VPI Speed Problem

Okay, mea culpa (my wife says hi). Your own recommendations up top seem sensible, though I would replace the white lithium grease with a drop or two of Mobil 1. Yeah, I know Mike used to recommend the grease, but they also recommended Slick 50 for a while and that stuff turns to GOO.

Another recommendation, straight from VPI, is to clean the belt and then boil it (no kidding) for 30 seconds or so before putting it back on the table. I've heard various boiling times; Mike told me 30 seconds.

Frankly, though, the OP reminded me of what a lack of pitch stability sounds like. My SDS appeared to be dead-on, speedwise, winter and summer, as tested with a KAB strobe, but there was still something wrong. It didn't bother others and I tweaked the hell out of the TNT. I've already mentioned what "fixed" the problem for me.

Kthomas,
I wish I knew the answer to your problem. My guess it is a bearing or belt issue. A drop of oil and or grease? Perhaps a stretched belt.
Tfkaudio,
You're right.

Enjoy...

Thanks very much for all the helpful responses. I'll have to get it working perfectly again before I could sell it to get a Lenco in any case, so thanks especially for the troubleshooting tips :-)

New belt didn't change anything. I'll have to get a strobe to check the speed - I have the speed disk, but not the strobe. And my motor is the dual wheel (600 rpm?), not the direct wheel.

I'll check into putting drops of oil in the right places. It really fell off from sounding great to sounding terrible pretty quickly. Bummer, too, as I just got the new Van Morrison remasters :-)

Agree with you 'Tfkaudio', and I feel shame. Even though 'Oregon' initially jacked the thread, I should have taken the high road and let it slide.

Still, as I first posted, we have yet to know if the OP has checked the actual platter speed, which would be the first step in diagnosing the problem.

Kthomas,
I recently purchased the remastered Moondance. Compared to the original, as in many pressings, I prefer the original. Many remasters sound overdone. In this case too bassy, vocalist in your face and music seems either bloated or in the background. With the original, the band and Van seem to be in the same room, playing with each other on the stage and not in separate rooms with their own volume controls (bass and vocal mic beefed up). That's how I hear the 2. (Could be the crappy Lenco.)
On another note:
I just saw a a film at the NW Film Festival called "Irish Rover" good footage of Van playing with Dylan and The Chieftians.
For his earlier stuff, which I like very much, get "Van Morrison In Review" on eBay for $18.00.