Technics 1200 Tragedy Largely Untrue
With the invention of social media, including the instant gratification aficionado’s wet dream Twitter, sources of unsubstantiated rumors need only plant a seed and watch as chatty tweeters spin the tall tale into fact. In the world of journalism, this can be devastatingly effective at making even the most seasoned story writer grab hold of a lead that’s just plain lie.
It’s circulated wildly that Technics will either be closed entirely by its parent company Panasonic or that in the least they will be ending production on their most effervescent line of decks amongst wheels of steel connoisseurs, the Technics 1200. Technics’ line of 1200-model turntables have been a long-standing tradition for scratch enthusiasts and hip-hop beat masters almost immediately following their inception in October of 1972. It’s said that their deep connection with the hip-hop community stems from the fact that DJ Kool Herc used a pair of the preceding model, Technics SL-1100, as his first DJ set.
Rumor of the line’s demise have spread quickly as hip-hoppers mourn the loss of iconic DJing equipment via tweets and Facebook statuses. Even URB has done its fair share to propel the headline, featuring two stories from outside sources that seem to confirm at least a partial end of the line for the 1200 models without any sort of explanation.
With these sorts of friends, it seems like Technics doesn’t need enemies. These stories have been unproven, with only small morsels of information coming from reliable sources. In fact, one of the stories that is featured on URB from the DJing website Skratchworx seems to be taken wildly out of context. The quoted article was published nearly three years ago and meant to clarify similar rumors following an announcement from Panasonic that Technics would slim down it’s 1200 line-up. This article was not, as it certainly seems from URB‘s present-day presentation, a statement based on this round of whispers. To muddy the waters further, the announcement that Technics would cease production of these two models–the Technics 1200MK5 and 1210MK5–has never truly come to fruition, according to Skratchworx. The author of the original article, which was published in January of 2007, has since published an article refuting claims of the company’s departure and quite adamant about the misinterpretation of his previous piece.
At this time it appears as though the only scent of a reputable source comes from the article featured on Inthemix, in which a Panasonic spokesmen appears to confirm the end of production on all Technics products (not just the 1200 line), at least in Australia. Even this quote has been called into question as it appears to be something that has been seen by Inthemix’s eyes only and not a publicly-issued statement.
So for now, it seems that the thrust of this rumor–the demise of the Technics 1200–is almost entirely based on speculations and misconstruction of fact. Hip-hop heads need not clutch their slip mats tightly just yet, seeing as this rumor is, like many-a Twitter happenings, simply something that has been taken out of context. Stand by for further information as Panasonic and/or Technics will certainly address the issue near the top of the business week.
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