INSTALL OF SFDZ122N11-2 PITCH CONTROL

Congratulations on the purchase of our Custom MK2 Technics 1200 / 1210 Pitch Control SFDZ122N11-2.

You will find once installed that you will have a tighter zero point, 10% tolerance, 15k life cycles giving you many years of trouble free pitch accuracy.

Disclaimer: Remember you are dealing with many items which can cause you harm. Soldering or Desoldering iron is hot and can burn badly. Electricity can cause harm or death. Please use caution when following this installation tutorial. As with all install instructions found on our website. If you do not have the education or experience we suggest you have a professional install this new component. By continuing you hereby expressly waive and release Technics1200s.com / 1200s.com of any and all claims due to damage or injury.

Tools Required:

Phillips Head Screw Driver (X Tip)
Soldering Iron
De-Soldering Iron or De-Sdoldering Braid / Wick
Multi-meter with OHMs setting
Frequency Counter or a Multi-meter with OHMs and Frequency Counting Option.
Solder

Step 1: Preparation is always important so lets start with that. Get something to organize your screws. There will be allot of screws so it helps if you get something with allot of different slots or if you don't have any little bowel or bags will due. Make sure all your tools and of course the RCA cables with Internal Ground PCB you ordered from us are in reach. At he back of the tone arm base you will see a locking mechanism. Unlock it and turn the tone arm base height adjustment to "0". (zero). If it does not turn and it is seized, you can write that down as another thing to do to get your turntable up to par. For now lock it back up and go on to Step 2.

Step 2: This may not sound important but it is. We need to prepare the turntable to be turned upside down SAFELY. To do this you will need to remove any accessories. For example the 45 Adapter. Next you will want to make sure your tone arm is on the arm rest and LOCKED. If you notice that your arm rest is worn we suggest using a twist tie and securing it do that when we flip the turntable upside down it stays in place though the entire procedure.

Step 3: Remove the platter. Simply place each middle finger in each hole on the platter and pull gently upward. The platter should slide off. If it does not, do not worry it has just been a while. Removing a stuck platter is remarkably easy however we have seen some people go at it like it was a vault they were trying to break into. DO NOT use force. there is no reason. Here is what you do. If you are right handed. Take your left hand middle finger and place into one of the holes on the platter. Take your right hand and grab a screw driver by the shaft. Once in your hand and ready while pulling up on the platter with your left hand give the spindle in the middle of the platter and knock with the handle end of the screw driver. You will be surprised how gentle of a tap it takes and how easy it comes off.

Step 4: After safely removing the platter you will now see the protective motor grill. There are 5 screws to remove this grill. Remove them and put them somewhere safe and label them. Next you will unplug your Pitch Control assembly plug from the main board. It is on the right side of the main board. The final thing to do now is remove your pitch control knob and felt square under it. If you don't have a felt square under it no worries but you may want to get one to avoid scratching your pitch trim. Put the knob and felt square aside.

Step 5: So now you are ready to turn your Technics 1200 over. Remember when doing this we advise using a older style lid of a road case. If you do not have that then the dust cover is also good but remember it can scratch so place a towel under the dust cover to prevent scratches. Also if using a dust cover try and apply a little tape to the side so it does not slide too much. We leave this to you depending on how you feel. The key here is to not let anything touch the tone arm while upside down. NO WEIGHT, Zero, nada. If you do and you tone arm contact something and weight of the turntable is applied your tone arm will bend and damage needing replacement. (Refer back to our "IMPORTANT NOTICE" above). So if your ready turn it over and rest it down on the lid. We have also seen some that do not have a road case lid or a dust cover used a bucket. Although unorthodox and unsteady it may work however once again be aware of the tone arm.

Step 6: You will now see the under belly of the turntable. You will see 4 Feet. We need to remove those by spinning them counter clockwise until they come off. Set them aside. You will now notice screws under those feet. Remove all 4 screws from each corner. Set them aside in a bowel or bag marked "base corners". You will then find 6 screws along the outer edge. Remove those and set them aside in something marked "base outer edge". You will then find 11 screws in the center of the turntable in a circular fashion. Remove those and mark them as "base center". Now that all the base screws are removed and organized its time to remove the bottom cover. When doing so we find it is always best to grab an edge and start there using the exposed bottom aluminum to your advantage. Once one corner is up then the rest seem to follow. Keep in mind when removing the rubber base that the RCA cables and power cable run through it and will need to be guided out when the cover is loose. If your turntable is North American or European then you will be able to completely remove the rubber base and set it aside. If your turntable has the British AC plug then it will be too big to slide through and you will need to set it aside the rubber bottom with the cord still through it and continue on.

Step 7: We are going to focus on the left side of the turntable where your pitch control is located. There are 2 screws holding the pitch control in. Remove the top screw. Then remove the bottoms screw. Set them aside and remember to mark where they are from. Now you can remove the pitch control. Note the wire with a ring on the top screw. We will be putting this wire (connected to a ring) back once we are done installing the new pitch control. So you have removed the old pitch control unit. Time to take that to the bench to remove the old pitch control and replace it with the new one.

Step 8: See video on removing old pitch control here.

Step 9: See video on installing new pitch control here.

Step 10: See video on calibrating the Pitch control PCB Pot here.

(Multi-meter with OHM setting required).

Step 11: See video on installing the pitch control assembly into the turntable here.

IMPORTANT: The following are clips from the 1979 Panasonic / Technics Service Manual. Remember these are dated measurements due to Panasonic / Technics changing the Pitch Control from 20k ohm to 22k ohm and not updating the manual to reflect these changes. Thus the range we are suggesting to play with between 2.70 and 2.89 ohm until you are satisfied.

NOTE: Keep in mind when doing this step to be careful that the LED go's through the LED hole on the pitch trim before screwing the pitch control assembly back in. You do this to avoid denting the trim. Once dented the trim is not fixable so use caution.

Step 12: We have one last step however to do this we are going to put the rubber base back on the turntable (Do not secure it with screws just yet) for support and turn the turntable right side up. Now that it is right side up plug the pitch assembly back in and move on to the next step.

Step 13: See video on calibrating TP27 on your main board to make sure your pitch control "Zero Point" is correct here. (Frequency Counter required).

Well there you are. Congratulations on the installation of your new New SFDZ122N11-2 MK2 Pitch Control!

All that is left it to turn your turntable back upside down to replace the missing base screws. Go back to Step 6 and follow the instructions in reverse 6,5,4, and lastly step 3.

Enjoy!