If the deck was stored for longer time, you may have a cleaning and lubrication problem, also belt for the arm carrier may be too old, (if the skipping is backward) if the skipping is forward, there may be a problem with the opto coupler

Thanks. It's been stored for several years. The skipping is forward in very short increments. Is there anything , that's practical, that I can do myself ?

I suggest that you get the stylus/cartridge refurbished by link and a belt set from Dillen here   (I suggest you send him an email)

blues_travler wrote:

Thanks. It's been stored for several years. The skipping is forward in very short increments. Is there anything , that's practical, that I can do myself ?

If you are a little handy, and know just a little about electronics, I suggest that you get the manual, available on site for silver and gold members, and then give the deck a good cleaning and lubricate it. If you have good sound, when not skipping, your pick up should be OK, if the sound is muffled or otherwise bad, the pickup will have to be repaired. New belts are cheap from Dillen, So when clean, lubricated, new belts and the pickup OK, try again.

 Thank you, everyone, for your help. Unfortunately, I am not good at electronics. The sound is very good when not skipping so I hope tha means the needle is ok. I will try to pursue the cleaning and belt replacement route.

Hello,

To me it sounds very likely that the suspension in cartridge is failing,

Especially due to this comment “I get a little improvement at the maximum tracking force”

If you want to post me the cartridge I can test it for you and confirm if that is the issue or not.

I can also check for stylus wear under a microscope as you normally have it at 1 gram, I guess you have an MMC2 in which case if the diamond is still good a suspension only repair would be the best option.

Here is my website where I have cartridge repair services

www.audio-origin.co.uk

Best regards Alistair

Audio Origin