You know, a lot of people… and it has to be said most of these people have a severe attitude problem, but I won’t go into that, will tell you that to be a DJ you HAVE to have Technics.

I don’t think that’s true, but what is true is that there is absolutely nothing on the market to rival them at all. Very few decks even come close to being as good. The 2000 series from Gemini is nice, as is the Pro TT range from Numark and some turntablists / scratch artists actually prefer Vestax because of the ASTS tonearms (That’s Anti Skate Tonearm System by the way, just for anyone who didn’t know. They’re straight, as opposed to the normal ‘S’ shape, and so are less likely to skip during a long scratch, especially if you have all the dexterity of a baby elephant.)

Technics decks just have so much power. That’s the thing that really stands out for me. I don’t own a pair of Technics, although I do have a cunning plan to get some… I have errr “demoed” them on a number of occasions though. (For “demoed” read gone into shops and played with them for about an hour drooling madly and almost having to be forcibly evicted from the shop)

They really are the dogs dangly bits. If you’ve been used to playing with something like a PD-1 or XL-500 in your bedroom, then you’ll just be amazed once you finally step up to a 1200 or a 1210… you hit the start/stop button and the power is just right there… whooooosh! And no matter how heavy handed you might be, you just cannot stop the platter. I get the feeling that you could step on it with both feet and it would just keep turning. (Don’t try that at home you!)

Really though, you set the pitch, and the wheels of steel just keep turning and turning under your hand, with the most amazing accuracy. They just DO NOT flutter, at all, ever, or so it seems. You can hold a record stopped, and tha
t platter just keeps turning under the mat with no slowdown whatsoever (just watch that strobe and see how the pitch dots stay static when you’re at 0 and holding the record stopped)

There’s a reason why these are the established DJ deck, and very much the choice of the professional. They’re just unsurpassable in their excellence.

When I manage to pay off my credit card, I’m planning on buying one SL1210, and then I should be able to sell my Gemini’s and with the money I get from them, buy another to complete the pair. That’s the only way that I can see for me to get some. Why are all the good things so damn expensive??

Anyway, with these you really get what you pay for. I’m just longing for the day when I can take one of these home after my little “demo”…

If you can afford them, buy them, you won’t regret it… and if you’re unsure, well, just see if a friendly member of staff will let you have a demo. Just don’t torture yourself like me by demoing them when you know you can’t pay…