Reviving a vintage Linn LP12 and Mission 774

[RobHolt]

This is a real oldie, and the 4050 serial puts it late 1974/5.
The 774 has been sitting here for a couple of months waiting for a friend.

I guess really we should be calling this the Linn RD11 thread but that would be naughty.

Anyway, ye olde LP12 and original Mission 774 always go very well together IME so once this TT has been thoroughly cleaned, serviced and set up, and the arm wand rewired I'll update with more pics and a file or two for comparison against the Rega P9 (same cartridge).

Currently the TT is completely dismantled and sprawled out on the work surface looking very sad. First pics, starting with a box containing enough polystyrene quavers to re-float the Titanic:

 

[Tenson]

Rob came over yesterday to kicj a bit of life back in to the frame of the LP12, as it looked a lot better in the eBay pics above than when it arrived. It looked like someone had put a tinted varnish on it that hid the grain and was rather goopy.

So a few quick photos of what we did, should anyone want to restore a bit of wood

1)Firstly we sanded off the old finish. This took a lot of work, especially to get inside those fluted slots!

Repeat with 180grit, 320grit and 400grit. Couldn't get any 220grit at the shop annoyingly.

2) Clean it up with white spirit.

3) Rub on spirit sanding sealer with a cloth. This will stop the wax sinking in to the wood later.

4) Apply a small amount of dark wax. this helps hide any dust that might still be in the pores of the wood. Allow to dry.

5) Apply clear wax of choice. I like Chestnut as it gives a good shine and is soft to apply. Buff a lot! Depending on the wax you might need to leave it before buffing, or buff directly after applying.

6) Enjoy the look, and the smell

 

[RobHolt]

The finished deck with 774 and AT33:

Lastly, the 774 is in very nice condition but I'm lucky to have two wands. I've used Cardas tags on one and the more usual type on the other:

One weak area with the 774 is the cable plug arrangement. This is tiny and not suited at all to heavy interconnects - so don't use one. Use a thin, simple coax so that you can actually thread the cable through the holes on the tiny pcb:

I will post some needle-drops later this week if anyone wants a listen.

 

[Dev]

Good job Rob.

 

[felix]

+!, superb. The effect of a little elbow grease on that plinth is remarkable.

 

[RobHolt]

And now the best bit - needledrops!

Sting:

http://www.mediafire.com/?5t12z55aye5ab7i

Grant Green:

http://www.mediafire.com/?64ocjc8coi5887l

Steely Dan: (Goucho - well it is a Linn)

http://www.mediafire.com/?54cv7wl14iaxaqx

Steely Dan: (Hey Nineteen - well it is an old Linn.....)

http://www.mediafire.com/?b6zcg7n8iqwagej

Musical Youth:

http://www.mediafire.com/?zgzuh9htt344i15

Ella Fitzgerald:

http://www.mediafire.com/?yppo521z7js6mk4

Tivoli Symphony Orchestra - Ortofon direct cut torture track. Basically posh Sally Army music

http://www.mediafire.com/?of3j4g7l8j8bjjq

Nappy Roots:

http://www.mediafire.com/?t205rck79wtsf6a

Electric Bluebirds:

http://www.mediafire.com/?36t31p27jq842md


Enjoy!

 

[Tenson]

Can you link to a few of the same tracks done on your P9? I'd love to hear the difference between the decks and arms using the same cart and tracks. You must have recorded some of those on your P9 before?

 

[RobHolt]

Hi Simon,

I'll chuck in a few links tonight.

 

[RobHolt]

P9 Files:

Grant Green:

http://www.mediafire.com/?94912kcm01etoql

Nappy Roots:

http://www.mediafire.com/?60vnj7tlsxu4w5j

Tivoli:

http://www.mediafire.com/?miyw3qah5j77vx4


The Nappy LP12 file is two tracks so if comparing, ignore the 1st half.
I also accidentally reversed the channels so have done the same on the P9 files.

 

[Harbeth]

I have been running the LP12/Mission 774 combination since 1981 (!) and never had the desire to change it. An Entre MC has been my cartridge all along. Now on its 4th stylus, thanks to Wyndam Hodgson of the Expert Stylus Company. Still one of his favourite cartridges, he told me recently when I had a new stylus fitted.

 

[DSJR]

Rob, you're going to kill me, but the state of the LP12, restored or not, isn't really going to out-perform a Thorens TD150 you know (knowing what we do now about setup of this design). I'll try and explain why and you can readily put me bang to rights.....

The sub chassis is original, ringy and not at all rigid. The difference that the glued chassis from the mid 80's made is NOT a small one, let alone the fundamental bass improvement the Cirkus made in the early 90's.

The plinth was a rattly old tambourine-thing back then and my first LP12 (S/N 13***) from late '76 had loose mounting blocks, which absolutely destroyed it sonically. I added loads of wood-glue between the blocks, fillets and plinth which was a sticking plaster. If I remember correctly, a good friend was able to drill two holes in each block and screw them through the fillets to the plinth proper as all post mid 1982 were.

My 774 was mounted on the plywood armboard as yours is. Maybe ok (the 774 was incredibly tolerant of bad turntables), but the later laminated board does take to SME style fixing if it's done with care.

The final thing while I'm on my shaky? soap-box is the tonearm exit cable. The original was two microphone cables, where the inner cores carried the signal and the outer screen was connected at the phono plug. These were flexible and the 25mm 'tails' that soldered up at the connector block allowed some sub-chassis free movement which wasn't a bad thing IMO.

I set loads of 774's up right from the very first production batch (we took 12, and Knightsbridge Audio (remember them?) took the other 12 and I visited Farad and Roxanne's Mayfair pad to collect them), of which four were good, four had slightly iffy bearings and four had to be returned as the bearings were sloppy or sticky.

Glad you're having fun with this, which is what it's all about Make sure the LP12 bearing isn't 'burned' at spindle tip. Linn used EP80 at the time and this wasn't enough to prevent wear. After five years of use, mine had quite a wide polish mark on the spindle tip that was slightly flattened. I only mention this because the original platters, with felt ring around the bottom, were heavier than the post '75 (or thereabouts) ones.