Congratulation Soundproof,

The Thorens TD124's have very good reputations from Audiophiles. They've been used in Studios. However, my turntable favorit is the iconic Beogram 4000 series. BTW, what's your plan with the Beogram 4000? ;-)

Best regards.

Dario

Haven't decided what to do with my BG4000s.
I have three, where two work very well, and the third needs a new sensor lamp to do what it's supposed to do.

May get another amp for one of them, and then keep one for spares, but my heart will bleed if I start butchering one ... A friend is very keen on getting my third BG4000. If that doesn't work out then I'll probably post it here first, nice if it goes to a BeoWorlder.

Frede got back to me right away, and is looking forward to restoring the deck. I'll be sending it off day after tomorrow, and should have it back by the end of October.

Now the hunt has begun for a 12" ST/P arm, which it would be nice to equip it with.

I'm moving along with my idea of creating a shale (soapstone) bottom plinth. Frede liked the suggestion, writing:

"Soapstone Base.
That's a very good idea. My experience indicates that it will achieve a damping effect relative to interference from surroundings of about 10db. Which in this connection is quite a lot."

I may actually have a wider base made, where I get recesses carved for the tools of the trade (needle-brush, etc.) -- and then the plinth rises out from this base, all in one section, and in imitation of the original shape. The Rosewood section will be kept intact, but may end up not supporting the turntable.

Will keep you posted as work progresses. 
I will be painting the deck with British Racing Green in the Napier tone, which corresponds well with the green stereo lights on the Beolab/Beomaster 5000. 

The interior of the rosewood section extends deeper than what you see in front, and I don't want to cut that. 

The bottom panel is the original B&O one, and has various info.

Top right - we see the sales sticker from FONA, which was selling articles for B&O back then. The price was DKK 1590,-

Below that is a white B&O imprint, stating that the deck has been made in Denmark, by B&O. As they've been very frank about the origin of the Thorens, I don't see that as a fib. There's a serial number for the Beogram, which is different from that of the Thorens player, and then there's a signature of quality approval.

There's also a white sticker which was probably placed there by someone servicing the unit at some point.

The square plate covers a recess that's been made for the motor. B&O probably cheated a little here, as my unit came with some foam rubber between the head of the motor and the wooden panel. Ideally, one should be absolutely certain that the motor was free of the chassis, to avoid any vibrations - a lot of the other elements of the Thorens construction (grommets, suspension of motor) are invalidated if the motor cover touches the plinth.

soundproof wrote:

I will be painting the deck with British Racing Green in the Napier tone, which corresponds well with the green stereo lights on the Beolab/Beomaster 5000.

This ought to be a stunner! Looking FWD to seeing it! 😁

So do I!

A few more details.

The top of the deck, under the turntable, has a special metal plate manufactured by Thorens, but with Danish writing: KUN TIL INDBYGNING - ONLY FOR INCLUSION; i.e. only to be used as an OEM part for inclusion in other plinths, etc. Tandberg used the same deck in their top-of-the-line record player at that time.

This metal plate does not have a serial number, though there's a field  for that. It also shows voltage and cycles.

Realizing that the deck is in excellent shape for a complete refurbish to original state, I will make no changes to it, but will have another plinth made up, out of soapstone, which I can move the deck to if I wish.

So Frede will be working on restoring the original B&O plinth to "as new" condition, while also ensuring that the Beogram 3000 Thorens deck is "better than new."

Looking forward to the result.

Here's the paper sticker from B&O, saying GR3000 Type 5210, with the same serial number that was on the bottom plate shown in the earlier post.

soundproof wrote:

Realizing that the deck is in excellent shape for a complete refurbish to original state, I will make no changes to it, but will have another plinth made up, out of soapstone, which I can move the deck to if I wish.

I think, that's the right decision... such a rare deck must be restored to the original condition without modifications, just my opinion. OK... a second plinth made from soapstone would be nice. Then you've got the choice to change the cabinet. It's a win-win situation. ;-)

Just wanted to chime in on the congratulations, along with Beogram 4000 and Garrard 301 the most beautiful turntable ever, in my eyes at least.

I'm positive it'll look absolutely stellar in BRG ! And please don't feel that you've got to hold back on the pictures, moderation is not key in such circumstances.

Agree with Donderhonning, and this is a piece of Swiss precition mecanics that need to be kept like that, I will follow this tread untill finished, and  hope for many pics and reports.

How to pack properly for shipment?

As I don't have the original packing materials, and will now be trusting this deck to some unknown pairs of hands between me and Classic Audio, this has to be done well. Fortunately the internet is a good guide - both to the good and the bad.

First the bad, some horror pic's of bad packing from VinylNirvana, a restorer working in the US. These photos are from ONE MONTH'S WORTH of received shipments ... Viewer discretion is advised:

link

Right - we won't do that. Imagine how sad a restorer would feel while "excavating" those packages? Don't want to put Frede through anything like that.
Here's a very good guideline for packing the Thorens 124, from another restorer, in the form of recognition for how one of his customers had packed the deck:

link