The Secret Society of Lathe Trolls

There's not much info about these heads online, and what little there is comes in bits on this forum. Does anyone know the history behind these? Who made them, years produced, etc.? It seems like Fairchild used (copied? bought? stole??) the design for some of their mono heads at one point, which add...

I don't know about value, but I do know the tables themselves are pretty rare. Next to nothing about them on the internet, very little documentation or even mention of them in audio forums outside of this one. As far as I can tell, they were designed to be "Recording Turntables" with their 16" overh...

what you're describing sounds a little different than mine (the M5 'Master Pro' overhead for 16" discs) so I attached some photos of the part next to a ruler. I hope this helps!

If you need the dimensions, I can measure mine and send them to you

2 amps is exactly what I was thinking as well. Thank you!

Hi, Yes, you don't want to introduce very much extra resistance between the amp and the head. Its also possible that if the meter uses a rectifier to convert the AC to DC that it might cause some unwanted effects on the signal. It may be hard to find analog current meter that fits the bill. Mark Th...

Hi, I would not lose the fuse. That is still your protection (as limited as it is). Adding current monitoring is a nice thing depending on the meter type and if you understand how to interpret the readings. If you decide to make a current reading you can do it by breaking one of the leads to the he...

so here's another question... rather than a fuse, if I wanted to put a milliamps meter to just monitor the current between the amp and the cutterhead, would I get a meter that measures AC or DC? I know the amp outputs an AC signal (+ & -), but I'm wondering if DC would work if I just attached it on ...

Thanks for this info! Good question on the RekOKut model this came from, that I do not know. I've seen ad's for standalone VU meters that they sold, and this very well could be one of those. I've never seen one installed in any of their amps, and the meters that are in their amps look different than...

That's what that looks like. Seems like 500ohm was also a common cutterhead impedance back then.
Dumb question - does adjusting the input level of the signal have an impact on the output amperage from the amplifier?

Hi Mark, thanks for your reply. By hooking it up "across" the head, do you mean in parallel, as in the photo (if I am using 8ohm)?
This is helpful information, thank you!

Hi all - I found a really cool Rek-O-Kut VU meter off of 'the auction site' a little while back and I'm wondering if any trolls might have installation documentation for it, or have any idea how I might go about installing this in my signal chain. If I can install it like any other VU meter, I know ...

I'd be all over that if I were anywhere near Michigan...

Hi Tasos, I'll take one if that's still possible - thanks!!

Here are some photos of the crank pieces from my M5. It's a clever design. The metal sleeve has a set screw that tightens to the flat spot on the gear rod. Inside of the metal sleeve is a metal coil with a hook on the end that catches on the slot on the crank itself.

Just emailed you with some pics. EposLab just did this with his B-5, so you might ask him how he did it. It came out quite nice!

Hi all - looking for some guidance here on my restoration project. I have a 16" ROK turntable that was partially restored by someone who installed an extra long spindle - it's 1" tall now (it's usually about 1/4" isn't it?). It's a blessing and a curse in that I now have the opportunity to install a...

I don't know anything about Neumanns, but maybe get in touch with flozki (Flo Kauffman) as I know he has a ton of experience with them. I hope you keep us updated as this looks like an awesome project!

get in touch with Todd/Opcode66 - if I'm not mistaken he can make 1D parts.

In addition to a RIAA, I use a DBX 31 band EQ for my cutting, which allows you to dial in the sound a little more. You could probably make the RIAA curve itself with one of these, but I haven't really messed around with it that much to be honest.