It has to be something simple. Most likely dust, lint, gunk or other things are impeding the pickup. The needle is a big part of it. It has to be in right and pushed all the way up. The bobbin has to be in the right way (threading goes in like a small letter p), tension discs clean, etc. I have cleaned up and serviced about 15 of them in my time and own 2. The top gears are sometimes gunked up and the arm that defines the stitches doesn't get to travel in full when you are choosing stitches. I clean every single interior piece and oil with Tri-flow oil. It is a very solid machine and unless it was dropped or really man handled, it works wonderful. I have cleaned many other machines and the 301 and 401 are solid, well designed and well machined. If you go to the yahoo forum- Vintage Singers, you will find specific cleaning instructions and diagrams. Don't give up on the machine- it is a very good one.