The turntable is mounted on a base that I designed and built (with the help of Phil Bruckbauer) from solid Brazilian Cherry (jatoba). It is very heavy! The tonearm is an SME 3009 Improved, modified with a bronze bearing and silk-wrapped litz wiring. The cartridge is a Music Maker 3.

This 124 was the very unit that Herb Reichert wrote about in one of the early Sound Practices issues. I bought the table and tonearm from him, used it briefly, and stored it away for many years because it was in mechanically poor condition and I didn’t know how to fix it up. A number of (mostly European) analog users, including Christian Rintelen, encouraged Lynn and me to not underestimate what could be done with our 124’s. After going completely through mine and installing it on the new base, the advice has turned out to be excellent! I also have a Hadcock 242 Integra, but at this time I am trying to see how much I can get out of the SME. I really like the way it looks on the 124, and it is a great match with the Music Maker 3.

Best regards,
Gary Dahl
Nutshell High Fidelity
http://www.nutshellhifi.com