Technics SL1200 & SL1210 The End Of An Era

In the picture the Limited Edition SL1200GLD turntable released to celebrate 30 years of production.

A sad day indeed…

Panasonic this week announced they were ceasing production of the legendary Technics SL1200 and the SL1210 turntables. The last ones will fall off the production line towards the end of February 2010 after almost 35 years as the industry standard.

The SL1200 direct drive turntable, a classic design and one most of us cut our teeth on, first appeared back in the 1970’s and quickly became the deck of choice for DJs’ and clubs the world over. Other more robust models followed such as the SL1200 MK2 and the SL1210 that featured a slide pitch control, pop up light and stop/start button.

Panasonic stated the reason for pulling the plug was the decline of sales and the difficulty to compete in an every increasing digital world where most media is now no longer black plastic but MP3 files.

Robust is the word. I invested £500 for my pair of SL1210’s back in 1992 and they are still going strong today. Granted maybe the pitch control is a little bit loose and the lids are slightly cracked but they still hold sync true when doing a beat mix.

It’s hard to imagine a world without these iconic symbols so if you don’t already own a pair I strongly recommend you save some cash and invest in something that won’t be around for very much longer.

SL1200 / SL1210 R I P