Turntable used as part of a DJ setup: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A Technics SL-D2 turntable. The turntable has light silver colored plinth or base. The front of the plinth has speed and pitch controls and a stop push button. Black text on the front in between the controls and stop button reads: [Technics / Direct Drive Automatic Turntable System / SL-D2]. Atop the plinth, towards the proper right, is the platter, yellow mat, silver spindle, and strobe light pattern. The mat (2012.47.6b), or area where the record is placed, is decorated with a cartoon owl perched on the arm of a guitar and text that reads: [Shakey’s Record Fair]. On the proper left side, towards the top, is the tonearm, counterweight, cueing mechanism, arm rest, and anti-skate. The back of the turntable has two slots for cables and a power cord. There is also a sticker with the machine information that reads: [Technics / MODEL SL-D2 / DIRECT DRIVE AUTOMATIC TURNTABLE SYSTEM / POWER SOURCE: AC 120V 50 OR 60 Hz 4W LISTED 8288 / Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. Made in Japan]. The turntable does not have a cover.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1970s
• Manufactured by: Technics, Japanese, founded 1918
• Used by: Angelo T. King, American, born 1959
• Type: turntables (sound device component)
• Medium: metal, plastic, felt, paint, wire
• Dimensions: H x W x D: 5 × 16 3/4 × 14 3/4 in., 13 lb. (12.7 × 42.5 × 37.5 cm, 5.9 kg)
• Place used: New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Place made: Japan, Asia
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Hip-hop (Music)
• Object number: 2012.47.6ab
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Angelo T. King / The Original DJ Tony Tone AKA Tony Crush of The Cold Crush Brothers
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: No Known Copyright Restrictions Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.