Free Vestax PDX-2000 (basis of a superb DIY Direct Drive turntable project?)

[Beobloke]

I acquired this somewhat bruised Vestax PDX-2000 turntable a couple of years back, intending to remove the motor and electronics and re-house them in a proper wooden plinth. Sadly I have had to face the fact that I just don't have the time to make it happen, so would anyone like it as the basis of a DIY project for the princely sum of no money at all?

Two of the feet are broken, as is the rear of the arm, and the Quartz Lock switch has come off the PCB, as can be seen in the second picture. If you're handy with a soldering iron, there's no reason you couldn't swap the 'reverse' switch over to this point (I can't imagine much call for making it spin backwards, frankly!). It still runs perfectly in non-quartz lock mode.

The motor is working fine and hugely torquey but I'm afraid I stole the power switch to repair another Vestax deck a few months back so I can't show it powered up - sorry!

Happy to pack and post in the UK, which I imagine should be in the region of £15-£20.

http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa428/Beobloke/DSC_0004_zps63f1838e.jpg (http://s1197.photobucket.com/user/Beobloke/media/DSC_0004_zps63f1838e.jpg.html)

http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa428/Beobloke/DSC_0005_zpsed525742.jpg (http://s1197.photobucket.com/user/Beobloke/media/DSC_0005_zpsed525742.jpg.html)

[Cropmaster]

Hi Adam,

I may be interested ;) I want to learn more about turntables and DIY fixes/modding and this would be a great low risk place to start. I have a pair of PDX-2000s, one of which has been dodgy for years and years. I've put up with it's foibles, as I've been afraid to take it apart for fear of knackering it. I think the motor needs repairing or replacing so it would be great to have a fall back if it does need swapping out or I manage to kill it somehow. It really needs recalibrating, but I can't seem to find info anywhere online how to calibrate vestax decks - loads of great info on technics - but nada on Vestax. If you could point me anywhere with more info, that would be amazing.

Maybe then I can make the leap and get something a little easier on the ear such as the new Pioneer PLX-1000s...

Thanks,
Dave

[Beobloke]

Hi Dave,

Sorry, but the Vestax headed off to its new home today!

With regard to your deck, what issues are you having with it? I've owned dozens of Vestax models and never had a moment's problem with any of them (with the exception of one where the actual motor windings were damaged - I suspect ingress of a foreign object of some sort!)

With regard to service information, there seems to be very little about. You could do worse than try Vestax Europe directly: http://vestaxeurope.com/support.php

As to the Pioneer PLX-1000s - no, please don't! Keep an eye out for a Vestax PDX-D3 Mk2 with the s-shaped rather than the ASTS arm. You might be surprised at how good it is...:eyebrows:

[Mr Kipling]

Dig the funky 50's Sci-Fi silvery look.

[Cropmaster]

Hi Adam,

Heh ho ;)

The problem is an odd one - it got sent back to the factory twice and never got sorted a few months after I bought it back 12 or so years ago. They replaced the tone arm in the end after much back and forth, which didn't sort the problem, I've just had to live with it. Its probably easier to post a quick vid of the issue, but here goes:

If you place the needle on a stopped record and tap the case, you can here a knocking noise, like something tapping against something. When the platter is moving, and hold a record to cue it up, you can hear a rumbling which changes in amplitude with different pressures on the platter, and stops altogether if you hold the record up slightly off the platter. Also, when you start the motor you can here a little knock or wobble just as it begins.

I noticed early on that the tone arm mount (the tone arm pivot itself) seemed a little loose, but barely imperceptibly so from the other good deck I have. I found that putting a strip of card beneath the pivot mount thing stopped the rumbling almost (almost...) entirely, hence being able to live with it. If you just let a record play, there is absolutely no problem.

I've also had the problem where the motor spins randomly in reverse for no reason, but (without wanting to jinx it) that hasn't happened in a good while. I makes me suspect that the motor is either not secured properly or something is misaligned within it. Having read up about the random reverse problem, the fix for that seems to be to strip out the motor, take it apart, stick down an offending little tiny black washer that causes the issue. Whether this applies to my problem - no idea. Anyways, the thought of taking the motor assembly to pieces without knowing if it will actually fix my issues fills me with the urge not to do anything :/

Oh yeah, that dodgy deck is also way out on calibration. I've got the ultra pitch almost up one step to sync it to my other deck with the quartz lock on.

Annoyingly, the other deck is rock solid and I've never had a moment's bother with it... great it is.

Finally - how come such a no-no to the new Pioneer decks? I've been playing around with beat up old technics which are much nicer for mixing now I'm pretty much over the whole scratching thing - and these seem to have picked up where Panasonic left off...

Oof - soz for the essay!

e2a - here's a quick photo of the heath robinson tone arm fix

13509

[shane]

Sorry Dave, I should have posted my interest!

Adam, the Vestax arrived a few minutes ago all safe and sound, for which many thanks. I have a house move in the offing, but once that's over and done with "Project S-Lam" (very cryptic) will be go, and will be fully documented here. I've had a look inside and the guts of this turntable will be absolutely perfect....

[Beobloke]

Hi Shane - great news and I look forward to seeing the results!

Dave - that sounds very odd regarding your Vestax and it does sound like something deep in its bowels is loose or misaligned. If you have the original packaging and are happy to ship it to Hampshire, I'd be more than happy to take a look at it for you.

As to the Pioneers, I have yet to prove but I strongly suspect that they are nothing more exciting than Hanpin super-OEMs. I'm happy to be proven wrong but I'm not spending my own money to do it!

[Cropmaster]

Hi Adam,

Thanks for the offer of taking a look. I can't remember if I still have the original boxes... I reckon I'll have a poke around inside the thing once I get over myself and cracked it open.

I've emailed Vestax support to see what they've got to say, but I can't really see that going anywhere to be honest. Its frustrating that there's barely any info online to go from about these decks.

WRT the Pioneers - the super OEM thing does seem to be the school of thought. Too soon to tell though before people start pulling them apart and having a dig around in their giblets...

@Shane - good luck with the project! If you have the inclination, a couple of photos on what to expect when opening up the deck and digging round inside would be great help.

Cheers both, have great weekends
Dave

[shane]

I've been looking for one of these for a while because it lends itself particularly well to diyprojects. The motor is a substantial cylinder which will be easy to mount and has sufficient torque to do duty on the front bumper of a coastguard land-rover! Ive only had a quick look inside so far and there's a rather surprising amount of electronics in there, not to mention a thumping great mains tx, but the motor is connected by an 8-way ribbon cable, so it won't be hard to put all that into a separate control unit.

I probably won't be starting on this for a month or two, but I'm intending to do a picture project on here when I do it.

Anyone know a cheap source of 10mm or 15mm slate?

[digeedi]

Hi, i just bought a pair of pdx2000. And them have some issues. But, in one of them, i got that issue of noise vibration when you keep your hand on record, to cueing or scratching.

Well, i've been reading, and it is a problem with the first vestax pdx2000 turtables batch. I found a manual to fix the problem here...

http://www.vinylengine.com/library/vestax/pdx-2000.shtml

But, is curious: there is a range of serial numbers, and i think that mine is not under that range

Anyway, i could'nt find someone who did this fix.

So Dave, before to try something with soldering, I did what you said here, putting a little paper there, and like you said, the noise almost has gone. The issued turntable sound now like the other one. But I found new issue as a side effect of this solution: the tonearm, or the needle (i really dont know exactly) get paralized after two or three spins. Well, to expain it better, i get into a loop in the track when i let it run.

Dave, I want to know if this happens to you, or if you found other way to fix it.

I hope you read me.

Thanks

[Psyman]

i have the same issue with vestax pdx2000s , when i stop the record to cue up the next song to mix i have a strange vibration occuring . now after reading through a few posts online and seeing the replies to the same question here im wondering if the fix (taking out 820ohm resistors and replacing with 470ohm resistors) actually works , has anyone tried this and has it been successful for you ? i would rather give it a go if i know it works then send it away to vestax for them to hum and har about it and probably charge me the earth to replace some 60p resistors .

the other fix about placing some paper underneath the pivot mount i will try when i get home tonight and see if that makes any difference .

Cropmaster did you get anywhere with your issues ?