Grey HSK-33 - it lives!

mmcc

AK Subscriber
Subscriber
Not long ago, I picked up a Gray HSK-33 turntable with a Fairchild SA-12 tone arm from an estate auction. Coincidentally, at a separate auction I picked up a Fairchild SM2 cartridge. Since the tonearm was wired for stereo, it seemed like a good match.

Unfortunately, while the stylus unit was in place on the cartridge, the cantilever was bent and the tip was gone. I sent it to Needlestein and he was able to fix it right up.

The turntable itself was in pretty good condition other than being dirty. The counterweight had broken off the tone arm, which just required a bit of epoxy to remedy. It also needed a new belt, and the fine folks at Esoteric Sound helped me out. The first belt they sent ran too slow, so they sent me a couple of alternatives. I'm now within .6% of 33 1/3 rpm (which is good as there is no speed adjustment).

After some clean up and soldering on some new leads to the cartridge sled, we are now spinning. It sounds great!

A before and a few after pictures are below.

tt4.jpg IMG_0334.jpg IMG_0336.jpg IMG_0335.jpg
 
Very nice job. Really like to see old TTs buffed out.

If you have a moment and easy access, would you post a photo of the innards from the bottom, please? I have a 33 I want to get running, but I have a main bearing problem and I'd like compare it visually to yours.

Thanks,
 
Very nice job. Really like to see old TTs buffed out.

If you have a moment and easy access, would you post a photo of the innards from the bottom, please? I have a 33 I want to get running, but I have a main bearing problem and I'd like compare it visually to yours.

Thanks,

Does this help? I can get more pictures if needed.

IMG_0337 (1).jpg
 
How does the cartridge sound and what is the tracking force?

Needlestein put an elliptical tip on the cantilever and it sounds great. I’ve not done any A/B comparisons but I’m enjoying the sound.

Based on his recommendation I have it tracking at 2.5 grams.
 
mmcc,

Yes, thank you. That photo of the bearing from underneath tells me what I needed to know, which is that I have a bearing that really needs some help.
 
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