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Old 16th Feb 2018, 12:05 am   #1
dalgwcobl
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Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Royston, Hertfordshire, UK.
Posts: 131
Default An unused Garrard RC70B

I've just 'won' an RC70B on eBay. It's boxed (although the label on the box says it's an RC75A). The unit is as new and unused. Having applied a few drops of light machine oil to the turntable main bearing, which was seized, the changer mechanism works perfectly. It even came with a small cloth bag containing mounting hardware, including little coil springs.
The only problem, as usual, is the magnetic pickup. The damping rubber, which is a piece of flattened red tubing, is still pliable, but probably too stiff, while the armature is sitting too close to one pole-piece. I have attempted to centralise the armature using the two grub-screws, but there's not enough thread to get it centred. The pickup produces an output, but it is distorted. I'm sure the armature is rattling against the pole piece, which doesn't help, and I'm using a small transistor amp, which will not be a good match. The output is at quite a good level, so magnet and coil seem OK. I'm just working up to trying to sort it out without damaging anything. Incidentally, looking at previous posts, the head unplugs easily from the arm, which is not surprising given the unit's condition.
Has anyone managed to get one of these pickups to work well? It's in such good condition, it would be a shame not to get it working properly. I could use it as part of a talk on the history of recorded music.
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