UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum

UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum (https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/index.php)
-   Vintage Audio (record players, hi-fi etc) (https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=14)
-   -   Garrard record player deck identification. (https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/showthread.php?t=89840)

suebutcher 2nd Nov 2012 7:46 am

Garrard record player deck identification.
 
I thought it a good idea to create a Garrard picture thread like the BSR sticky.

Darren-UK 2nd Nov 2012 2:51 pm

Re: Garrard record player decks
 
One small problem eventually appeared with the BSR ID thread; a large number of text-only posts appeared between posts with images, meaning anyone wishing to ID a deck needs to trawl through a lot of posts and pages. So to avoid that happening again, perhaps text-only posts can be kept to an absolute minimum.

Please stick to image attachments rather than post external links (Photobucket etc) as these links tend to become defunct over time, rendering posts useless.

GP49000 2nd Nov 2012 8:54 pm

Re: Garrard record player decks
 
I would second this request and offer to share what I have in the way of Garrard images collected over the years among my own Garrards, from various other sources and from EBay listings.

In addition there is a good Photobucket collection of Garrardiana. I understand the person maintaining it is from Garrard's hometown, Swindon.

Humsilalesis's collection of Garrard Eng Swindon

ben 3rd Nov 2012 12:17 am

Re: Garrard record player deck identification.
 
4 Attachment(s)
Right, I'll start the ball rolling with a few random pics.
From left to right: a Synchrolab 65B, an AT5 /AS 3000, a 1950s RC98 and a 40B.

The 40B and Synchrolab 65 are basically the SP25 MkIII with an autochanger.

ben 3rd Nov 2012 12:32 am

Re: Garrard record player deck identification.
 
5 Attachment(s)
Here's the innovative Zero 100SB , a late 70s belt drive GT35P, the common 2025TC (as fitted to many Hacker and Bush suitcase players, usually fitted with Sonotone 9TAHC, Acos GP91-1SC, or Sonotone 3509), an sp25 Mk.V (belt drive I believe), and finally another common model: SP25 Mk. III, mainstay of 70s budget hi fi separate systems.

ben 3rd Nov 2012 12:46 am

Re: Garrard record player deck identification.
 
3 Attachment(s)
Here's an SP25 MK.II, as fitted to Hackers, an RC120/4 and an RC121/4. The difference is the removable headshell on the 121. They came in 3- and 4 -speed versions, hence the suffix.

I'm sure one of mine is fully automatic - does not have the Auto-manual slide switch (visible bottom right of pics) - maybe someone could clarify.

GP49000 3rd Nov 2012 4:13 am

Re: Garrard record player deck identification.
 
4 Attachment(s)
Featuring the RC80:

Overhead view, with 45 auto spindle
Pusher platform
Speed selector
Underside view

GP49000 3rd Nov 2012 4:20 am

Re: Garrard record player deck identification.
 
5 Attachment(s)
The RC90: This was a deluxe RC80 with an eddy-current speed adjustment, like that found in the 301-401.

RC90 in brown
RC90 auto/manual control and badge
RC90 speed/reject control panel
RC90 in tan
RC90 underside. Note visible eddy current brake disc, above motor.

GP49000 3rd Nov 2012 4:31 am

Re: Garrard record player deck identification.
 
5 Attachment(s)
The RC88. This was a very popular record changer, a "high end" machine of its time. It also bridged the mono and stereo eras. It was produced in both its original three-speed version (33, 45, 78) and later as the RC88/4 with four speeds.

RC88 3-speed. This is a special "Leopold Stokowski" limited edition.
RC88 3-speed. "Leopold Stokowski" limited edition badge.
RC88/4 4-speed.
RC88/4 badge
RC88/4 in less common tan colour

GP49000 3rd Nov 2012 4:42 am

Re: Garrard record player deck identification.
 
3 Attachment(s)
The RC98 was a deluxe RC88, with speed adjustment. This was done
with a rheostat control like that on the 4HF manual record player.

RC98
RC98 motor, speed control module, and wiring
RC98 underside. Mechanism is identical to RC88.

GP49000 3rd Nov 2012 4:49 am

Re: Garrard record player deck identification.
 
5 Attachment(s)
Model 88 Mk II. This was a lower-cost pusher-platform model based on the Type A, with the small platter and mat of the RC88, and its brown colour.

88 Mk II
88 Mk II logo, located on the plastic trim panel adjacent to tonearm base
88 Mk II playing a stack of records
88 Mk II center medallion (this sample has a non-Garrard rubber mat)
88 Mk II headshell. It was identical to that of the Type A, except for colour.

GP49000 3rd Nov 2012 5:00 am

Re: Garrard record player deck identification.
 
4 Attachment(s)
Type A. This model had a large, heavy, nonferrous cast platter atop the regular steel drive platter of the RC88, but isolated from it by a foam sub-mat. It was also the first automatic record player with a fully counterbalanced tonearm. Its motor was an upgrade of that on the RC88, with magnetic screening plates, top and bottom, to minimize hum induced into sensitive magnetic cartridges. With these advanced features, it was advertised as the world's first "Automatic Turntable" to distinguish it from ordinary record changers.

The Type A sold exceptionally well. With the Type A and its sibling the AT6, Garrard dominated the American market, capturing well over half the sales of hi-fi record playing equipment.

Type A with USA plinth and GE VR-II mono cartridge. This has a non-standard mat replacing the original, whose rubber had perished.
Type A tonearm pivot assembly detail
Type A underside, showing the screening plates on the motor
Type A in metal plinth, as typically sold in Britain. Most Type A built for USA sales were tan; for UK sales, light grey.

GP49000 3rd Nov 2012 5:18 am

Re: Garrard record player deck identification.
 
2 Attachment(s)
The Type AII was a mild reworking of the Type A. Most of the differences were in styling, with a new charcoal grey colour and a new platter mat with brushed chrome trim. Other changes included simplified suspension springs, the deletion of the built-in leveling adjustments, and a new record hold-down on the pusher platform.

Type AII
Type AII on USA British Industries Corp. walnut plinth

GP49000 3rd Nov 2012 5:30 am

Re: Garrard record player deck identification.
 
3 Attachment(s)
The Type A70 was an advance on the Type AII. A new tonearm developed alongside that of the Lab 80, with new lightweight magnesium headshell and antiskate compensator, was the biggest change. Type A70 also had a higher-performance automatic trip mechanism, with a lightweight aluminium transfer lever incorporating low-friction Dupont Delrin® bushings; a new auto trip friction plate moulded in Delrin®; and a low-mass aluminium auto trip operating lever. With these advancements the Type A70 could operate at tracking weights of one gram. Another improvement was foam rubber dampers inside the suspension springs, which in the Type AII had been rather "bouncy." Type A70 retained the same basic styling as Type AII, with a new iridescent dark grey-green colour.

Type A70
Type A70 tonearm pivot detail with antiskate. Note this sample has a Type A mat.
Type A70 underside. This is probably a USA sample as it lacks the voltage changeover block. Also, most UK samples lacked the magnetic screening plates on the motor. Foam dampers are visible inside the suspension springs.

GP49000 3rd Nov 2012 5:38 am

Re: Garrard record player deck identification.
 
4 Attachment(s)
The 70 Mk II was the Type A70, almost unchanged but for its nameplate. With the introduction of the Lab 80, the sales of Garrard's pusher platform models lagged, and the 70 Mk II was pushed onto the market with little enthusiasm. A cueing device, a much-demanded feature first introduced among automatic turntables on the Lab 80, and conspicuous on two lower-priced models introduced in the Mk II line, was lacking in the 70 Mk II, which was built primarily to use up the existing parts supply. Garrard had first introduced the pusher platform record changing mechanism, regarded as the safest and most reliable type, in the 1930s. The 70 Mk II was the last Garrard with this feature. Today, along with the Type A70, it is considered the finest record changer ever made for use with 78rpm records, because of the pusher platform.

70 Mk II, nicely restored sample with a Stanton 500E cartridge.
70 Mk II, tonearm. This is identical to the Type A70 tonearm.
70 Mk II, platter medallion.
70 Mk II, nameplate.

GP49000 3rd Nov 2012 6:13 am

Re: Garrard record player deck identification.
 
5 Attachment(s)
The Lab 80 was revolutionary. That was a word much-used in hyperbole, in advertising by Garrard's USA representatives, the British Industries Corporation, but for this model, the description was justified. Lab 80 was the first (and only) Garrard with a spindle-only record changing mechanism needing no stabilizing overarm or side platform. It had the first cueing device on any automatic unit. It had the first full 12-inch platter of any Garrard automatic (the German ELAC Miracord 10 had preceded it with a full sized platter, whereas competitor Dual would not have one for several more years). With its sibling, Type A70, it introduced antiskating compensation to automatic turntables, and its tonearm was built of Afrormosia (said to be the least-resonant wood) bonded to an aluminum stabilizing shaft. Its styling by Eric Marshall was elegant, chaste...to many, including the present author, the most beautiful record player ever designed.

But underneath, for all its refinement up top, the Lab 80's tonearm cycling mechanism was based on that of the Type A, which was based on that of the RC88...so it was a descendant of fine Garrards from a decade before.

Restored Lab 80 with Stanton 500 cartridge, in a USA British Industries plinth.
Lab 80's Afrormosia wood tonearm
Lab 80 operating panel with tab controls
Lab 80 with its tripoise record changing spindle
Lab 80 special white version built for installation in Packard Bell consoles in the USA.

GP49000 3rd Nov 2012 6:24 am

Re: Garrard record player deck identification.
 
2 Attachment(s)
Lab 80 Mk II was a freshening of the Lab 80 with a lone additional operating feature: automatic play of a single record using the short, single-play spindle. It had a revised operator's control panel with fluted control tabs, and a differently-styled tonearm pivot housing (this had been applied to late production Lab 80s, as that model had sold so well that Garrard had run out of the original parts and had to substitute).

The Lab 80 Mk II was the last of the line of Garrard-design large-chassis automatics, a linear descendancy from the RC80 and prior. The next-generation "big" Garrard would be a cheaper design, as desired by Plessey, Garrard's parent company since 1960.

Lab 80 Mk II in cheap-looking USA British Industries Corp. plastic plinth
Lab 80 Mk II in genuine wood British plinth

GP49000 3rd Nov 2012 6:38 am

Re: Garrard record player deck identification.
 
5 Attachment(s)
The Autoslim chassis was a big winner for Garrard. Designed to replace the much more complex small-chassis that had been the basis of the RC120 and RC210 and related models, it proved to be inexpensive to build and versatile in that it supported units built to compete with the cheap BSRs, all the way to midrange hi-fi models. It came in versions with two-pole induction, four-pole induction, synchronous and battery-powered motors. Tonearms ranged from simple, one-piece, spring-counterbalanced designs to fully counterweight-adjusted, dynamically balanced arms with interchangeable headshells. There was even a tonearm designed in the style of curved, plastic-moulded arms on cheap USA record changers...but Garrard made it out of their traditional aluminium.

Autoslim, in a USA British Industries plinth
Autoslim, as installed in Astor radiogram
Autoslim, with extra knob...function unknown (any ideas?)
Autoslim mechanism beneath platter
Autoslim mechnaims under chassis

GP49000 3rd Nov 2012 6:52 am

Re: Garrard record player deck identification.
 
5 Attachment(s)
The Garrard AT6

The Autoslim chassis was quickly upgraded with a large platter, a fully counterweight-adjusted, dynamically balanced arm, and a four-pole motor with magnetic screening plates for use with magnetic cartridges. This deluxe Autoslim was first to be called just that: Autoslim DeLuxe. But with the runaway sales success of the Type A, the first Automatic Turntable, the "AT" designation was used to create the model number AT6. This model was another runaway sales success for Garrard.

Early Garrard brochure showing the AT6 as the "Autoslim DeLuxe."
American advertisement for the AT6.
AT6 in tan, sold in the USA.
AT6 in white, sold in the UK.
AT6 in Dynatron "Marlow"

GP49000 3rd Nov 2012 7:03 am

Re: Garrard record player deck identification.
 
3 Attachment(s)
The Autoslim/P was an Autoslim with its same small platter but with a removable headshell identical to that of the AT6.

Autoslim/P in USA Fisher "Allegro" console
Autoslim/P in Bush SRP-31
Autoslim/P, in grey


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 10:06 am.

Powered by vBulletin®
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Copyright ©2002 - 2023, Paul Stenning.