Technics 1200 Turntables Discontinued

[Buck_Choi]

Earlier this week the Japanese turntable manufacturer, Panasonic, issued a statement to the Tokyo Reporter officially stating they will be discontinuing the Technics 1200mk6 turntable. After years of speculation that it would be going the way of the dodo, the economic hammer finally dropped and ended a solid 30 year run. Even though this site is decidedly controller focused, there is no question that the original dj controller was fantastic tool and will be well missed by all.

The following statement was issued from Panasonic headquarters to the Tokyo Reporter http://www.tokyoreporter.com/2010/10/28 ... urntables/

“Panasonic decided to end production mainly due to a decline in demand for these analog products and also the growing difficulty of procuring key analog components necessary to sustain production,”

the article also mentions:

Regarding the Technics brand itself, nothing has been decided other than the discontinuation of the mentioned products

This probably means that they will continue to produce the CDJ style equivalent called the SLDZ1200 Digital Turntable. However the SL -1200 MK6m which replaced the mk2 in 2007(http://panasonic.co.jp/corp/news/offici ... l?ref=news), is the only analogue turntable listed on Panasonic’s product listing page(http://panasonic.jp/technics/), and it is most certainly discontinued (see image bellow). (http://ctlg.panasonic.jp/product/info.d ... SL-1200MK6)

The defacto dj tool for decades, this turntable holds a special place in the hearts and minds of many djs. Most turntable based jockeys refuse to play on anything else and its easy to understand why. They are rock solid reliable, easy to use and built to withstand the brutal beating they receive night in, night out. In 1996, I pawned 3 guitars to purchase my first pair of 1200’s and after years of gigs, several cross country trips, and countless falls they are still spinning in the TechTools office today.

THE THIRD ELEMENT

Besides their fantastic construction, there was one important element in the this turntable that separated it from the rest and enabled a entire new field of music: “turntablism”

That feature is the coveted direct drive system, which uses magnets to propel the platter in a rapid way that belts never could. This “third element”: magnets, is a force expertly leveraged by turntablists to enable them to do things with a linear peice of audio that the bare hands alone could not achieve. Its also an effect that controllers have yet to really duplicate well.

A GREAT INSTRUMENT

Turntablists like Q-bert above, have shown that the simple turntable combined with a mixer can be a remarkably expressive instrument. When used with great dexterity and extensive practice it can produce the full range of musical expression including attack, decay, amplitude and tone- all from a single sample!

THE END?

The good news is that with so many of these turntables in circulation (3.5 million sold since 1976), and their robust build quality- there will always be turntables available for those that want them. Controllers will continue to get better and hopefully, someday, reach the level of quality required to replace such a historic instrument with features and performance that live up to tough demands of djs, controllerists, and turntablists alike!

http://www.djtechtools.com/2010/10/29/technics-1200-turntables-discontinued/

[wazza]

BY ,BY Old friend...you will be missed

yes ...this years DMC comp ...was the frist year the winner did not get a gold TEC 1200's turntable

[Buck_Choi]

yeah thats stuffed up.. :S good ol' 2100's

[eggssell]

while i would have loved to have a pair of technics for nostalgia sake its hardly the end of the road for turntables.

and again no disrespect, as i said i would have loved (and will probably still chase a pair down)to have one.i watched ebay everyday for six months bidding on at least 15 or more decks.

but really for a cost of a technics deck brand new. then buy shells and stylii because they arent loaded. which everyone says last forever but you need to service at least once in 10years. you could have bought 3 stanton 150's.

now i aint saying the stantons are better than the 1200's. i am saying, they are the same except the technics are so robust they will last forever.

so if stantons only have a 3-5 year life span, you pretty much got yerself covered for the technics that would have went you 15-20years.

again for all the flamers who will say but technics are the best yadda yadda. read the post again fuggen.

anywho, lets have a moment of wigga wigga for the legends that are th 1's & 2's.

[krsjuan]

shweet.

this just adds value for us lucky lads who own some techies

[DJ_Raptor]

[Tomy]

yeah get them while you can.

[crundyy]

shweet.

this just adds value for us lucky lads who own some techies

[Cupe]

do want

[defanutley]

an interesting read,

http://www.digitaldjtips.com/2010/11/te ... #more-3075

[eggssell]

good read. though i dont particularly agree with a lot of it.

technics maybe dead, but using turntables won't die.

the reasoning for people liking technics is because it was industry standard. so if you learnt on these you could hop into any club. as opposed to learning on a crapper model, or a faster torque super OEM, you would need to adjust your style somewhat.

but in reality a lot of people who either didnt play at clubs any longer or had decided to go the turntablists route (such as qbert) walked away from using technics years ago.

and what you will find is eventually the cost of servicing technics will become too expensive as parts and repair people start to become more sparse (technics were already being built in thailand for 10 years, well their hifis anyway so i assume the tt's as well, so parts were as cheap as they were ever going to get), so you may actually start to see super OEM's entering the clubs in about 5 years time. then even for aspiring club dj's the need to learn on a technics isn't any advantage.

anywho, all im saying is TT's and the use of DVS won't die anytime soon. in fact i am pretty sure clubs in the next 10 years will still have turntables. probably even longer for venues that promote rnb and/ or hip hop.

and i am not referring to turntablists who of course will continue to use the tt as an instrument forever, which they did say in the article

[eggssell]

not sure if any aussie dealers have anymore stock.

but anyone with cash wanting to buy brand new ones, juno records still have stock of 1210 MK2. cost including shipping about $1136 AUD

$851AUD if you in the neighbourhood of Camden UK

oh even cheaper if you change currency to US. ends up being $1,120 AUD delivered

[tubby]

plus import charge, GST etc for being over $1000.

I read a link from gizmodo somewhere that said only the mk6 was being discontinued, and that's only sold in japan anyway

[eggssell]

no gst because the item cost is less than $1K. you dont need to include freight costs.

yeah the tokyo reporter article that started all the posts (coinky dinkily enuff about a year after the last time they said this, which always seems to be just before xmas) stated they have decided to stop MK6 production because analog turntables just dont sell enough. and this snowballed to technics are dead. the question is, maybe the MK2's and MK5's stopped a while back...

[tubby]

you do need to include freight costs, that's how customs will calculate it. if it's close and you say $900 on the invoice you will most likely get away with it though.

[eggssell]

if it is over $1K, you need to pay GST on the item, shipping, insurance and anything else to get it here.

However, the $1K threshold is based on what is known as the Customs Value or Transaction Value, which is calculated using the adjusted price (cost of item not including overseas or domestic freight AND if it was a machine that would require additional installation to be useable, you could even take off the installation costs as well).

i looked at all this before when i wanted to start an import company, but you made me go and look at it again. ha ha

[J0rdz]

anywho, all im saying is TT's and the use of DVS won't die anytime soon. in fact i am pretty sure clubs in the next 10 years will still have turntables. probably even longer for venues that promote rnb and/ or hip hop.

and i am not referring to turntablists who of course will continue to use the tt as an instrument forever, which they did say in the article

Well said. Dubstep, DnB and Breaks DJs are still avid users of DVS too. And as you said, pretty much all the beats genre's

Turntables wont die. Not any time soon atleast.

Im happy to have a pair of 1210s. I use them regularly and look forward to handing them down to my children

[eggssell]

i guess 1200's dont last forever

this was on ebay with description used in a nightclub, and this

so it in the condition you would expect for a turntable used in a nightclub

bloody cd dj's using it as a cd holder

[pulsebeat]

ouchh

sucks to see great decks being fucked with like that

i mean i prefer cdjs myself but vynals old school, no body messes with the old school shit

[Skank]

thats pretty much identical to the ones in my club, theres no chance of resale lol

[chrismak]

It makes me sad when I see Technics 1200's being used as cd wallet holders.

On the plus side, you can refurbish beat up Techs pretty good.

source: http://www.djforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=256400&highlight=technics+1200

[pulsebeat]

wouldnt mind picking up a set, just re-spraying them and getting some carts