Reply With Quotewhy do you hate your quartzlock?Originally Written by jbandes
super d(motordetroit) 8)
Advance Promo Copy [Level 3]
I hate my quartzlock on my technics. Has anyone performed the Hack to disable this ? If disabling the Quartz lock really worth doing. I just cant seem to bring myself to hack a mint pair of decks
HELP
Indie Release [Level 4]
why do you hate your quartzlock?
super d(motordetroit) 8)
Advance Promo Copy [Level 3]
I am an old queen. Having said that I come from the old school of mixing long gradual blended type mixes. I beleive real talent is in long smooth gradual mixes. Having said that I find it very difficult to to do these types of mixes with the quartz lock feature enabled. The tables fight me and do not allow records to stay in synch long. Some have told me that I will have more control of the tables if I disable the quartz lock.
I am trying to determine if that is true. It would appear that it is true but them resynching the tables sounds painful to get dead zero.
No Longer Charting
There's always been quartz locking on 1200s hasn't there? Unless they've done something really weird, how would it affect your ability to mix?
Advance Promo Copy [Level 3]
Yes there has always been quartz lock but many DJ's remove the quartz lock see this article http://www.mio.co.za/printpage.php?id=238
No Longer Charting
Umm.
Bet the guy who wrote it is into turntabilism to some extent.
What sort of music are you mixing?
I guess it could be a problem if you're deliberately mixing in an old Disco record slightly fast and applying pressure to the turntable to adjust for speed fluctuations. With modern day stuff this shouldn't be an issue as the tempos are rock solid.
However, it could also mean that you're trying to do overly long mixes and you could easily compensate for this by doing a mix over say 8 or 16 bars instead of 16 or 32 (48,64) and starting the incoming record 8,16 (32,48) bars earlier without having the fader up.
If you're doing long mixes just for the hell of it, you've really gotta question why?
Advance Promo Copy [Level 3]
The mixes at the Saint and the Garage that drove the crowd wild were the ones you could gradually hear coming in. The magic, was if the DJ was really good, you would not be able to identify the incoming song. You knew it was coming in but you could not identify it until the very last minute. Here is a small example of a mix done by DJ Michael DePrisco at the DCA in Philadelphia in the 1980s. Notice the sound of the horn in the attached sample mix. The mix is over 15 measures in length. Even this example shows you what I mean, it is a bit off. Your correct today I guess the drum lines are perfect but your correct on old disco they were real drums and not so percise.
http://www.jbandes.com/Samples/mix1.mp3
No Longer Charting
I should think all of the ex DJs around here have done mixes in their time that lasted 2 minutes. I certainly have (was listening to one that went over 2.25 the other day), but now listen to them and think of "why do dogs lick their bollocks....'cos they can." It was/is no big deal.
Someone (a fellow DJ) once said to me "I love it when you mix 'cos I can here what the next record is". Different strokes for different folks I guess. I personally think the DJs 'teased' you by making the incoming record unidentifiable, because they weren't quite synced and nothing to do with deliberate thought. I personally can't see the point of doing a mix if the incoming record is so low in the mix that it can't be identified. Having said that, it still gives me a rush when I hear a more prominent bass underneath and hear the odd sound effect without fully knowing whiuch record it is. Some intros were simply less easy to put yer finger on.
Indie Release [Level 4]
"Quinny" I agree__ this hacked off method seems useless :roll: ---either you can blend or you can't. :o ....many times I had to ride the finger lightly against the plate to perfect a rolling blend....some tracks go better with others...experience tells you that....I don't think I have ever went into a mix not knowing what the blending track is....it just seems odd to have to go thru such extremities as to hacking up your babies(1200's) :cry: ....then too, what ever works for you. I once new a dj that thought it was a sin to touch the platter with his hands after he initially caught the beat...he would ride the pitch control all the way thru the blend....for me__ my trusty finger has helped me out of many, many, disasters.
I'm sure if the research department of Technics thought this was a serious concern, this problem would already have been addressed.
super d(motordetroit) 8)
Advance Promo Copy [Level 3]
I agree with both of you. Brian at KISS in New York, used to just let the deck go and it was perfect. Did not even use a headphone during the mix. However a good ear hear can hear a finger draging on the plater, especially at 200,000 watts. And when the qurtzlock is fighting you, no matter how much pressure you apply its a drag.
Never did figure out how Brian used to just let it go and have it in synch perfectly. I guess he really knew his music and it just takes practice but you guys have convinced me to just leave the decks alone. No sense in destroying a perfectly good set of decks to accomplish this MOD
James
No Longer Charting
200,000 watts!!! :o :o :o only twice as loud as 20,000, which was more than loud enough last time I heard a system of that size.
Talk about diminishing returns.
Advance Promo Copy [Level 3]
:) wishful thinking on my part.
The lighting system is essentially limited to projecting from the center onto the dome's inner surface. The star projectors (one for each hemisphere) are ten times brighter than in the standard planetarium so that the projections are visible in contrast to the other lighting effects... the projector can tilt, rotate, or turn the hemispheres upside down. Another system consists of 12 spots mounted on one of the light rings above whose color and beam spread can be changed at the flick of a switch. At $2000 each, these units use polarized liquid crystal field controlled by electronic signal.
The 26,000 watt sound system is probably the most powerful per square foot for entertainment purposes in existence. Designed to reproduce sound as recorded, the system is based on the distributed concept rather than point source concept.
The heart of the system is an Audionics Space and Image Composer that separates the music signal into the dome's quadrants, with 14 channels of amplification each. In order to isolate the three record turntables from the dance floor's vibration, they are set on top of a 1500 pound concrete slab. The slab is suspended by pneumatic isolators.
Six booth monitors each with separate volume controls are used because of the delay in the room from the opposite side of the dome. Four of the monitors surround the DJ. The other two are behind the lighting system operator. To eliminate echo, high frequency speakers mounted on acrylic and sealed 1.25 inches from the dome with rubber gaskets, are aimed directly at the dancers. The Saint's sound system was designed specifically for fidelity. The sound system disappears physically and sonically. The dancer is left only with music, time and space.
Indie Release [Level 4]
Wow__ talk'in bout' "big baller" system! :-?
Your into all of that, and you are worried about quartz lock. :roll:
I feel so cheap now :cry:
super d(motordetroit) 8)
Advance Promo Copy [Level 3]
I did not spin at the club mentioned above. It was called the Saint, its gone now but it was amazing. I did speak recently to one of the DJs that spun there (Robbie Leslie) and here is what he said about the quartz lock.
(smile)
Bobby Viteritti, one of my DJ tutors, taught me that no matter how light a touch you had, you could always hear it when someone was touching the platter with the channel open. He was the one who got me to always use the pitch slide bar
My two cents.
Bobby Viteritti on an original Technichs 1200
Advance Promo Copy [Level 3]
Now here is what you call mixing WOW
http://www.jbandes.com/samples/trust.mp3
Acetate [Level 1]
I realize I am about 3.5 years late on this thread but since I just found it now (while doing a google search for Quartzlock the group) I thought I would add my 2 cents worth. As a former dj in SF in the 80's I have to say that anyone who would want to disable the quartzlock on the 1200's would have to be batty - that's sorta what makes 'em the best. Unless you gotta take a pee break (and if you gotta take a pee break, you need to wait until AFTER the mix) you really need to just pay attention to the overlay and use your pitch control for that - that's why the darn tables are so good because the pitch adjustment is instantaneous. I never was comfortable putting my hand on the table after I started the blend. And even Robbie and Bobby wouldn't do 2.5 minute overlays live with the pre-drum machine music. Bobby did his on tape at home. Trust me, I love the long overlays - that's what dance music IS to me - and I agree that the best of the old school guys would drive you nuts teasing in the next record but listening to the old mixes 25 years later without the benefit of the white powdery substance, I have to be honest that most of those long overlays weren't as good as we thought they were from the dance floor after taking a hit of poppers.
All I can say is, as much as I love a lot of the early 80's stuff, as a working dj I LOVE DRUM MACHINES!
Underground Hit [Level 5]
You know, for those of us who weren't fortunate enough to afford a Technics Quartz Lock Turntable, Gemini offered the next best alternative.
They came out with a model called: Gemini 1800 QII, which was more affordable (about $150 less than a 1200), and offered a lot of the same features as the Technics did.
As a matter of fact, it looks just like a Black 1200!!!:icon_biggrin: The only differences is in the take off. Technics has a must faster take off than Gemini offered, but as far as the accuracy of the Quartz Locking Mechanism, Gemini couldn't be beat!!!
I still have two of them that I've bought back in the early 90's, and they still work fine. The only thing that doesn't work anymore are those POP-UP lights, but everybody I know that has 1200's has experienced the same things. I guess those lights just don't last very long...
'NUFF SAID
Acetate [Level 1]
But isn't the "fast takeoff" one of the main reasons for buying the Technics? I mean if you are willing to give up features in order to save money, why not just buy a belt-drive turntable?
Underground Hit [Level 5]
Because the belts wear out over time, and they won't be able to handle the weight of the records & mats. Besides, there's not many electronic shops that carry turntable belts anymore. And to order one, may cost you an arm and a leg!!!
'NUFF SAID
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