Technics 1200 and Dynaco A25 updates

Some updates on previous projects:

The Technics 1200 came back from being powder-coated a couple of weeks ago and has been partially assembled. It looks really good in black and the Sandtex texture works great.  

I had ordered some parts for it, in the form of a new pitch control bezel and some Cardas wire for the tonearm. The pitch thing is adhesive backed and removing the old one ruined it. As for the wire, I figure that if I am going to replace the arm anyway I might as well upgrade it.

However the tonearm work is on hold pending the arrival of more parts. I was investigating the tonearm rest clamp and wondering why the clamp would not snap around the arm tube. The tonearm is bent on this table and is being replaced anyway, but it appears that whatever caused the dent  in the tonearm had some collateral along with it.

That little piece you see above is not supposed to sit there. It's supposed the be an integral part of the tonearm base just above it. I determined that the extension the arm rest attaches to was bent. So I tried to straighten it. Wrong! SNAP!

Oh well, it was bent anyway and I should have known that would happen with cast aluminum. In any case it meant another $60 expenditure to get a tonearm base on ebay. It's coming from Asia so could take a while. But it will be black so will probably look better too. It also won't have the marks on it that this used one had. I'm getting closer to a "new" turntable all along.

Below you can see how it is coming along, though some of these parts are going to come off again before the final assembly.

As for the Dynaco A25 refinishing project, that took a turn for the better last week. 

I found a better grill cloth in the form of some polyester drapery fabric in a linen like texture. It's not just like the original but at least reminiscent of it. The colour is lighter and almost white which is fine as I like the contrast with the fairly dark wood stain.

The weave is tighter but not so much I think it would have an effect on the sound. It is much easier to work with than the other stuff I tried as it is not stretchy. In the next picture you can see the original linen (probably darkened with age and certainly with dirt), and the stretchy stuff the fabric store employee sold Linda when she asked for "speaker cloth" (on the right) and the stuff I close on the left. The best thing is that it was only $4 per metre.