Re: Garrard record player deck identification.
Zero 100's first offspring
The Zero 100 was a sales success for Garrard. Over the next years, Garrard introduced successor models based on it.
Zero 100C added a record-size counter. Each time the tonearm returned to its rest, it triggered a ratcheted mechanism that incrementally advanced a pointer on a scale inside the clear plastic tonearm housing. Full-scale was 1600 tonearm cycles, with subcalibrations at 400 cycles and at 100 cycles in the last 1/4 of the scale. The assumption was that each tonearm cycle represented one side of an average LP record, with the total of 533 record sides being an estimate of how often the stylus should be checked for wear. The pointer could be reset to zero, though the process was rather tedious, by releasing the ratchet with a suitable tool and manually turning its notched wheel in reverse. Zero 100C also had a change to its cueing device, the same time as on the other new models based on the same chassis. Formerly the lifting action of the cueing was directly linked to the action of the CUE tab; pull it slowly and the arm would rise slowly; pull it abruptly and the arm would rise abruptly. The new cueing mechanism incorporated a spring in the pushrod that operated it, so that if the user operated the CUE tab too quickly, the spring would slow down the action and the arm would lift slower, more smoothly. This change could easily be retrofitted to older models (but its actual functional advantage was almost nil); I suspect it was fitted on the assembly line in late production of those prior models.
Zero 92 was a lower-priced model with the basic Zero Tracking Error tonearm. It substituted Garrard's patented weight-on-lever antiskating, similar to what had been used in the SL95B-72B and AP76-96, for the magnetic antiskate on the Zero 100 and Zero 100C. It retained the earlier models' three speeds, interlocked with record size selection for automatic play, with no adjustable speed (and thus no stroboscope). Platter, Synchro-Lab motor, automatic multiple record play, and styling were all the same as the Zero 100.
Zero 100S was a single-play version of the Zero 100, built from Garrard's parts bins. It had the inverted thrust bearing of the AP76 on the two-speed Zero 100 chassis, without multiple-play spindle and record side support. It retained the Zero 100's magnetic antiskate.
Zero 100SC was another "new" model engineered from the parts bin: a Zero 100S, single play with the Zero 100C's record-side counter and new cueing with damped lift. Companion model Zero 100SB, belt drive, will be discussed later.
The styling of the Zero 100C and Zero 92 was at first the same as that of the Zero 100, with the distinctive white unit plate, black mat, brushed chrome and brass accents. Garrard dedicated its entire 1973-74 line to this styling but then changed to a new scheme, with black replacing white. We'll see photos of those, and some more Zero 100 descendants, in a later post.
Zero 100C
Zero 100C, arm detail showing record-sides counter
Zero 100 (white) vs Zero 100C (black) undersides, showing spring-damped cueing on Zero 100C
Zero 92
Zero 100S single-play
Last edited by GP49000; 15th Nov 2012 at 6:59 pm.
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