Technics SL-1200MK2

The Technics SL-1200MK2 is the turntable hip hop DJs built the craft on. Released in 1979, it took Technics’ 1971 SL-1200 and rebuilt it for club use, and for the next three decades a pair of MK2s and a mixer was the standard DJ setup worldwide.

History

The original SL-1200 came out of a Technics team led by Shuichi Obata in 1971. After studying how DJs were using decks in clubs, Technics followed with the MK2 in 1979, adding a vertical pitch fader, a pop-up stylus light, strobe dots on the platter, an S-shaped tonearm and adjustable insulator feet. Technics itself describes the MK2 as the point where the turntable went from a playback device to a musical instrument.

A common myth credits DJ Kool Herc with using 1200s at his 1973 parties. The MK2 did not exist yet; Technics says the deck in Herc’s hands was the earlier SL-1100. The 1200 series arrived in the hands of the next wave of New York DJs, including Grand Wizard Theodore and Afrika Bambaataa.

Why DJs and producers loved it

The secret is the quartz-locked, direct-drive motor. It gets the platter to speed in under a second and holds that speed even while a DJ rocks the record back and forth under the needle. That made scratching, back-spinning and extending breaks with two copies of the same record reliable, night after night. The ±8% pitch slider made beat-matching precise, and the heavy die-cast platter and isolated feet kept feedback down in loud rooms.

Legacy

The SL-1200 series has sold more than three million units, and an SL-1210MK2 sits in London’s Science Museum. The DMC DJ championships, founded in 1985, have been built around generations of 1200s. Technics stopped production in November 2010, announced a revival in 2016, and released the DJ-focused SL-1200MK7 in 2019.

Buying a used SL-1200MK2

Clean original MK2s are still sought after. When shopping, check that the deck locks to speed, that the pitch fader is smooth and noise-free, that the tonearm bearings are tight, and whether the listing includes the dust cover, headshell and platter mat, which are often sold separately. Newer MK5 and MK7 models are easy to confuse with the MK2 in listings, so read the model number on the photos.