The woodwork is in good condition. Beeswax made it breathe and shine.

Very nice! I particularly like the colour of the wood. I would suggest that getting it restored is a good idea as the rubber mushrooms deteriorate and the rubber on the idler wheel may need some work. The thing one really notices with these decks is the bass extension. I have a special cartridge which Frede sourced from Axel though as yours has the 9" arm, the SP8/9 should be the one you need.

I'm having it totally refurbished, and having a new bottom section of the bottom plinth (i.e. the black section) cut from dark soapstone. This stone is non-resonant. It will get the same shape as the thin wooden frame plinth there now, but will add a good anchor for the top section. I'll hear soon enough whether this supports the sound.

I'm lucky, I have an SP8/9, and will be sending it along for retipping.

Can anyone enlighten me as to the story behind the gold plated version of the SP8/9 which I have?

Should have had the turntable ready now, for dark autumn evenings, but these Beograms don't come along that often. I'll have to be patient.

Congratulations on a rare piece! 🤒

I have followed these tables for several years but have never got one.

I see quite a few of them pass by in various flavors: color, arms, plinths, etc... so, I am curious: What distinguished the 3000 from any of the other 124's besides the arm and the branding?

I think that many Thorens 124 adepts consider the B&O plinth to be insufficiently heavy, and too flimsy, compared to how most of the decks are spec'd today.

Unfortunately, a number of Beogram 3000 plinths are sacrificed by people hunting for a good Thorens 124 turntable. They'll buy the Beogram 3000, and then remove the B&O plinth and install a new one. For this reason, the surviving Beogram 3000s are in peril.

I'm keeping the original plinth, but am considering having a new base made, to experiment with what happens to the sound.

However, B&O were aiming for the pinnacle of sound reproduction with the Beolab 5000 system, and we should really be confident that they knew what they were doing with the plinth, as well.
The arm is B&O's contribution. The turntable itself is exactly as specified by Thorens, which is probably why Thorens also gets a very visible product credit right under the speed control.

I just got excited then and thought yours had a similar serial number to mine - and then I realised that the last picture is of mine!! 😂 77438!

I don't know about the gold SP8/9. The one I had was gold as well.

Found mine - it looks as though it has a gold coating - mine is gradually rubbing off along with the writing! The one I have is actually an SP8 with the mounting bracket on top. It has a sticker on the back with SP8 written on. This is the cartridge that came in the lovely wooden box.

Yes, I "borrowed" a picture to demonstrate the prominent placement of Thorens' name.

Must confess I'm quite impressed. I've been inside the deck now, and while I see there's some work that's been done, there hasn't been much maintenance. The rubber grommets are cracked, hard and dry - which means their function as buffers is = 0. Still, there was acceptable sound coming from the deck (though I suspect that in addition they were mounted in the wrong position - are yours at the bottom of the long bolt? I usually see the grommets (mushrooms) between the metal deck and the plinth, where here they are hanging on the bolt, and not really doing any suspending of the deck.

Nonetheless - it works, is quiet, holds speed and delivers music. Swiss Engineering. I'm getting the Swiss Precision book that Thorens have made - and kudos to B&O for recognizing that nothing but the best would do when they launched the Beolab 5000 amplifier.