Major Parts:
Dust cover: Does what its name suggests, protects the record, turntable, and mechanical parts of the player from dust. The dust cover additionally, protects against feedback due to room vibrations traveling up the needle and affecting record sound. Though many audiophiles disagree with this, the dust cover should always be down when a record is playing!

Dust: Along with static electricity, the enemies of all record owners. Every attempt should be made to keep dust off records, the turntable, and the record needle. Obviously, every attempt has not been made in the photo above!

Tone arm: The business end of the record player. The tone arm converts vibrations created in the needle by record grooves into sound which is amplified before being sent to the speakers. The development of this critical part is discussed further in the next section.

Cartridge: Consists of the needle and the electronics to convert mechanical vibrations into electronic tones. A quality cartridge is essential for accurate sound reproduction. Cartridges have become so sophisticated, that audiophiles use different cartridges for different types of music.

Spindle: Where the record is placed to properly center and align it for playing. Various adaptors can also be placed here to play different sizes of records. When using a cleaning a record with a brush, the owner should ground themselves by touching the metal part of the spindle to avoid excess static electricity.

Turntable/Platter: Usually made of rubber or an anti-static felt material, this is the moving surface where the record is placed to spin it at the proper RPM. This surface should be gentle to the record while insuring that it doesn't slip or slide while being played. Additionally, it should be easy to clean and not attract dust if possible.

Main Controls: These controls vary by manufacturer, but most include start and stop buttons, size settings, speed settings, a "cue" button and sometimes a "repeat" button or other controls. It is preferable to use these controls rather than the hand to start a record. These controls are much more gentle when placing and removing the needle.

Pitch Controls: Discussed in more detail below, these controls allow for exacting speed settings, independent of outside conditions such as motor wear, temperature, and electrical current level.

Tone arm:
Though Record players have changed little since their early development. Probably the area of greatest change has been the evolution of the tone arm. As seen in the photo at left, the 1940's tone arm is VERY different from the 1990's arm below it. Though the newer tone arm may seem more "flimsy", it is in fact, much better at reproducing sound and much, much easier on the records it travels within.

If you look closely, you will notice that the 1940's needle is just a thick solid steel pin with a sharpened point. Add in the fact that this tone arm weights many times more times what a modern tone arm weighs, and you can easily see why records (even those made of harder shellac) didn't last very long. This 1940's tone arm placed a pressure of at least a few POUNDS on the record, whereas the modern tone arm places a pressure of less than 2 GRAMS on a record. This is hundreds, perhaps thousands of times less pressure at the tip of the needle! Less pressure results in less "cutting" or "gouging" of the thin vinyl grooves. The result is a cleaner sound and a much much longer life for the record!

Special Adjustments:
Tone arm Mass: The Tone arm mass is found at the far end of the tone arm (see photo at right) opposite to the needle and allows direct setting of the amount of pressure placed on record grooves. This setting has a critical effect on sound quality, record durability, and the tendency of a record to skip. In short, it is VERY important to set correctly. Follow the manufacturer's suggestions in setting the Tone arm mass correctly if present. Most manufacturers suggest a mass of between 1 and 2 grams. The mass at right is set to 1.25 grams.

Anti-skid Control: The Anti-skid Control modifies the side to side sway of the tone arm. This control is difficult to set correctly, since the tone arm must move to read the grooves, but should also have a certain amount of "stick" to avoid skipping ahead or getting stuck in an endless back skip. Follow manufacturer's directions for setting this item if present.

Stroboscopic Pitch Control: This is a fancy name for "the little window that gets the RPM correct". As simulated in the photo at left, a strobe light is aimed at the underside (sometimes the side) of the turntable platter where a series of marks have been machined into the surface. A mirror then directs the series of dots and flashes upward for the user to view. Using the pitch knob at the left allows for exact setting of the turntable RPMs (+ or -). When a line of dots is standing in place in the window, the exact RMP desired has been reached. Simply put, no turntable electric motor is exactly correct. This light, which flashes at an exact rate, allows the user to compensate for variable conditions. Additionally, the record speed can be modified by a DJ to better match the BPM (beats per minute) of two different songs for mixing purposes.