Hi. Newbie here.

Can anyone advise me where I might be able to purchase a new drivebelt for my Yamaha YP-400 turntable?

might somewhere like Maplin sell them?

'Fraid not.

Thanks for replying, John. It's eight months since I posted that! In the meantime, I've given up, and bought a turntable on eBay.

Yamaha wanted around £37 for a new belt, by the way.

Crikey!! That seems rather a lot for (what is essentially) an elastic band... I wonder if there is a company that anyone knows of that sells spares at a more competative price?

Nothing/no-one that I could find. I emailed a few likely contenders.

I still have the turntable, though. It's too hard to throw it away!

Where abouts are you, Paul? I recently had a pretty good experience with this company http://www.dkavs.co.uk/services.htm based in the South East. Perhaps they could source the part for you?

Thanks, Alex. I actually live in France now, but have UK addresses that can used for mail order and posting on.

I'll have a look at that site.

Alex, I emailed the firm you suggested, and had a reply this morning. Unfortunately, they do not order spare parts at all.

Thanks for the idea, though!

Oh - sorry, didn't realise you were just after the part. I think they're a repair firm. They'd probably fix it for you, but you'd have to drop the unit into them, which isn't much help if you're in France... sorry I wasn't of more help!

I can't believe parts like that can be that difficult to find - does nobody know of a company? It must be a problem a lot of people face...

Being generous by nature (!), I accept the fact that the age of the turntable (almost thirty years) makes the supply of parts a little difficult!

Try www.turntableneedles.com
They have a huge range of belts at very reasonable prices, and although they are US based they don't charge carriage.
I have successfully rebelted a couple of ancient decks with their kit.

Thanks very much, Howard.

I have been on their site before, as a quick glance just now confirmed. Unfortunately, it seems every Yamaha turntable but the YP-400 is listed there! The YP-450 belt listed is quite a lot shorter than the YP-400, for instance.

Keep looking!

They list by dimensions as well, have you still got the old belt?

Yes, indeed. I spent a long time comparing it to the stock they list.