[Techman]

You can’t ask the question “will it work with a Garrard RC80 deck”, as whether it will work or not will depend on the pickup head or cartridge in said head that you’re intending to use – basically as I’ve just noted ‘music-centre’ say in his post above.

Looking at the picture by PWH in post #9 it looks like it is actually an RC72 deck fitted, so I think he was getting confused (easily done) when he stated that the deck was an RC10 in post #13 – or am I just getting confused?

So, if you want originality, and as you state that you want 33 rpm but don’t mention needing 45 rpm, then this may be the deck to look out for. They also have a nice glossy deep dark brown paint finish like the RC80.

It should be mentioned that there are differences in the finish of the various models of this deck. The original brown RC80 with the glossy brown enamel and all the chrome and brass is as good as it gets! The RC75 was brought out as the ‘poverty-spec’ penny pinching version of the same deck with a poorer paint finish which I think almost has a slight purple tint to it, with painted metal parts rather than chrome, and black and silver plates rather than brass. The RC80M is another penny pinching deck, but with slightly up-dated modifications to the mechanics that you wouldn’t really notice and they’re just about always in 50s’ rock and roll’ cream enamel finish, so totally the wrong look for your gram. So a 1951 Garrard RC80b with all the chrome and brass would be a good ‘all-rounder’ to cover all record speeds and look right. However, an RC72b from 1949/50 would probably be more original if you’re not bothered about playing 45s automatically. It’s interesting to note that the RC72 in the picture in post #9 has its speed selector set to 45 rpm.

The pickup arm coax is actually twin core in the RC80 series decks, so a stereo signal can be run from the head if required, but the capacitance of this wiring can take the frequency response of crystal and ceramic cartridges down a bit, although you probably wouldn’t notice it on a thing like that anyway.

Although with a bit of careful fettling you can get the compliance of these decks quite good, you should still not be considering playing your most mint and valuable LPs on this kind of vintage deck.

Also, applicable to ALL these type of vintage autochangers with the side ‘pusher’ and ‘cranked spindle’ with ‘gap and shelf’, you should be aware that they can be fussy about playing certain types, ages and thicknesses of records. ALL 78s should be individually checked to make sure they’ll pass through the gap on the spindle. Some early ones (and some short production run specials) are too thick to pass through the gap and there’s enough power in the mechanism to snap a record in half, or at least take a chunk out of the edge or the centre hole! You could have a couple of different record spindles ‘adjusted’ for the different record thickness types, but as the spindle has to be removed BEFORE the records can be removed from the platter, they tend to get lost, so there are more decks around than there are spindles to fit them, so they’re rare and hard to find. You could make an adjustable spindle as they’re actually made in three parts. I once re-made one into an adjustable spindle with a small spacer that could be inserted into the gap and then the spindle put back together with a slightly wider gap on the shelf. Whatever, you should check the alignment of the RC80 type spindle on the template available in the manual as they often get bent when left in place in storage, thus closing up the available ‘gap’ – you can’t win, if it gets left in and stored then it gets bent, if it gets removed for safe keeping then it gets lost!