Thanks Magpie. I thought I’d wait and give Linn time to sort out any potential issues. Think 30 odd years was long enough.
Cheers, Rack.
Thanks Magpie. I thought I’d wait and give Linn time to sort out any potential issues. Think 30 odd years was long enough.
Cheers, Rack.
Love that plinth…
And a great story too!!
Ian, that TT is beautiful! …thanks for sharing the story and the photographs.
When you’ve time Ian, be great to see the top of your Linn as I imagine the grain of the plinth edge must look nice against the top plate and armboard…
Nice
Thanks Ian!
I’m so tempted now to strip and oil/wax my afromosia fluted after seeing your success!
Afro might be different Stevie. My feel is that the key to the success of Ian’s stripped finish is the traces of black paint/stain that have been retained in the grain and how those traces of black contrast so beautifully with the plain Ash. Not sure it’d be so easily replicated with a different wood as a starting point. great job Ian. Looks Ultra cool and unique.
Looks really nice. I had a black Ittok for a while. Really nice arm and super rare.
Hiya Rack,
Hope all’s well. I don’t think that my LP12 is significantly more “staticky” than my previous Rega P5: both had mats that, to paraphrase the late, great Art Dudley, clung to records like a rancher to the federal teat.
I’ve done a bunch of experimenting with different mats, and I found that a Rega mat, which is thicker than the Linn one, is less likely to lift off of the platter after a record side. (I’m using the Rega mat solely because it’s a nice royal blue color and I think it livens up the deck. I know this is heresy in some circles!) I have an Auditorium 23 mat that likewise tends to stay put.
All best,
Joe
Thanks @KJC. I’m not looking to replicate Ian’s finish/grain…was more thinking that my 1982/3 plinth ( currently unattached as I changed to a modern one last year ) could benefit from a similar revamp…I would like to see if incorporating the modern corner braces etc is possible, along with sprucing it up a bit and refitting at some point
Understood Stevie. Afro IS the ultimate LP12 look IMO, so very interested in seeing how you get on … assume/hope it’s a fluted plinth?
Oh yes! I love the fluteds…I had a really good offer on a beautiful modern plinth last year, which I couldn’t resist…
But I miss my old fluted plinth! One day, I’d love to refit it -after a spruce up.
Hi sweet.bippy.
I solved the matt lifting problem on both the P9 I had and now the LP12 by using a few strips of narrow double sided sticky tape between matt and outer platter. Works a treat and means I can flip sides without having to stop the platter.
I still have the thicker White matt from the P9 and might give that try over the standard Linn just for a comparison.
If there’s one thing I miss from the P9, it’s the ceramic outer platters Rega use on it’s top decks. Those outer platters are a work of art.
Really, black Ittoks were rare? All those years ago when I had mine, I was told that they sounded better!
Yes, I heard the same thing. Never had the chance to hear the difference though. I suspect it’s marginal at best. They are definitely rare though. Can’t recall the last time I saw one for sale. If I ever put together a second retro deck, that’s the arm I’d want, for nostalgia reasons mainly.
My dealer said a handful of prototype black Ittoks were made in Scotland with better ball racers and perhaps some other changes, so I don’t think all black Ittoks are necessarily better than silver. He has one in the showroom fitted to a Afro / Valhalla deck and said it has the best bearings short of an Ekos SE. Sounds very nice indeed.
It’s weird, when I bought my first LP12 in the late 80s, I really didn’t like the look of the Ittok. I think it was just something about those times and, being quite young, any shiny silver HiFi looked hideous. I probaby could have stretched to one but preferred to have an Akito 1 instead. Of course, in hindsight I wish I’d bought an Ittok especially as the bearings failed on my Akito.
Ian, That’s a great story and a really beautiful individual deck.
I must be going to the wrong pub, (sudden overwhelming feeling of pre-lockdown nostalgia).I don’t suppose you asked if Des has a Naim 01 tuner or pair of SBL,s in his attic?
I notice that you are changing from Lingo 4 to Radical, Did you think it offered a significant improvement? I am thinking about where to go next with my deck which still has Lingo 1.
Thanks for the nice reply. Did you hear the Karousel? I was away for the proposed SO event which I guess fell foul of lockdown.
I am hoping to audition the new bearing and consider other LP12 upgrades when things reopen.
Regards
Best of luck
Hi Stevie,
Wot KJC says! It is the remnants of the black paint that really brings out the grain in the ash. It was quite a tricky thing to judge when I stripped it; I didn’t want to go too far but was worried about not going far enough. I had to be really careful with the sanding phase.
How an afro plinth would look stripped, I don’t know; unfortunately, there is only one way to find out and no going back! I would also imagine it would be really hard to get in between the flutes.
Cheers,
Ian