New VMS70 Owner seeks wisdom/advice/knowledge/suggestions

[opcode66]

I will soon be acquiring a VMS70 system with a VG74b amp rack (including a bsb74 acceleration limiter) and an sx74 cutterhead. Fully restored, recap-ed and respooled.

If you have any wisdom/advice/knowledge/suggestions that you would be so kind as to share, I would surely appreciate it! I'm not asking for a full tutorial or anything. Just helpful tidbits. Quick suggestions. Words of warning and the like.

And, if anyone has come up with any crafty mods or add-ons that they would be willing to describe I would love to hear about them as well!

I look forward to reading your replies

[flozki]

fly jvo from vinylium over for a propper check up service, alignment.
and you get best introduction in using the machine....
cost you some $$$$ but this is incredible good invested money.
you will have it checked from a neutral point of view. no one knows the shit better.
you will save it later on your (avoidable) cutterhead repairs...


*****
and if you want to go another level higher.....
i can swing out the best place for the lathe with my original Neumann SP69 (Schallplatten Pendel 69)..
put some cristals on important points....hehe.
eso-flozki
esotheric audio consulting...

E.A.C instead of E.A.R equipment....

[Aussie0zborn]

Nice choice. Don't try to impress anyone by cutting TOO LOUD. Slow and steady wins the race every time. You will soon get the hang of it. Good luck.

[opcode66]

@Flo - The system is being fully restored by Al Grundy. As I understand it, he does exceptional work.

[flozki]

yes i know what that means "fully restored"
by all respect to Al's work. i dont question that this lathe will work fine.
but even with a brand new vms70 out of the box you will have tons of problems.even there there is lots of stuff to improve....

you have to set up the lathe. do the first cuts. align. put togehter all.
i would say you can do that all by yourself. just needs you much more time.
here you got the chance to have the best teacher for a crash course...

and i am sure that out of 10 troublemakers in the lathe or amps, 8 are not "fully restored" or not changed to a long term trouble free operation.

to fly him over costs you maybe $2000-3000. whatever.this is maybe 10% of the whole set up. i dont know. what is your goal if you want to go into professional mastering or if it is just a hobby.

but this is my experience.. i have seen many many cutting rooms starting. and looking back, this was always the weak point. everybody wants to save money but in the end it would be way cheaper to do that with someone who knows..if i had the possibilites back in the days i would not hesitate for one second ! and he charges maybe for a week what one of the old techs charged a day!!!. and in addition this is someone who really knows.not just a technician.he also knows how to cut records today. not back in the days.

but just my opinion and best advice i can give

[opcode66]

@Flo - Ok. I take your advice under serious consideration. That is not a lot to have jvo come and give the lathe a good tuneup. I want to have a nice system that will run hassle free and at peak performance for a long time. I don't mind spending the money up front to get there.

[Steve E.]

You've come a long way, baby!

[drdub]

ivo ist THE MAN !

[andybee]

yes, you can trust flo!
ivo is THE man for lathe repair, so after his work, you will have
a 100% working machine for the next years!

go ivo, go ivo !!!

[opcode66]

This post is old guys. Look at the date...

I quite obviously no longer need help. FYI, I have never let anyone else work on my system but me since I bought it from Al.

To imply that Al's work was in any way inferior to anyone else's is complete shit. Out of the entire system I've found maybe two minor things that needed extra work. Of course I've had other issues arrise. But, what Al did originally was 99% perfect.

I will NEVER fly someone here to work on my system. By now, I am famaliar with all subsystems of the lathe and amp rack and can fabricate all cards.

If anyone in the USA needs a lathe tech please feel free to contact me. I'm not as expensive and every bit as good as oversees options with respect to VMS 70's or earlier models.