[valve boy 5]

The Garrard 401 is a wonderful turntable ,I purchased a very clean 1965 version about 15 years ago and contacted Dr.Martin Bastin (here in England ) who makes a bespoke heavy duty plinth for these machines .He also replaced the thrust pad which the bearing sits on and the 401 run totally silent . I added a brand new SME 30009 mk 2 and the final piece of the jigsaw Shures alltime flagship moving magnet cartridge the Shure Ultra 500 (very similar to the V15 but considered better in all aspects). I phoned Garrard and asked which oil to use and they recommended Singer sewing machine oil for the bearing and the top part of the motor (this can be reached by removing the turntable ,you will notice a aluminium disc with 3 holes in it ,if you move this carefully you will see small holes where to oil the motor,I did this when my Garrard developed a a slight noise . The Idler wheels might need cleaning ,I did mine with methylated spirit .Apparently the later versions were not built to such a high standard as reguards finish ect. these go for anything between £250 - £500 depending on condition ,plinth ect.