[GP49000]

Garrard introduces the Unimech

By the early 1970s, Garrard was looking for a replacement for the Autoslim chassis that had served the company so well for over a decade. Pressures to reduce production cost were coming from Garrard's owner Plessey. The trend toward more single record play meant that cost reductions could be had in a new design that didn't have all the fully automatic features of the Autoslim.

Garrard already had a new autochanger mechanism designed and in production: the cheap CC10 minichanger. For the new record changer, the mechanical workings of the CC10 would be mounted to a reduced-size subchassis that would fit under a full sized steel unit plate, the same size as the Autoslim.

The CC10 minichanger mechanism, as applied to full sized record players, was named the "Unimech." It could be built, tested and adjusted on individual workbenches or even in completely different buildings, separated from a much shorter and simpler assembly line. This reduced manufacturing cost.

The Unimech mechanism did not use the overarm to sense the presence of records on the multiple-play spindle, as on the Autoslim; the record pusher in the spindle served this function instead, by a reverse stroke of the pusher, "feeling" for a record on the step of the automatic spindle. Fully automatic play of a single record on the platter using a short spindle was provided for the first time in a "popular-priced" Garrard automatic record changer. In conjunction, record size was manually selected, linked to speed selection; there was no automatic record size selection. Styling was updated; while traditional Garrard styling elements were retained and refined, the new models could be distinguished from their Autoslim-type predecessors by the linked speed/record size control being parallel to the right side of the chassis, not at an angle as on the Autoslim.

The Unimech series retained the traditional Garrard idler drive principle but the mechanism, including the idler wheel, was the same as that in the CC10. Motors, as had been the custom at Garrard, varied in different models: two-pole induction, four-pole induction and Synchro-Lab synchronous motors were all used. Tonearms of more sophistication, and different add-on assemblies providing cueing and antiskating features were found on upline Unimech models.

The first Unimech models had a tonearm styled after the Zero 100, with offset headshell and a finger lift that was an extension of the arm tube. The upscale models for the American market, which we'll discuss later, were even in the Zero 100's white paint scheme.

While the initial impression of the Unimech models was one of sleek modernity, they had a problem: not that they were cheap to build for Garrard and Plessey, but that they FELT cheap to the user. The mechanism itself operated smoothly enough through its automatic cycle, but controlling it felt clumsy. Metal levers extending from the subchassis toward the locations of the user controls were rigid enough, but because the entire Unimech chassis was rotated to put the spindle and tonearm in their "usual" positions on a full-size record changer, they operated at odd angles that would have looked strange and felt awkward. So the extended levers were coupled to plastic levers that slid along slots in the steel unit plate. These plastic levers were too flexible and their pivots sloppy; and they often tended to bind up in the slots as they slid. Rejecting a single record became a challenge; the user had to first push the control lever all the way to the AUTO position at the right, then immediately return it manually to its central position (or else the record would be repeated). Doing so with the sticking plastic levers often caused too much vibration, so the tonearm would jump and skip on the record. Garrard's Autoslim chassis had a solid, quality feel that was superior to BSR's offerings in the market; but the Unimech didn't.

Tonearm tracking, which had gradually been improved on the Autoslim-chassis models during their long production run, took a step backward on the Unimech models. The automatic trip was improved, doing away with the long, sliding link in the Autoslim, but the lateral pivotry in the pickup arm base was the same as that of the bottom-line CC10. Most Unimech tonearms pivoted vertically on an axle-in-plastic, though higher-priced models had needle pivots. Garrard stated a minimum tracking weight of 2.5 grams on the Unimech models, even on those with fully counterbalanced arms and antiskate, and despite tracking weight and antiskate calibrations down to one gram. The later Autoslim models were specified at 1.5 grams.

For the service and repair technician, and for owners doing their own maintenance, the Unimech made life harder. While in the Autoslim it was easy to remove the main mechanism cam to remove the automatic trip levers to properly service them and to lubricate the cam tracks, the Unimech required the overarm, tonearm, trim escutcheon and idler wheel linkage be removed, and then the entire subchassis dismounted and partially stripped to do the same work. It was an invitation to short-cutting the process which could inevitably result in an inadequate job being done; or to a very high labor cost for proper servicing of a low-priced unit, always a disappointment to the owners.

Garrard considered the 6-300 to be their "basic" Unimech model. It had a 10 1/2 inch steel platter, of the familiar construction featuring an inner, seven-inch drive platter and a large outer platter. It had a tonearm based upon a flat-profile armtube, with partial counterweighting and an upward-pulling spring to offset the remaining dead weight forward of the axle-in-plastic vertical pivot, setting the tracking weight. Tracking weight adjustment on the 6-300 was user-accessible but required a small cross-point screwdriver and a gauge; there was no calibration. Different weights of cartridges could be accommodated by different counterweights and alternate anchor points for the upward-pulling spring, depending on what cartridge was to be fitted. The headshell could be a narrow type for clip-in ceramic cartridges, or one that accepted cartridges mounted by a single screw; or a wider type that accommodated standard cartridges mounting with two screws on
half-inch centres. The tonearm had a damped cueing device, and antiskate set by a calibrated knob. Most 6-300 were powered by a Garrard two-pole induction motor, and versions were made for both European/UK and for US/Canada power supplies. A four-pole motor was also available, in both voltage ranges and in a universal version, convertible to either voltage range. As usual in the four-pole motors, a swap of the motor pulley provided for adaptation to either 50Hz or 60Hz current.

The 6-100 had a smaller, eight-inch platter; actually it was a seven-inch drive platter with a rubber mat whose periphery was slightly oversize and overlapped it. The 6-100 lacked the cueing-antiskate assembly. The 6-200 was a 6-100 with the large platter of the 6-300 (or, a 6-300 lacking cueing and antiskate).

Photos:

6-300
6-300 control panel
6-300 tonearm, cueing, antiskate detail

Four-pole Unimech underside, showing the subchassis that carries the CC10 mechanical parts, hidden between subchassis and main chassis and inaccessible for service without dropping the subchassis.

6-200. Note that it has no cueing. This variant has the narrow headshell and lighter-weight counterweight; and a garish platter mat almost entirely covered in bright metal trim rings.