thanks for the continued support, Mark. very much appreciated

I didn't think to check which model it was, assumed it was the same as my 2a, doh!

ok, i'll test the pcb in a minute, the only difference between the pic you've posted, and my player, is that on my board, which is now completely out the chassis -fwiw- there is a component in the space between the 3v jumper and the dc jack, the component is the same as in the top right of your pic, 22-35 LN, i thought it was a replacememnt fuse at first, but is it a diode? i'm sure they used to have a mark one end to show which direction the let the current flow.... it's been nearly 20yrs since i messed at this level! in fact, i'd say there's very little on these pcb's i recongnise, all seems to be chips, no little pot capacitors, triacs, colour coded resistors, etc!! does that make me old school!

ok, results...

1-2 10.02 k/ohm
1-3 97.8 k/ohm
1-4 10.01 k/ohm
1-5 10.01 k/ohm

2-3 86.5 k/ohm (slowly climbing)
2-4 3.1 ohm
2-5 3.1 ohm

3-4 85.7 k/ohm
3-5 86 k/ohm
4-5 3.1 ohm

thanks.
Hugh