Technics SL1200 Mk I turntable

In October 1972, The Matsushita Electric Company, more commonly known today as Panasonic, launched a new mid-priced hi-fi turntable under its Technics brand. A departure from the belt and idler drive turntables of the day, it featured a brushless high torque direct drive motor, a heavy vibration-damped chassis and a low mass, S-shaped tonearm suitable for the modern high compliance cartridges of the day, all in a compact rugged aluminium die-cast cabinet. Its specifications could be matched only by the SP10, the world’s first direct drive turntable introduced just 2 years earlier by the same company, a turntable that had quickly become the standard for broadcast and recording applications. This turntable was, of course, the Technics SL 1200.

The Technics 1200 line is known for its incredibly accurate and stable speed. Its relentless rhythm and perfect timing lend it a level of excitement that is hard to ignore. Piano notes don’t waver. Bass notes stop and start with pin point accuracy. And, most importantly of all, the turntable itself is virtually silent.

This direct drive system brought the large and heavy-duty platter to the rated rotation speed in just 1/2 of a turn and had minimal rotation irregularity. The dots engraved into the edge of the turntable are a symbol of the SL-1200 Series. These features aptly met the trend and needs of the disco/club culture that emerged in the United States at that time. The powerful torque and stable rotation enabled easy and quick beat matching and cueing, while the vibration absorbing cabinet allowed stable play in a loud sound environment. The pitch adjustment dial was provided for the control of rotation irregularity, but DJs found a unique way to use it for controlling BPM. For some miraculous coincidence, the first-generation SL-1200 was packed with many functions that DJs wanted, so it quickly became a standard DJ turntable.

Past this, it is reported that it was on this SL1200 Mk I model that, on his room in New York, a young guy named Grand Wizzard Theodore put forward the scratching technique that will explode in the Hip Hop scene. The story says he was playing a record and his mother yelled at him for dinner. As a reflex he put his hand on the record stopping the play instantly, even playing a bit the song in reverse to answer the vigorous invitation. Releasing his hand, the record recovered its speed in no time. Experimenting a bit more with this stop/start and back and forth technique, using a felt platter cover to have the record slide easier, scratching has we know it was born.