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Thorens TD124 restored

G

Guest432

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Big thanks to @Tony L for his thread on how to restore a TD124.

Not a restoration thread as such but have just restored a mk2 TD124 I bought which had severe motor problems. It would take over 5 minutes for the platter to even start moving and then another 5-10 minutes before it got up to speed. When it did it had a horrible vibration you could feel through the tonearm and pretty much drowned out the music.

Purchased some new sintered brass bushings, motor suspension and plinth rubber mushrooms.

Stripped the motor down and cleaned all the old grease and crud away with "gunk" and then fitted the new bushes, felt rings and thrust pads.

It now gets up to speed in less than two turns and no vibration.

Little bit more work and it should be good.


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That's really nice. The plinth is handsome too. Is the Tonearm an Ortofon?
 
Excellent stuff. Looking very good and starting right. What is the banana arm? Kind of EMT-ish, but not.
 
Oooh that is lovely.
Serviced a 124 a little while back and know what a super machine it is, would definitely prefer one to a 301/401.
 
i was looking at my friends 124 today , he paid £50 for it many years ago and it needs a new belt he says . i was mentioning your restoration efforts to him . he is a record collector and showed me various 78`s from 1909 or before first world war and knows all their history . amazing to learn of all these things as he is like a walking encyclopeadia on these matters

where would one get a 124 serviced in the midlands do you think ?
 
It really isn't that difficult to do yourself, I don't have a workshop or garage and did all the work on the kitchen table.

Stripping, cleaning and fitting the new bushes for the motor only took an hour or so.
 
Likewise, no workshop here. I rebuilt mine (several times) on the floor in the back room. You need a degree of mechanical ability, e.g. if you are the type who makes a horrible mess of screw-heads just undoing them then it probably isn’t for you, and it requires a lot of patience as chances are there are multiple issues that need addressing piece by piece, but I’m really pleased I did mine myself. It was a lengthy journey but I love the end result, and I’m sure I like it a lot more than if I’d paid an absolute fortune to one of the really high-priced boutique rebuilders to do much the same job. It was enjoyable learning exactly how it works.

PS First warning: be very careful of the thin metal control band that links the switch to the idler cam assembly. I’ve heard a lot of stories of folk accidentally breaking those and they are hard to find/expensive to replace!
 
I have had my 124 (doesn't turn) and the motor kit for a while. Three years? It is on my list to do this summer. But then it is up against my lovely AR that I have invested so much time in. That said I think the 124 is a very sound investment.
 
thebiglebowski said:
Big thanks to @Tony L for his thread on how to restore a TD124.

Not a restoration thread as such but have just restored a mk2 TD124 I bought which had severe motor problems. It would take over 5 minutes for the platter to even start moving and then another 5-10 minutes before it got up to speed. When it did it had a horrible vibration you could feel through the tonearm and pretty much drowned out the music.

Purchased some new sintered brass bushings, motor suspension and plinth rubber mushrooms.

Stripped the motor down and cleaned all the old grease and crud away with "gunk" and then fitted the new bushes, felt rings and thrust pads.

It now gets up to speed in less than two turns and no vibration.

Little bit more work and it should be good.


34e05d9d16f3f521e926101262407689e9ff435b_1_679x500.jpg


d978c9c52daa58534eaf65e979497cc9ea90f812_1_671x500.jpg
Click to expand...
Listened to have a friend such a apparatus.
 
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