Restoring a 1978 turntable, step by step

Every few months a family brings in an old turntable from a cupboard, or we buy one from a house clearance. Restoring a direct-drive deck from the late 1970s takes about three weeks on the workshop bench, and most of that time is spent waiting and testing.

The first day is for taking it apart and photographing every connection. Arijit cleans each part: the platter, the motor housing, the tonearm and the switches. Decades of dust and dried grease come off with brushes and contact cleaner.

Next come the electronics. Old capacitors dry out and drift, which causes hum and speed problems. We replace them all, one by one, checking each value. Worn cables in the tonearm are re-wired with new fine copper wire. This is slow, fiddly work done under a magnifier.

Then the speed. With the platter back on, we check 33 and 45 rpm with a strobe disc under a mains-frequency lamp and adjust until both are exact. The tonearm bearings are checked for play, and a new cartridge is fitted and aligned with a protractor. The last week is testing. The deck plays records every day for six or seven days, so we can catch anything that fails after warming up. Only then does it go on the shop floor, with a 12-month workshop warranty.