Adjusting tt speed on the cheap:any tricks?

Many strobe discs are marked to work with lighting that pulses 120 times a second, just like regular wall power. Maybe you could xerox a friend's strobe disc then use a regular incandescent bulb light in a darkened room.

Do you have any albums on CD and LP ? If so play them and adjust until the pitch is the same. The ear is quite good at detecting pitch differences so this will get you very close.

The stop watch works well, but average it over 3 to 5 minutes for better accuracy.

If you want something a little more 'scientific' get the Cardas LP which is great for set up and break-in and also has a device for setting speed with a regular lightbulb. You should have this LP anyway, the speed control is just a bonus.

A free strobe disc can be downloaded from www.vinylengine.com. A 120V neon panel lamp is available at Rat Shack for a couple of bucks, you will have to solder a cord and wall plug onto it. Bingo, you will be in business for an hour of sweat labor and a the price of a bottle of that cheap wine with the screw cap that you keep buying. You can also find some records with strobe markings in the label area. M&K made some, the Telarc Omni Disk has them, not sure but I believe that the Rat Shack/Stereo Review test record has them, this one is available at seemingly every used record store in America for a couple of bucks. Money well spent.

you can get a free strobe disc here:
http://www.quadesl.com/pdf/strobe.pdf

No Stobe light is needed, simply use it under a normal incandescant lamp (60hz - use the corresponding disc)