Technics Turntables Quartz Lock

[LuvLatins]

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

[Super D]

Originally Posted by jbandes

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

why do you hate your quartzlock?

super d(motordetroit) 8)

[LuvLatins]

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.

[QUINNY]

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?

[LuvLatins]

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

[QUINNY]

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?

[LuvLatins]

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

[QUINNY]

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.

[Super D]

"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)

[LuvLatins]

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