Lenco L75 turntable from “Fredi's Discothek”, ca. 1975

The bow tie is in place, the hair is perfect. Winfred “Fredi” Maltzahn thumbs through his record collection, pulls out a single and puts it on the turntable. The sounds of ABBA ring out, the hall rocks. It is the mid 1970s and Winfred is a freelance disc jockey who a few days before had put the final touches on his DJ equipment setup: a semi-circular booth with integrated mixing console, a self-made tube amplifier, a band and jingle machine, a lighting system and two Lenco L75 turntables.

In the 1970s the L75 is a popular device in living rooms and kids rooms as well as in dance studios and discos. There are reasons for this. It not only looks great and has quite good sound but, at 400 DM, is affordable to boot. Its mechanics also fit the bill: The friction wheel drive is robust and the four different speeds enable it to play the various record formats of the day. It is the Swiss company Lenco’s top selling record player.

Fredi integrated two of these turntables into his DJ setup. He worked on the system for over a year. It was designed to fit into his Type 2 VW bus, which he then drove to such events in as company celebrations, weddings or New Years Eve parties in West Berlin where he was booked to play. Once at the event, Fredi would only need 45 minutes to set up all his equipment. He continued to use it for playing music well into the 1990s.