are often mistakenly believed to be aimed purely at D.J'.s is because the brand has become synonymous with the image of the D.J. and especially in the world of Hip Hop and Electronic Dance music culture. A lot of people forget that the reason why 1200/1210's were adapted by DJ's ,nightclubs etcetera is more down to the robustness and stability of these turntables when coupled with the power of the direct drive motors and the increased torque they provide make them absolutely ideal for fast, precise forward and backward cueing and the seamless mixing of records. While I would definitely agree that there are nicer sounding turntables when it comes to purely Hi Fi decks which are designed just for listening purposes I also believe that theres a lot of audio snake oil doing the rounds , fake tube amps that use the placebo effect on listeners being one nasty example....you can unscrew the 'tubes' and it all still works. Insanely expensive audio cables with no audible advantages are another misconception and more importantly,a massive moneymaker for the company's that produce them, but there's no real proof that these cables can do anything that the human ear can detect but so many audiophiles have drunk the sonic kool aid that this has now become a very big industry,unfortunately.

It's all Soul to me.. Two contrasting versions but essentially the same thing One mans meat and all that...

This is pretty hilarious.

Oops sorry, I accidentally went and posted the wrong picture... Apologies,mine is this one, the first photo is the 1200 GLD ( only 3000 of those were made)whereas mine is the 1200 LTD of which the 10.000 were manufactured. @ Dylan - one of the members of the Hip Hop forum i'm involved with has created a mod for +/- 50 pitch like the Vestax PDX's use but for the Technics 1210..the guy who did it is a bit of a Don when it comes to modding stuff ..if you're interested in taking a look at what he gets up to I can PM you the details

Good choice @ the O.P.! I have one of the Technics 1200 LTD models, Its numbered #77 of 10,000 and it's a beautiful deck...it cost £500 at the time I got it but to me it was worth every penny. I've had a lot of very nice stereo equipment over the years which I've bought and sold but my Technics is something I would be very reluctant to let go of tbh. A mate of mine bought a pair of the new Technics GAE 1200's which came out recently but at almost 7 grand for the pair that is something that's way above what I could pay for a set of turntables,although if I did have that kind of cash to chuck around I probably would do the same. Edit Mine ISN'T one of these below lol

"I had started to notice that northern football fans who were in London to follow their team were coming into the store to buy records, but they weren’t interested in the latest developments in the black American chart. I devised the name as a shorthand sales term. It was just to say ‘if you’ve got customers from the north, don’t waste time playing them records currently in the US black chart, just play them what they like - ‘Northern Soul’."[5] Quote from Dave Godin's Wikipedia page.

If we're going over the W's again i'll add this one. Also one for the Z's.

Yes,I knew Dave Godin. He was good friends with both of my parents in the 1980's and he visited the house on many occasions. He was a lovely fella too, btw.

Personally,I'd be more than happy to sit and listen to Gil Scott's entire back catalogue. Id probably start with the 'Im So Much More Than Just A Northern Soul Artist' deluxe Box Set. Dunno about the expanding the mind bit tho...it's been 'expanded ' in my younger days enough already thanks !

Cool thread.. theres some very nice tracks been posted. Some modern stuff here I'd be more than happy to stumble across at 3am !

+1 from me also, Pete. The discovery of this Frank Wilson record has even got the hardened Hip Hop and Scratch DJ's in a bit of a froth over on another forum I'm a member of when I informed them of the find.

It was and there was also a double cd released to accompany the ad campaign too which I'm slightly ashamed of admitting to owning although I didn't buy it myself..the missus found a copy in the local charity shop and brought it home for me, honest !

^^^Lol. I've never actually seen that advert before..I've not watched any telly for years ,even though theres at least three of em in our house. I thought it was pretty funny. I was more shocked that I was somehow redirected to a 'Why We Don't Hear About Susan Boyle Anymore' video after the advert was over for some strange reason ! Arrgh ! From Frank Wilson and possibly the rarest Soul record of all time to Susan F#!!!n Boyle !!!

Totally agreed. I think it also became popular because its quite simply, a brilliant record that people who know absolutely nothing about Northern Soul music can totally appreciate .it crosses over the musical boundaries entirely in my opinion. A nice example for myself is a couple of summers back when I DJ'd for a friends birthday bash with another DJ mate who plays mainly Hip Hop related music and he had that area covered so I just took Northern records with me to play instead. We spun most of the Hip Hop and Funky/ R&B stuff etc which went down well enough but as soon as I started playing the NS tunes literally everyone was up on their feet dancing away to the music. ( I always find that starting with a record like There Was A Time by Gene Chandler helps in these types of situations !) The thing is,this wasn't a Northern Soul crowd at all, tbh there was only probably 4 or 5 people in that entire room who even knew what the records I was spinning actually were and those people are good mates of mine who are not on the scene and only know about those tracks because they've heard them through me in the first place for so many years. Anyway I played a ton of NS stuff including the Frank Wilson and it all went down a f'ing storm,we even had some moody teenage Emo kids bopping away to the music who'd come along with their parents who were friends with the birthday girl. If you've never seen moody looking teenage Emo kids bopping away to a bit of Northern Soul btw you don't know what you're missing hehe ! .. The point here is that after I'd finally got off the decks I had loads of people asking about the names of the tunes I'd been playing ,wanting to know where to find the tracks for themselves and amongst my records I had around 10 NS compilation cd's that I showed em,just saying buy these things here if you want the music and don't have record decks ..(I know,i know please don't shoot or ban me..) Those folks who liked the records didn't care about labels or scenes or anything else ,they just loved the sound of some amazing music they'd just heard for the first time in their lives. And that's what it is in the end, it's just music. It's bloody marvellous music too. Some people really do overthink this shiz sometimes... KTF

People can say what they like about 'The Bottle' but that particular record and Gil Scott Heron himself go a hell of a way further and beyond the confines of just Northern Soul..

As long as you've remembered to bring a big bag of popcorn it's actually not too bad, in my opinion...

Speaking of record cutting lathes,this one from Sillitoe looks pretty amazing..I'm told it will also cut 14 inch plates which would enable the user to cut professional lacquer masters on the machine. 15 K might seem a lot of money to pay for a lathe but if you consider that the 'proper' lathes such as Neumann or Scully will cost 10's of thousands even without the whole studio set up you need to attach them to . Theres also these the Souri T-560 although I've heard from some reliable sources that the guy who runs the company can sometimes be an absolute f'ing nightmare to do buisness with ,so beware ! the Vestax VRX 2000 . One of the D.J's I know who's on the Hip Hop forums picked up the VRX for around a grand and although it does need some work,he's pretty confident that he will get it up and running properly. I know there's also another fella, over at Scratchworx who just sold his Vestax cutter a couple of months ago..not sure how much it actually went for though, I'll have to ask him about it at some point. The main factors of importance when it comes to lathe cutting records are a rock solid base,isolation and silent operation which is something that Vestax were never particularly that good at in my opinion...what they were good at was making needles stick to grooves in vinyl at all costs and experimenting and listening to the crazy ideas and requests of scratch DJ 's. I'd personally want to take a good look at the Sillitoe cutter if I was in the market for a lathe for myself.