Plinth (base)The plinth carries every other part. It is built heavy or damped so that vibration from the motor and the room does not reach the stylus. Makers also call it the base or the chassis.
PlatterThe spinning surface the record rests on. Its one job is to turn at a steady speed, because any change in speed is heard as a change in pitch. Good platters are heavy so that they resist small speed changes.
Speed selectorSets how fast the platter turns. Most 12-inch records play at 33 1/3 rpm and 7-inch singles at 45 rpm. Some decks add 78 rpm for old shellac discs. The wrong speed changes both pitch and tempo.
TonearmThe arm that carries the cartridge across the record. It has to keep the stylus close to tangent to the groove all the way from the outer edge to the label, without adding vibration of its own.
CounterweightBalances the arm and sets the tracking force, the downward pressure of the stylus on the record. Too much wears records early, and too little lets the stylus skip. A numbered dial on it reads the force.
Anti-skate controlA spinning record pulls a pivoted arm toward the center. Anti-skate applies a small opposite force, from a spring, a hanging weight or magnets, so that the stylus stays centered in the groove.
Cartridge (pickup)A transducer: it turns the stylus's tiny movements into an electrical signal. In the common moving magnet type, a tiny magnet on the cantilever moves between fixed coils. The signal is a few millivolts, so it needs a phono preamp.
Stylus (needle)A tiny tip, usually diamond and sometimes sapphire, that rides in the groove. It is the only point of contact with the record. It wears with use and is usually replaceable. Common tip shapes are spherical and elliptical.
Deck and drive 9
Platter mat (record mat)A thin pad of rubber or felt between the record and the platter. A rubber mat grips the record and damps ringing in a metal platter. DJs use a felt slipmat, which lets the record be held still while the platter turns.
SpindleThe spindle centers the record. An LP has a small hole that fits it directly. A 7-inch single was designed with a larger hole, which is why a separate adapter exists.
Drive beltIn a belt-drive deck the motor sits off to one side and turns the platter through this elastic belt. The belt absorbs motor vibration that the stylus would otherwise pick up. A direct-drive deck has no belt.
Motor pulleyThe pulley sits on the motor shaft and drives the belt. On many belt-drive decks it has steps of different size, and moving the belt from one step to another changes the speed between 33 1/3 and 45 rpm.
45 rpm adapterA 7-inch single has a larger center hole than an LP. This puck drops over the spindle to fill the gap. A small plastic insert that snaps into the record itself does the same job and goes by the same name.
Pitch controlA control found on some decks that nudges the platter speed up or down, on a typical DJ deck by up to 8 percent each way. DJs use it to match the tempo of two records, which is called beatmatching.
Dust coverA clear lid that keeps dust off the platter and the stylus. Some are hinged at the back, and some have no hinges and simply lift off.
Dust cover hingeHinges let the dust cover flip open while it stays attached to the deck. A cover without hinges has to be taken off completely before a record can be played.
Feet (isolation feet)Rubber-damped feet keep vibration in the shelf from reaching the stylus. That matters most near loudspeakers, where it can cause acoustic feedback. Some are height-adjustable.
Tonearm 2
Tonearm pivot (bearing)Low-friction bearings here let the arm move sideways and up and down almost freely. A gimbal design uses two sets of bearings. A unipivot balances the whole arm on a single point.
Cue lever (cueing lever)Raises and lowers the arm mechanically, so that the stylus meets the groove gently instead of being dropped by hand. A good one is damped, so the arm sinks slowly with no sudden drop.
Cartridge close-up 2
HeadshellThe cartridge bolts to the underside of the headshell. Many headshells are removable, which makes changing a cartridge easier, and take any cartridge with a standard half-inch mount.
CantileverThe cantilever holds the stylus and carries its vibrations up into the cartridge. It is typically made of aluminum or boron. On most moving magnet cartridges the stylus and cantilever pull out together as one replaceable piece.
The first phonograph 4
HornEarly acoustic phonographs had no electronics. The needle shook a diaphragm, and a flaring horn coupled that small movement to the air of the room.
ReproducerThe reproducer holds a needle fixed to a thin diaphragm. The groove shakes the needle, the diaphragm turns the shaking into sound, and the horn carries it out. Disc machines with side-to-side grooves used a similar head called a soundbox.
CylinderEdison's first phonograph, in 1877, recorded on tinfoil wrapped around a grooved metal cylinder. The needle pressed an up-and-down groove into the foil, which tore after a few plays. Wax cylinders and then flat discs replaced it.
Crank (handle)The first tinfoil phonograph was turned by hand the whole time it recorded or played. Later machines had a spring-powered motor, wound with a crank on the side.
How this list was compiled: Part names and every detail line were checked, for facts only and with nothing copied, against pages read on 2026-09-19. A part is asked only when at least two of these pages use its name. Reference articles: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonograph (the names phonograph, gramophone, record player and turntable; plinth, platter, belt drive, direct drive and idler wheel, tonearm, headshell, counterweight and its dial, anti-skate, cue lever, pickup or cartridge, stylus of diamond or sapphire, horn, diaphragm, crank, tinfoil on a grooved cylinder, the dates 1877 and 1878), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_cartridge (cantilever of aluminum or boron, moving magnet and moving coil, output of a few millivolts, the stylus and cantilever that pull out as one piece), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belt-drive_turntable (the motor off to one side, the elastic belt that absorbs vibration, moving the belt between pulleys of different size to change speed), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct-drive_turntable (the motor under the center of the platter), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technics_SL-1200 (read for generic part names only: rubber mat, spindle, pitch control, dust cover, rubber-damped feet and acoustic feedback), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slipmat (rubber mat against felt slipmat), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitch_control (a typical range of 8 percent, beatmatching), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonograph_record (12-inch records at 33 1/3 rpm, 7-inch records at 45 rpm, the larger center hole and the 45 rpm adapter), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonograph_cylinder and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edison_Disc_Record (reproducer, soundbox, hand-cranked cylinder). Makers' and a retailer's glossaries: https://thehouseofmarley.com/blogs/news/parts-of-a-record-player (plinth also called base or chassis, platter, motor, speed selector, stylus or needle, tonearm, cartridge, counterweight, anti-skate, preamp), https://www.victrola.com/blogs/articles/vinyl-101-the-parts-of-a-turntable (platter, motor, tonearm, cartridge, stylus, counterweight and tracking force, anti-skate, phono preamp), https://www.fluance.com/blog/guide-to-turntable-platter/ , https://www.fluance.com/blog/guide-to-turntable-tonearm/ , https://www.fluance.com/blog/guide-to-turntable-motor/ and https://www.fluance.com/rt81-high-fidelity-vinyl-turntable-record-player-with-premium-cartridge-diamond-needle (platter mat, belt and pulley, speed selector, gimbal and unipivot bearings, cueing lever, detachable headshell with a half-inch mount, dust cover and its hinges, isolation feet, 45 adapter), https://www.turntablelab.com/pages/beginners-guide-to-turntables (motor pulley and rubber belt, the three speeds, anti-skating control, counterweight, dustcover hinges, headshell, pitch control, record mat or slipmat, stylus and cantilever), https://www.project-audio.com/en/faq/ (dust covers that are fixed by a hinge or lift off, chassis or plinth). The first phonograph: https://www.nps.gov/edis/learn/kidsyouth/the-phonograph.htm (National Park Service: 1877, tinfoil around a cylinder, the handle, the needle, foil that tore after a few plays). Labels, hints, detail lines, groups and position notes were written for this site. Licence: own work
The drawing: Drawn for this site, 2026-09-19. Original line drawing built from our own part list and measured proportions (a 450 by 350 mm deck with a 300 mm disc, a 230 mm arm with about 15 mm of overhang and a 22 degree offset at its end, a half-inch mount); nothing was traced or copied, and the numbers and labels are our own. Not to one scale: the four figures are drawn at four sizes, and in the close-up the gap between the pickup and the record is drawn at about twice its real size so that the two smallest parts can be seen. The old machine is a simplified front view of the hand-turned tinfoil kind as improved in 1878, with one speaking unit on a hinged arm over the drum and a plain cone of tin standing in its mouthpiece; it is not the first machine of 1877, which had two units and no cone. Read or looked at for accuracy only, on 2026-09-19: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonograph , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonograph_cylinder , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_cartridge , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belt-drive_turntable , https://patents.google.com/patent/US200521 (the 1878 United States patent for the tinfoil machine, public domain, read for how the shaft, its feed thread and the diaphragm fit together), https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Popular_Science_Monthly/Volume_12/April_1878/On_Edison%27s_Talking-Machine (public domain, 1878, read for the axle, its thread, the mouthpiece and the cone of paper or tin placed against it), https://www.nps.gov/edis/learn/kidsyouth/the-phonograph.htm , and these photographs on Wikimedia Commons, looked at and not copied: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Improved_phonograph,_1878.jpg (public domain) and https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Edison%27s_1877_Cylinder_Tinfoil_Phonograph_(photo_1_of_2)_(5cc2641d-1dd8-b71b-0b6c-0871a45fb59a).jpg (National Park Service, public domain). Licence: own work
How it works
These are the 25 labeled parts of a record player in four figures. They show the deck from above and from the side, the tonearm's end enlarged, and an early cylinder phonograph. Open Study to look a name up, or quiz yourself in Find it or Name it. Miss three, and Practise the 3 you missed asks again.
Read the full guide
Parts of a turntable, from the deck to the needle
One machine has gone by four names: phonograph, then gramophone, record player since the 1940s, and more recently turntable. The Deck and drive set zooms to 12 parts, among them the belt and pulley that turn the platter. Tonearm holds 5, from counterweight to cue lever. Cartridge close-up enlarges the last 4: headshell, cartridge, cantilever and stylus. In Find it, a wrong tap shows the right part. Print blank gives a numbered sheet.
Parts of a phonograph: the 1877 inset
The fourth figure is the kind of machine Edison showed in 1877. Sound was pressed into tinfoil wrapped around a grooved cylinder, and the foil tore after a few plays. It has 4 parts to name: horn, reproducer, cylinder and a crank turned by hand. The groove shakes a needle fixed to a diaphragm, and the horn carries the sound out.
The cartridge is the small box under the headshell, and the stylus is only its tip. Under Name it, Type it takes needle for the stylus and pickup for the cartridge.
The counterweight sets how hard the stylus presses down. Anti-skate pulls sideways, so the arm does not drift toward the center of the record.
This drawing is a belt drive. A direct-drive deck has no belt and no pulley, because its motor sits under the center of the platter.
Questions and answers
What are the parts of a record player?
Pick Start here: 8 main parts under Start from for the plinth, platter, tonearm, cartridge, stylus, counterweight, anti-skate control and speed selector. The other 17 are the mat, spindle, belt, pulley, dust cover, hinge, feet, pivot, cue lever, headshell, cantilever, pitch control and 45 rpm adapter, plus the 4 parts of the early phonograph.
Does every record player have all of these parts?
No. The drawing is a composite, so each part appears once. Pitch control is mostly a DJ feature, some entry-level players have no anti-skate control, and not every headshell comes off.
What is left out, and where do the names come from?
The post the arm parks on has no number, because no page we read names it. The motor, platter bearing, phono preamp and rear sockets are hidden in these views. Every name asked appears in at least two of the makers' glossaries and reference articles read on September 19, 2026.