• Please note that there are a few updates and clarifications made in the Audiokarma Rules, mostly relating to advertising and the addition of the new "Paying it Forward" & "Giving back" forums in the AudioKarma Audio Marketplace section.

Thoren TD-124 - could I/should I buy one?

beatcomber

beatcomber

AK Member
I'm looking for some advice and feedback from those of you with experience with the Thorens TD-124...

I think it is the most beautiful turntable ever produced. I have a particular affinity for objects made in the '50s and '60s on a purely aesthetic level, and if it really performs as well as it looks, then I would cherish it for the rest of my days. I can just imagine how boss it would look next to my Fisher 400 tube receiver....

Here's the deal. I have a vintage guitar worth somewhere around $2000-$2500, and I am toying around with the idea of selling it to finance a TD-124, preferably one with an SME 3009 already mounted. I don't want to screw around with a fixer-upper 124, I want one that is restored and ready to go. If I had to buy the SME separately and mount it on an armboard, I could handle that. Would I be able to buy one fitting this description with my potential budget? Prices for 124's are over the map, depending on condition.

My only previous experience with idler tables is the Dual 1019. I've owned a few and was never able to completely eliminate rumble from them. Of course the 1019 is not on the same level as the TD-124, and the drive system works differently, but just how quiet is a top-functioning TD-124?

My last question concerns cartridge compatibility. I love Grado cartridges and would probably want to move my favorite (a Joe Grado Sig 8MR) to the 124. Do Grados hum on the TD-124?

Thanks in advance for any insight you can provide that would help me decide whether or not to pursue this.

My dream rig:

vs_TD124MKI.jpg
 
Register to hide this ad
Totally envious. :thmbsp: :music: :thmbsp:

After you have used it for a while and decide not to keep it, let me know eh!!!:D

Omedetou in advance!!
 
Balifly said:
Totally envious. :thmbsp: :music: :thmbsp:

After you have used it for a while and decide not to keep it, let me know eh!!!:D

Omedetou in advance!!
Click to expand...

Well, thank you, but I'm still working out whether or not to go for it! The guitar that I would be selling is just as beautiful as the Thorens... but I rarely play it.

1962 Gretsch Tennessean
 
In my mind, I can see some one like Joe Pass playing that.

If you are not using it much, let some one else. :music:
 
More like Chet Atkins. Beautiful guitar, I've had the pleasure of playing many fine vintage Gretsches at the Chet Atkins Appreciation Society convention. It would be tough to part with.
 
Last edited:
I was all for this until I saw what guitar you were going to sell. Yikes! Tough decision. That's one of the most beautiful guitars I've ever seen. There's a '62 Tennessean on ebay with a BIN of $4294...you know, in case you sell and then regret ;).

But if you aren't playing the guitar (and it might be a better investment than ANY turntable, monetarily) then go for it. Even my TD-124, which is still basically barn-fresh, is a great table with a 3009 on it. And I know it will only get better. If I ever get some free time I mean for it to be my go-to table. I wish that, like you, I'd been after a plug and play one. It's a simple machine, it's easy to figure out what does what, but I just don't have the free time or love of tinkering to want to dive into it right now.

Speaking of ebay, there's a whole host of easy to buy/use/apply stuff for the TD-124, including layered plinths that are the same shape and look as the original one, like what you posted. Armboards, too. You name it.
 
Last edited:
Wise decision. Some instruments are too special to pass on, your Tennessean included. Perhaps this will prompt you to pick it up more.
 
I certainly would not sell that guitar, unless you were totally incapable of playing it. That one is just beautiful in so many different ways.

But yes you should absolutely buy a TD 124. I had mine up and running after rescuing it from a friends garage. I am in the process of refurbishing it, and with the help of the AK faithful, it has been going along passably. If I can do this absolutely anyone can. I had the motor rebuilt by Jim Carpenter on Ebay, he does a lot of restoration parts for a 124. Ak Marc Morin refurbished and updated the bearing assembly. I refinished the stock plinth, but our Divot Dog is going to do a custom plinth for the table in the fall. So the resources are out there to get through this kind of project.

If you want a plug and play 124 I have seen them for sale on EBAY for between $1K and $1.5K with SME 3009 arms. The price might seem a bit high, but if they are a total restoration and of museum quality, they are worth that kind of money. The sound quality is excellent. The noise floor is not an issue, I have no rumble issues with my 124. That was before the work by Marc and Jim. Now the bearing and motor assembly is smooth as silk.

A restored 124 is a thing of beauty, and a high quality bit of analog playback. I have no intention of ever letting mine go, and I enjoyed my initial time with it. I ran a $2500 Clear Audio moving coil cartridge on this table, and it was totally capable of supporting that level of cartridge. Here is a pic of it with the ADC arm and an AT cartridge that I initially trialled it with.

attachment.php



Regards
Mister Pig
 
Thank you, my porcine friend. I know that you have played with some very high end gear, so your advice is especially valuable to me. And $1000-$1500 for a plug'n'play example isn't that unattainable for a cash purchase, so I will hang on to the Tenny.
 
I'm glad you're hanging onto that guitar. I've seen a lot more 124s floating around than '62 Tennessians, and I bet that guitar will appreciate in value every year you hold onto it, to appreciate it for what it is.
 
JohnVF said:
I'm glad you're hanging onto that guitar. I've seen a lot more 124s floating around than '62 Tennessians, and I bet that guitar will appreciate in value every year you hold onto it, to appreciate it for what it is.
Click to expand...

Yes, I agree.

And pre-1964 Gretches are particularly desirable.... after a certain Mr. Harrison from Liverpool appeared on a Sunday night TV variety show playing a Gretsch with his combo, demand for them went through the roof. The factory could barely keep up with the orders, and the build quality of these handmade instruments began to suffer.

My guitar is special because it was made during the Tenny's first year of production as a thinline model. The '62 models are distinguishable primarily by the solid black fake soundholes, vs. the ones from '63 onward which have fake binding around the fake soundholes.

George Harrison played a '63 Tenny once in a while:

Beatles-081110-0003.jpg
Tennessean_cor.gif
 
Last edited:
While I am a huge Thorens TD 124 fanatic, the Gretsch would be darned near impossible to replace, they are getting more and more costly to find at any price. Keep the Gretsch, it is something once in a lifetime.
 
I've never been comfortable with the idea of perfectly ordinary guitars becoming investments to sit in someone's humidor for adoration. Pre '64 Gretsch. . .meh. FWIW there has only been one Gretsch that has ever really caught my ear, it was orange and Mr. Townsend thoroughly put the boots to that one so its long long gone. If you aren't playing it and there is something else that you will play I say jump. Our time here is limited and as someone once pointed out-"you can't take it with you".
 
I'd say hold onto the guitar and sharpen your gaze. I found my 124 (early, and fairly mint) for $300. So deals are out there. I'd say look around for the table, and if and when you find one, make a decision about how to finance it. Who knows, you might end up with both?

Also, you didn't mention what your current vinyl rig is. Why not sell that before the guitar?
 
To answer your last question on the OP, there are no hum issues with a Grado cartridge on a TD-124.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom