Regarding the 1210, black 12's etc, I looked this up from a post I made back in august here:
scratchlive.net
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taken from
www.theturntablefactory.com
>>>SL-1210???WHAT'S THAT?<<<
I've gotten a lot of e-mails from you "Technics buffs" asking, in part "I have (can get) an SL-1210 MK2. What does that mean? Well, here's the story:
It seems that North America was always a different market for audio equipment, because our electric is generally 117 volts, 60 Hertz. Most of the rest of the world uses 220 volts / 50 Hertz, or a combination of those 2. In the case of the turntables, the only differences, electronically, was a multi-tap transformer, and a different power supply board, complete with a 117/220 switch. As the drive on these machines is "frequency generated", there was no need to do anything about the 50/60 Hertz difference. Technics,along with many other of the Japanese and European manufacturers, made different versions of the same unit for different markets. Technics has been known to make 4 or 5 different versions of the same model!!
Now, we explain how you got what, back when these were new, and why: The 1200's sold here were single voltage (117 volt) units, and were noted as 1200MK2 or M3D, first, only available in silver, but later made available in "black" (actually a very dark charcoal grey). If you bought these goods new, say at a Manhattan, NY "importer", or other non "Factory Authorized Panasonic / Technics Dealer", the chances were nearly 100% that you were getting a unit destined for another market other than the US. All "Official" Technics electronics came into the US through Panasonic Distribution.
"Grey Market Goods", which were those sold by non Technics dealers, meant that they were bought overseas, and brought here, to be sold direct to the public, bypassing Panasonic distribution and dealers (and extra mark-up!). Usually a bit less expensive new than the US counterpart, there were disadvantages, the biggest being that Panasonic/Technics would NOT honor ANY warranty.
What you actually bought would have depended where you bought it, but most ALL were multi-voltage switchable, and that's the big giveaway!
A Technics turntable that had a "10" as it's last 2 numbers, rather than "00", meant it was destined for the non-US market, and, 99% of the time was (is) available in the dark charcoal color, only, and did NOT come here through Panasonic Distribution, making them "Grey Market". There are some exceptions to this rule, but most apply to other models.. an SL-1350 is an early stacking changer, available here in the US in dark charcoal,only.. but, if you add "10" to the "50", you get a"1360", and that's the non- US version, and is SILVER!!
Used SL-1200MK2/M3D's and their 1210 counterparts, are worth the same money, in the same condition. The only advantage to the 1210 models is that IF you plan to use them overseas, all you need do is turn an easily accessable switch under the platter to change from 117 volts to 220 volts, which meant a step-up (or step-down transformer would not be necessary. When Technics switched to the all-plastic units, for their non-pro line, around 1980 (with a few exceptions), it started their downhill slide. It got to a point in the mid 80's that the quality of their units were no better than any other on the market, and so they took a back seat. It must be said, however, that their continuing manufacture of the SL-1200MKII is a credit to them. The quality hasn't suffered in the last 15 or so years, even if the list price has (at last glance, $650, but recently down about $100 in order to better compete with the myriad of DJ turntables now flooding the marketplace!)
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